In this article, I want to talk about the Hustle Culture and Toxic Productivity. But, first, we need to understand what we mean by “toxic productivity”.
When we refer to toxic productivity, we are talking about a set of work habits that your managers and other team members expect from you. It is a set of social expectations that make it impossible for you to relax or even think clearly. It has very little to do with your skills and everything to do with your attitudes toward life in general.
The hustle culture in most large companies has little to do with increased productivity, and that’s a stretch. Today, most workers don’t live up to company expectations and are worse off in mental health than ten years ago. It’s incredible how many people look for ways to justify working harder than everyone else but ignore all of the responsibilities that go along with that ability. If you are one of those people that have given this excuse, and you’ve still not gotten more sleep, more lunch, or more physical exercise, you may have a problem.
I used to work for a company where the culture was highly negative, and everyone felt like they had to impress their boss by going all out and pushing themselves harder than every other employee. Workers would talk about their coworkers in negative terms, and one person would post a status update saying, “oh yeah, I’m so excited – I could barely talk last night! Today I finally reached my goal for the week!
My experience with that company, and others like it, taught me that what I thought was true wasn’t always true. I learned that hustling was rarely related to accomplishment and that I had to do more than “hustle” to be successful. What worked then may not work now. There are so many factors that can affect an employee’s level of hustling that it’s hard to name them all, but I’ll give you a few. One is the type of social media they use. Employees who enjoy and are thriving on Twitter use it to keep connected with others, share ideas, and build relationships – all of which can make them much more efficient.
When employees can be themselves on social media, they can focus on real work instead of spending so much time building up their “side hustle” credibility. It’s not that social media is terrible, and it’s that some people are so wrapped up in their “side” hustles that they forget to do the work that gets them to the “financially solid” status they’re trying to achieve. Getting the right amount of sleep and exercise helps because you tend to do things differently when you’re tired. For me, I’ve realized that the more I took care of myself physically and mentally, the more productive I could be during my workdays – and the more satisfied I was with my job.
So, if you’re part of a hustle culture and you feel guilty because you overwork yourself, I have some news for you. You are NOT the wrong person. Most people do the same thing. All you need to do is change your behaviour to only work when you’re physically and mentally prepared. That’s it, put a stop to working hours and start living an entire life!
Image Courtesy: Photo by Garrhet Sampson on Unsplash
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