The Hustle Culture – Is It Worth It?

I agree, we all need to have goals and go the extra mile to achieve them and avoid disappointing those who look up to us…

But,

Since when did we prioritise work over having a good night’s sleep or eating good food?

Why did we start to choose work over friends and family?

When did we start to equate our self-worth to the amount of work we do and feel guilty for taking simple breaks?…

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Do you do all of this? You’re not alone.

This attitude is celebrated by people and industries in the business world.

It’s the Hustle Culture.

The hustle culture means ignoring basic structures of work-life balance. It is when you overwork yourself to the point where it becomes a lifestyle.

This might sound like a great thing. I mean, you’re getting work done, aren’t you?

But…

The hustle culture is not as productive as it seems.

It focuses on quantity over quality – you work longer hours without acknowledging that your body/mind is tired and with this, you’d end up spending excess time on tasks that aren’t meant to be time-consuming.

Even though you’re getting work done, you’re putting too much on the line for this.

What Can The Hustle Culture Make You Lose?

• Your creativity – Extreme hustling can burn you out and leave you feeling empty.
• Valuable relationships – It can make you care less about your family, friends, and everything else you used to care about.
• Your health – To meet up with deadlines, targets, or demands, you might skip meals and opt-in for a faster option of food (unhealthy junk), you might sleep less too and all this will harm your health in the long term.
• Happiness – If things go wrong with your work, you’d feel like a failure, put too much pressure on yourself, and the cycle continues…..

Until you break down.

 How Did We Fall Into This Trap?

Over the years, overworking has been modernised into what we know today as hustle culture by various self-help books, social media, and through our famous and well-respected entrepreneurs.

And, many young people prefer to pay attention to these while seeking inspiration when chasing their success.

With the way people focus on their goals ambitiously, it’s not surprising to see people falling victim to the hustle culture where there’s no fine line between over-working and success.

However, I understand that nearly 80% of those who are a part of this culture are in it involuntarily.

If you’re looking forward to living healthy and leaving the hustle life behind, Here’s a few things you can try:

1. Aim To Have a Balanced Life.

Achieving a work-life balance can help you escape the habit of extreme hustling. By creating and making use of schedules and routines, you can boost your work performance and still have time for everything you care about.

Related: How to Balance Work and Personal Life as a Young Entrepreneur.

2. What is Success to YOU?

This is a big question you ought to find your answers to.

A lot of people become part of the hustle because they live and believe other people’s definition of success.

When you know what success means to you, you can work towards attaining it at your own pace.

You’d no longer feel the urge to prove yourself to anybody or compare yourself to someone else.

You’d no longer compete with anyone, it would be YOU against your past achievements. Your only goal would be to beat your previous records and become a better version of yourself.

3. Give Yourself a Break!

You’re not a robot. Your body is not designed to work all day, all week.

Don’t let your mind trick you into feeling like you’re being idle or lazy.

You need to give yourself breaks and not feel guilty about them.

Taking breaks help reduce stress, increase productivity and help the mind refocus.

4. Prioritise Your Health.

Do your possible best to remain fit and healthy. Avoid eating unhealthy/ processed foods as much as you can, exercise regularly, and get at least 6hrs sleep in a day.

Protect your physical and mental health at all costs.

Health is wealth.

An unhealthy person cannot pursue his/her goals.

5. Focus on What’s Important.

There’s a difference between being busy, and being productive.

You’re being busy when you’re working on the things that don’t have a major impact on your business.

On the contrary, you’re being productive when you’re focusing on the things that have a major impact on your business and, being busy is easier sometimes.

Working long unending hours does not guarantee that you’re being productive.

It’s not enough to just be busy so you have to discipline yourself work hard on the things that matter to get your desired results.

If you’re looking to hire people to work with you too, make sure that they’re a good fit for the job, to avoid slow growth and unnecessary setbacks in time to come.

6. Respect Your Limit.

You should know how much pressure your body can handle before it breaks down and avoid putting such amounts of pressure on yourself at once.

Sure; be hardworking, challenge yourself, but increase your limits slowly and allow your body gradually adjust to them.

Pushing past your limit rapidly can cause you to experience burnout.

7. Your Worth ≠ Your Achievements.

That you haven’t gotten to the level you wish to attain isn’t enough reason to turn yourself into a workaholic and ignore everything else that life embodies.

I’m concluding here, and with this..

Don’t let the poor habits and lifestyle of others trick you into believing that overworking is something to be proud of.

Always remember that there is a healthier way to get things done and aspire to do it this way.

Work hard, live healthily, and enjoy life.

Na who dey alive dey spend money.

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