Why hustle culture sucks? Hustle culture had been touted to being the panacea . It was glamorized as the solution to untold riches and the vaccine to poverty. Unfortunately, those who sold us those claims were snake oil sales men. You see, along the way, the movement got hijacked. What started out as a means of encouraging people to work, started being used to guilt us into overworking ourselves. Here are some reasons why we feel the movement robbing us off our enjoyment in life.
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This is one of the most common reasons why hustle culture left a bad taste in our mouths. Most people, who worked their butts off, never actually saw any material benefit to their efforts. Bosses and business owners all over loved and still love hustle culture. They had and still have a lot to gain from employees with no lives outside of work. They love it when employees come in early and stay in late and then take work home to do during the evening and weekends. There is a lot of profit to be made from such employees. But what about the actual person doing the work? This is where the great disconnect is.
Disgruntled employees who worked hard and were passed over for promotions are basically a cliché at this point. Instead, the promotions and bonuses went to those who could kiss ass more effectively. It wasn’t actually about doing work, but rather, giving people the impression that you are working. In addition to that, you had to be master of ass kissing.
So people put in a lot of effort and sacrifice, only to be outshone by the guy who partied with the boss.
Strained family relationships
This is another big reason why hustle culture sucks. It reaches a point where all those cancelled dinners and weekend plans start to add up and people get sick and tired of being your friend. For most people, friends and family stopped inviting them out to stuff.
Imagine waking up one morning and realizing that you have no friends. Some cases are even severe. There is a friend of mine, who quite literally had almost no one to invite to his wedding. I knew him from work and while we were friendly, we were not best friends or anything like that. So imagine my shock when he invited me to his wedding and there were only two guys there. Talk about an awkward bachelor party.
This is worse with families and people who take care of children. The little ones end up being the loneliest, most neglected kids on the planet. This presents its own host of problems.
Health issues
The lack of sleep, poor diet and lack of exercise will catch up with you sooner or later. Puff Daddy, the rapper once said that, the one thing he regrets from his youth is his habit of not getting enough sleep. While he is successful right now, he has a lot of trouble falling asleep.
Is all the money in the world worth it, if your body is falling apart due to years of neglect. Are all those mental health issues worth it? How would you enjoy your Lambo or Ferrari if your back constantly hurt and you need medication to sleep.
What is the point of having the money to buy and eat anything you wish but have the doctor limit your diet because you subsisted on coffee and fast food for too many years? Hustle culture sucks.
The myth of productivity
Being busy does not translate to being productive. It is quite bizarre for people to wake up super early to get to work earlier than everyone, only to fall asleep at their desk or nod off at the slightest opportunity. For students and learners, the irony is not lost. They spend their days sleeping, nodding off, being exhausted and generally not concentration. Then they spend their nights “hustling”.
And shame on employers for shaming productive employees. If an employee does his/her job well and has some time to spare, that is his/her free time. That is not an opportunity for more work.
Boring lives
We work so that we can get money to live. In some cases however it seems we were put on this planet to work. Our entire lives are dictated by Excel spreadsheets, KPIs and Deadlines. This is a horrible way to live. I don’t know about everyone else but I would like to have fun in life. We only live once. I want to be able to travel and see the world. We all want to be able to engage in our hobbies and things that we actually enjoy.
Even sitting at home doing nothing is a pleasure in itself. When was the last time you binged watched your favorite series?
Life is about more than just meeting a deadline. Life is about experience, love, travel, food, people.
Hustle culture robs us of this. We feel guilty for even dreaming of vacations. Every time one of the influencers says something like “I never took a vacation”, I cringe and say a silent prayer. May my life never be like that. Not taking break or vacation is not something to be proud of. It is an indicator of how sad life can be.
I and most of the fans of this blog want to live interesting and meaningful lives.
Conclusion
Hustle culture sucks, there is no doubt about it. And the worst part is that it is slowly being ingrained into society as the new normal. Even kids are starting to think, you know what, this is how life is supposed to be. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against hard work, but I believe in moderation.
Too much of anything is poisonous
My mother
My mother always advised me against going to the extreme with regards to anything. For example, if you eat too much fast food, there will be a price to pay. If you play video games too much, there is also a drawback to that. The secret to life has always been finding a good balance. Understanding what are our limits.
We should all make a collective goal of treating ourselves better. And for God’s sake, get enough sleep
READ MORE ON PRODUCTIVITY HERE: https://www.ahadisoft.com/category/productivity/
