We slowly become convinced by the people around us that our self-worth is solely dependent on our ability to get sh*t done. Hustle culture inspires us to succeed by constantly exposing us to what an unhealthy obsession with success looks like. We end up internalizing the feeling that we could be sacrificing just as much as, if not even more than, our peers. Our culture praises and almost idolizes the people that have sacrificed their own health for productivity: Bill Gates, Elon Musk, the person who says #ThankGodItsMonday. It’s discouraging to hear that peers are willingly not eating or sleeping to work on assignments. We as students also play a substantial role in perpetuating toxic productivity. Quotes such as, “if you aren’t where you want to be, it’s because you don’t want it bad enough,” seem inspiring at first glance, but they can be paralyzing, filling the reader with a sense of dread. So-called “inspirational” quotes embodying the hustle culture do more harm than they intend. Hustle culture has also led to a world of toxic productivity. In 2018, nearly a quarter of Canadians over the age of 15 reported, to varying degrees, that most of their days are stressful. In the brain, stress impairs memory, slows down thinking, and reduces sleep. Hormones released during stressful times can cause blood pressure to spike, increasing the risk of heart attacks. The immune system suffers, making infections more likely. John Cohen, a psychoanalyst that specializes in burnout, wrote, “ feel burnout when you’ve exhausted all your internal resources, yet cannot free yourself of the nervous compulsion to go on regardless.”Ĭhronic stress wreaks havoc on our bodies. A state of exhaustion caused by excessive stress, burnout erases any sense of motivation and makes it difficult to work or function in daily life. However, our culture’s obsession with being productive has some serious side effects that are affecting the physical and mental health of students.įor starters, hustle culture drives students to burnout. I would be lying if I said it didn’t help me get important work done. It’s worth mentioning that there are some obvious benefits to living a perpetually productive life. We’re told to be constantly productive and to make sure “the grind never stops.” The result is “hustle culture”-the societal fixation with putting maximum exertion in your work, turning a typical work-life balance on its back and living a work-only lifestyle. In the golden age of workaholism, students are told to make every second matter. Even if it was a game, there are only losers. I got half of that last night,” as if it was a competition. Some of us probably can’t even casually mention how much sleep we got last night without someone jumping in, “Six hours? You’re so lucky. When students open up Snapchat stories during midterm season, they will find at least one of these words on their screen.
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