As a student or any working member in society, you may have heard the term “hustle culture” before. According to urban dictionary, hustle culture is defined as “The glorification of working very long hours in hope of reaching one's professional goals while having a disregard for their health, and relationships with loved ones”. This is honestly a pretty accurate explanation, so let’s dive into how something as seemingly innocent as encouraging productivity can be so harmful.
You see, everything in our lives works at a certain degree. How much time and energy we expend on one activity affects how much time and energy we spend on the next activity; our bodies work in a balance. One common and extremely important idea is with “sleep debt”, in which prolonged periods of sleep deprivation only increase your biological drive to catch up on those hours and hours of missed sleep until you give in. Some other examples include working out and needing recovery to avoid injury or eating food until you’re full and not eating until you receive those hunger signals. Ultimately, it’s out of your control to some extent; your body can only handle so much and it wants nothing more than to be in a state of balance.
Back to the idea of productivity, we can reasonably use our analogy when it comes to academia. While we often praise the idea of working long hours, using up every last drop of our energy, and pushing ourselves to near breaking-point because it’s deemed as “strong”, the reality is that we fail to recognize the critical needs for taking breaks and allowing ourselves to recover, mentally, emotionally, and physically. It’s hypocritical to expect so much of ourselves when the basic science has shown over and over again that the neverending “grind” is unsustainable at some point and will inevitably lead to burnout. Instead, we should be looking up to those who are able to find a sense of balance in their daily lives, allowing themselves to live while working hard towards their goals and personal achievements. The fact is, it’s not healthy to glorify the consequences of overworking: mental illnesses, physical ailments, emotional unavailability, lack of drive and hope, and more. It’s toxic to expect human beings to function like machines without rest, and we shouldn’t continue to perpetuate these impossible standards, whether consciously or unconsciously.
In a previous article, we covered how to stay in a state of energy balance. This is a great technique for avoiding burnout while maintaining your optimal performance. Another method is to be aware of the media you’re consuming. Social media often simplifies things such as how other people live a “productive lifestyle”. Realize that people tend to only present themselves at their best, so it’s not worth comparing to. It’s okay to be inspired, but actively choose what you allow yourself to take in and focus on becoming the best version of you.
We hope you enjoyed this article. For more content on how to find your academic success, check out some of our articles here on StarryScholar. If you have any questions/comments, feel free to leave them in our “Community Discussion” tab, or email us at @[email protected]! Remember, you got this ☆