How to Kick Hustle Culture and Live in the Moment
We’ve all experiences the hustle and bustle of a busy schedule, but did you realize it may be effecting you negatively? Let’s dive into how we can learn to kick hustle culture and start living more in the moment.
“Beware the barrenness of a busy life.”
If that quote sounds familiar, it’s because it’s a well known quote form Socrates, who (for those that don’t know) is an ancient greek philosopher. It sounds a bit ironic, right? Mostly because we’ve been told to believe that the busier you are, the more fulfilled you must be. Or that more people care about who you are and what you’re doing with your life.
Where do we learn about a busy lifestyle?
In fact, social media makes you feel this way. Scrolling through Instagram and getting fed photo after photo of someones vacation or expensive trip makes you feel left out or that you should be having the same experiences.
You’ve been there, I’ve been there, we all know that feeling.
So when it comes to this quote “beware the barrenness of a busy lifestyle”, I think about how corporate culture has made us believe that the busier we are, the more worthy we are. The fuller our schedule, then it must mean we hold more responsibility.
Is a busy schedule an indicator that I’m better than others?
For the record though, I hate this idea and I don’t think it’s true. I don’t think we are only valuable based on how many tasks we can fit into one given day. I don’t think that the busier we are, the more we travel, the better our lives get. In fact, I believe the opposite, and I think you should too. It’s best to look at this concept, when we look at something like hustle culture.
The pressure to constantly “hustle”
Sometimes hustle culture gets the best of us, and we feel this need to constantly fill our days hour by hour with productivity. Starting new tasks 20 minutes before clocking out at 5pm, and going to bed feeling guilty that you couldn’t finish it in 20 minutes. While productivity may feel good in limits, like when we put on our favorite working album and get through our to do lists in a record amount of time ( & I freaking looooove that feeling!!). We often get wrapped up in constantly doing “things” (things in air quotes by the way) that we forget to acknowledge our own needs and become disconnected from ourselves and others around us. We stop being present in the moment, and will double check out emails right before bed to make sure we didn’t miss anything. We stop listening to our partners when they’re putting out a bid for connection with you and trying to tell you how their day was, but you keep looking down at your phone. I’ve been here. I’m guilty of doing this.
But I want to use this moment as a conversation. A thought bubble, if you will. What if we said heck no to hustle culture & this desire to productivity, and instead choose to slow down and smell the roses? To take a walk outside instead when we feel this urge? To curl up and read a book for an hour instead of refreshing your email inbox?
So what can we do about Hustle Culture?
I don’t have a universal solution to this problem of constant productivity; however, I think it’s a community and individual mindset shift that has to happen in order for us to reevaluate what’s most important. Cause let’s be honest, work emails would and should never be your number one priority. It should be quality time with your partner, exploring your community, or maybe picking up a new hobby or craft. But this gets blocked when we buy into hustle culture and girlbossing way too close to the sun.
SO WITH THAT BEING SAID, I challenge you to pick one day this month and take it off. Focus on the essentials of what brings you joy & how you can bring more of that into you’re life. And let me know what you choose. I think my goal will be to find a new hobby that makes me feel creative again.
