Our society glorifies hustle culture, so we seldom think of the downside of hustle culture. Yes, hustle culture has a downside. “I’ll sleep when I’m dead,” “team no sleep” and “I’m on my grind” may sound all fine and dandy, but they’re more harmful than you might realize. The pandemic forced many of us to slow down and reflect on how hustling has been hurting us. Here’s some of the downside of hustle culture:
Impacts Mental Health
Hustle culture can take a toll on your mental health. More specifically, it can cause stress and anxiety. Always being on the go and on the grind is stressful. Our minds weren’t designed to constantly be on. In order for our minds to work properly, they need rest, which is the exact opposite of what hustle culture demands. Also, when you’re not getting enough rest, your thinking can become cloudy, you can experience forgetfulness and even memory loss.
Kills Your Creativity
Have you ever wondered why children are so creative? It’s because they’re not always hustling and grinding. Dreams and creativity require time and space to form. Personally, my best ideas have come either while I was taking a shower or a walk outside. I’ve also noticed the busier and more hectic my schedule becomes, the less creative I am. Hustle culture robs us of new ideas and suppresses our creativity.
Impacts Physical Health
Another downside of hustle culture is that it negatively impacts our physical health. Insufficient rest can cause high blood pressure, weight gain, increased heart disease risk and suppressed immune system. The risk of being “team no sleep” isn’t worth the reward.
So, how do you combat hustle culture? Here are a few suggestions:
Self-Care
While hustle culture demands you sacrifice yourself, self-care makes you mindful to care for yourself. Self-care looks like doing breath work, taking walks in nature, and mediation, to name a few. Whatever you do, carve out regular time in your schedule for self-care.
Lay Yo Ass Down
Yes, laying yo ass down is another way to combat hustle culture. Your body needs sufficient sleep to reset and repair itself. When you’re a hustlin’ and a grindin’, your body isn’t doing any of this. Whatever you’re hustling to try to accomplish isn’t going anywhere so lay down, get some sleep and get back to it later.
Lay yo ass down.
Slow Yo Ass Down
Slow yo ass down, lay yo ass down’s first cousin, is another way to combat hustle culture. Most of the blunders, mistakes, bad decisions, etc. that I’ve ever made were made in haste, because I was in a hurry. Slowing down and taking time to clearly think things through can help you knock the hustle.
Ask for Help
Not only does hustle culture glorify constantly being on the grind, but it also glorifies the self-made woman. There’s a saying – “If you want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go far, go together.” Contrary to what hustle culture portrays, asking for help doesn’t make you weak, it makes you wise. Doing everything all by yourself is not only stressful, but it’s also severely limiting. So, go against the grain and ask for help.
What are some other downsides to hustle culture? What are some other ways to combat it? Drop a comment below.