Why Do We Romanticize the Idea of Hustling?

Don’t stop when you’re tired

Stop when you are done.

Wake up. Hustle. Repeat

How often have you come across one of these quotes on your Instagram stories or WhatsApp updates? More so, how often do we whisper such mantras to ourselves to get through a tough day?

Urban language denotes “Hustle Culture” as this ever-popularised idea in the generation to constantly overwork, spend off-hours at the job, obsess over success, relentlessly sprinkle positivity, make no humour and make no excuses. In today’s world, liking the work that you do isn’t enough- you have to love it! Sadly, this defines  the global orientation for the ‘only way to survive the rat race.’ When ‘hard-work’ is reverse engineered as a lifestyle of performative workaholism, it isn’t evidently common that one in us will pause, wait, look back and ask- are we being misled?

Another fixation that has sprouted out of the culture of hustle-mania is how we perceive and engage in hobbies today. The things we love have to be monetized and made business out of in order for them to be deemed productive. So many youngsters are taught how their hobbies fit best as ‘side-hustles’ if not the main. So many people are fed convictions that ‘what doesn’t make money, wastes time.’

For this younger generation, the biggest concern that I see with the culture of ‘rise and grind’ is how fast, restless and rushed life looks like through those glasses. There seems an invisible time-clock ticking in urgency that makes a scarcity mindset, one that cannot feel abundance and gratitude. This focus on numbers and statistics, graphs and results have limited young minds from creativity- to look beyond and out of the box. A sense of cognitive dissonance drifts their minds to focus more on credit and entitlement, while the focus on ‘what they really want’ is far adrift. It is evident from these customs of how the culture of hustle leaves behind absolutely no space for reflective practises, wellness, connection, care and rest.

This isn’t certainly all. An overwhelming number of people battle burnouts, stress, depression and anxiety but are making do with plastic smiles, choosing constant pivoting and ignorance as their medicine out of illnesses.’ Let us consider a few facts from a study conducted by Expedia, one largest online travel agency in India-

·        26% of the people prioritize work over holidays.

·        28% voted to rather prefer getting paid for unused vacations.

·        Most of all the surveyed people considered vacation as a ‘luxury’ as opposed to a necessity.

·        29% of the respondents said “they couldn’t plan their holidays” owing to work pressures

·        As many as 54% people spend vacations secretly checking their office emails.

When I first came across this data, the first thought to germinate was how common are these facts yet so many of us overlook how we may be unconsciously falling into to the pits of a practise that takes us away from healthy relationships, boundaries, self-care and as much as sufficient sleep!

A great deal of learning begins with unlearning. Here are some red flags to help you identify if you might be trapped in this treadmill and that you deserve a break to rest and relax, that things need to slow down-

1.     You feel tired and exhausted.

2.     You are compromising on sleep for your work.

3.     You feel guilty about taking leaves and resting.

4.     You have no sense of timing.

5.     You feel distracted, and in a hurry.

6.     You fear missing out, while away from work.

7.     You are thinking about the next task and the next deadline already.

8.     You prioritize work over wellness.

9.     You do not spend time with yourself, or doing things you simply enjoy.

10. You connect less to friends, family and loved ones.