How to reduce hustle culture & be more happy?

Introduction

Rise and grind.?

Working harder and longer will likely achieve more success.

Who needs sleep when you are going to make dollars for every hour of your work?

All of these statements make sense to the advocates of hustle culture. Even the legendary Elon Musk once said , “No one changed the world working 40 hours a week.”?

Take a moment of pause—before blindly following all these recommendations and putting yourself under such severe pressure and stress every moment—and ask.?

Do you want to be part of the hustle culture? Is it really worth sacrificing your personal time for extra money? Will you be happy hustling for extra success??

If you are not, then just like 77% of the people in the Deloitte survey , you will experience burnout at your job, and like 42%, you will also leave your job.?

Research shows that hustle culture does more harm than good because productivity rates decrease significantly after 55 hours.

In this post, we are going to discuss the impact of hustle culture and strategies to break out of the mindset of hustle culture.

What is hustle culture??

Hustle culture is a narrative that encourages working intensively and beyond the normal 40 hours a week to achieve success. In the process, if you have to put your self-care and personal life lower on the priority list, the mindset of hustle culture validates doing so.?

It is based on the basic belief that if you work hard and longer, you can achieve anything and everything and there's always more to strive for. It is true that if you put in persistence and extra effort, it increases your likelihood of success and you can always make more money. But the problem with this is it gets you into a vicious cycle of not being satisfied where you do not know how to end it.?

Where did hustle culture come from??

Some experts credit Silicon Valley for the hustle culture, but I believe its roots lie deep in our society where we cherish success over other things right from childhood.?

The success of IT companies like Google, Amazon, and Microsoft in the late 90s and early 2000s just validated the mentality of hustle culture in society at scale, but it has been present in society right from the old times.?

Why is hustle culture harmful??

Hustle culture in itself is not harmful. For those who want to strive, it is a natural process for them. But when it is enforced in the workplace or society, then it becomes harmful. It is because now your worth in society depends on it.?

Also, social media trends like #riseandgrind, #sidehustles, and #hustle culture create FOMO if you do not make an effort. You have to hustle hard even if you do not want to.?

In these terms, hustle culture is harmful. Have a look at the harmful impact of hustle culture.

1. Sacrificing health and well-being??

When you are living in a society where you are valued based on the extra hustle you are putting into, it becomes a problem. This often leads to toxic productivity where you feel guilty for spending time on things that do not contribute to your success in the world. Thus, you sacrifice health and well-being.???

2. Burnout

The consistent pressure of being always on leads to burnout. It is because you are not taking rest. And we human beings need rest to recharge for work.?

Read More - How to avoid work-life balance burnout?

3. Work-life imbalance

We are not designed to live for work. We work to live comfortably. The mentality of hustle culture discourages you from placing your personal life on equal priority to the work.??????

Strategies to break free from hustle mindset?

The hustle mindset always tells you to do more, but you need to break free of it. Here are some strategies that can help you with it:????

1. Define your success?

It is very important to define your own definition of success. Otherwise, you will keep working hard and still not know why you are not happy. You will experience frequent burnouts if you are not doing what you value or making efforts under societal pressure.?????

2. Practice self-care

Along with work, you need to take care of your body and mind. Invest time in taking care of your body. Experts say 150 minutes of workout in a week is necessary to keep healthy and eat a healthy diet. Take care of your mind by investing in your relationships, projects you want to work on, and doing the things you love to do.????

3. Take breaks?

Regular breaks throughout the day keep you afresh, provide energy, and prevent burnout. Walk around the office, do a little stretch, or get some fresh air after every hour or two. This increases your productivity and improves your focus.

4. Set boundaries??

Work never ends in this competitive world, but you need to break the association of mind from work for some time. Set clear boundaries between work and personal life. I know it is the hardest thing to do as you are the person to be contacted at any time in case of an emergency. But do not stress or overthink about work when it is not required. Let go of your tendency to check work emails when home.?

5. Delegate tasks and ask for help

Hustling hard does not mean you have to do everything on your own. Delegate tasks to team members. It reduces your burden and saves you time. While delegating, it is important to understand that you cannot expect the same level of involvement from everyone as yours. Therefore, prioritize tasks based on their importance and urgency and delegate tasks that can be delegated.????

ProofHub is an amazing all-in-one project management and team collaboration software that allows you to visualize all of your tasks, team tasks, and projects in one place. Thus, you can easily sort tasks based on priority and delegate tasks.

Try ProofHub for free and see how it helps you manage day-to-day tasks to keep you zen.?

Conclusion: Thriving beyond the hustle

Hustle culture has some benefits, but these are toxic benefits that impact you in the long run. Therefore, it is important to look at life beyond work and include the other aspects of life in your hustle for success. This will keep you healthy and happy, and make work more fun.????

I hope using these strategies you can create the right work-life balance and break free from the hustle mindset.?????

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