Hustle Culture is killing us.  There, I said it.  

This American Dream of working until one is almost dead, all in the name of winning the “I only sleep two hours a night and now look at my bank account (so the rest of you can just suck it!)” contest.  

But it wasn’t always that way.  And there is someone you can blame for all the time you spend at the office doing the job of three people.  And his name is Frederick Taylor.

Frederick worked at the Bethlehem Steel Works in Pennsylvania in the late 1800s.  He used a stopwatch and a slide rule to work out exactly how long every single task should take, right down to the absolute fraction of a second.  And then he figured out how to rearrange those tasks based on maximum efficiency. 

“In the past, the man has been first.” he once stated.  “In the future, the system must be first.” 

Doesn’t this sound a lot like the mentality of Every American Business Inc. where the C-Suite Overlords lay off half of their staff and then force the remainder to work those extra jobs, telling them that they weren’t previously efficient and there is plenty of time in their days to do so?

Back then Frederick’s ideas weren’t very widely accepted, even though his writings were read with some interest all over the world.  At the Bethlehem Steel Works he taught one worker how to move four times more iron in a single day than the average worker could … with the result that a lot of other workers simply quit, all with complaints of stress and fatigue.  

Frederick was reportedly a very difficult man to get along with and he was eventually fired in 1901.  But even though he faded out into relative obscurity, his absolute belief in ‘schedule first, man second’ left a permanent mark on the American business mindset.  

And not just in the workplace either.  A man named Michael Schwarz, who produced a television documentary on Taylorism, once said: “Taylor may have died in ignominy, but he probably had the last laugh, because his ideas about efficiency have come to define the way we live today, not just at work but in our personal lives as well.”

In 2010 the United States Supreme Court declared in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission that corporations are effectively people.  In that particular case it was about campaign contributions and who could influence elections, but the ruling had far wider implications  

The court’s decision effectively set businesses and humans on the same rung on the ladder of importance.  Corporations now had the same legal rights as people.  A mindset that had had been a century in the making.

What is good for Corporate America is good for us as well.

In Spain they have a custom called the siesta.  And it’s not what you think.  Yes, some people leave work and take long afternoon naps but it’s so much more than that.  Around 1 or 2 every afternoon most shops and business either shut down for a few hours, or greatly reduce what they do.  Workers run errands, get together for socialization, or just take a much needed break.  It’s less about sleep than it is setting a healthy pace of life.

And in the late afternoon, all of those businesses ramp back up and life continues.  Only instead of being beaten down and trying to cope using gallons of afternoon coffee, these workers are actually rested.

The sad part is that “Siesta Life” is fading in many parts of that country.  What is hailed as the American Way Of Life … and thus the true path to power and wealth … is replacing it.  So instead of working to our body’s natural rhythm, we are instead forced to maximum efficiency for the system, not for ourselves.

Thanks Frederick.

Proponents of hustle culture argue that by constantly pushing oneself to work harder and to achieve more, one can achieve greater levels of success in their personal and professional lives. 

Additionally, these proponents argue that hustle culture promotes a “never give up” attitude which can lead to greater levels of motivation and productivity.  They state that hustle culture will lead to increased creativity and innovation as humans are now constantly pushing themselves to come up with new ideas and solutions.

Hustle culture has been on the rise since the pandemic and lockdown, according to Fatmata Kamara, a mental health nurse advisor at Bupa UK.  “Many of us have felt the pressure to stay busy and make up for lost time.  However, leaving little time for yourself to unwind and relax can be harmful for your mental and physical health.” 

Here are five probable outcomes from following this mindset of “work more”:

Burnout: The constant pressure of hustle culture to work harder can lead to physical and mental exhaustion, making it difficult to maintain a healthy work-life balance.  And of these two, the mental aspect is probably the worst.

In late 2022 I was burnt out, which sadly sounds like “damn I’m tired, I could really use a vacation”, but it’s so much more than that.  Burnout leaves one in a depressed state.  You are mentally incapable of feeling anything, neither good nor bad.  You simply don’t care anymore.  Your emotional brain has essentially shut down in order to protect itself.  What feelings you do have center around escape and how everything you see has a dull, gray edge.  And no matter how hard you try, you simply cannot find that escape hatch back into color.

Stress and Anxiety: Hustle culture can create an environment where individuals feel like they are never good enough, which can lead to increased stress and anxiety levels.

So even if you aren’t “burnt out”, you’re still inside a pressure cooker.  Hard work should lead to satisfaction, right?  But when expectations are so high that even success feels like a failure, then how can you ever “win”.  The goal line is constantly moving away from you and you’re on a path that never ends.

Lack of Work/Life Balance: Hustle culture is almost defined as individuals prioritizing work over other aspects of their lives, such as family, friends, and self-care.  There are only so many hours in a day, you have to allocate them, and in order to win at work you have to give up elsewhere.  There simply isn’t any other choice (unless you also give up sleep and go insane).

Loss of Creativity: The constant pressure to produce and achieve can lead to a loss of creativity and critical thinking as individuals may feel like they don’t have the time or energy to engage in creative endeavors.

Just nine paragraphs ago I stated that hustle advocates claim “it will lead to increased creativity and innovation as humans are now constantly pushing themselves to come up with new ideas and solutions“.  And yet one of the big five drawbacks of that culture is diminished creativity.  

Hustle is about efficiency and productivity.  And while you can be creative about how you increase productivity, it isn’t the same thing.  One can’t imagine anything truly new when one is focusing solely on reducing risk.  You simply cannot innovate and narrow down at the same time.

Neglecting Physical and Mental Health: Hustle culture can lead to neglecting one’s physical and mental health as people prioritize work over self-care, rest, and exercise.

Which pretty much wraps up the argument.  You can work your keister off, win the work ethic challenge, and at the ripe old age of 50 something be in a position to declare victory and walk around with your medals on your chest.  

But can you?

Your physical health will have been diminished through decades of unrelenting stress.  Your mind will not understand “how to relax”.  There will be no roses for you to smell because you won’t know how to sniff them.  Maybe you’ll apply your finely-honed systems and processes to the problem and give yourself an accelerated lesson in relaxation … but can you really teach yourself something when you don’t believe in it?

There is another way.  And it’s never too late to change the road you’re on.

Life isn’t black and white.  And how you live yours must be in the gray areas in-between.  Without work, humans won’t grow.  We’ll stagnate.  Without rest and creativity, humans won’t grow either.  We’ll simply become slaves to the cult of speed.  And “life/work balance” isn’t the way either.  Because that implies work and play are equal.  They’re not.

The simplest way I’ve come to understand the solution, and the way I’ve watched it play out elsewhere, is “you work in order to play”, and never the other way around.  Work is always secondary.  The goal of life is happiness, care and love for others, and the growth of humanity on all levels.  Culture, arts, knowledge.  It’s true that work allows you the freedom to pursue what’s important, but work also cannot impede it.  For even if you didn’t “work harder”, you could still reach the ultimate goal.  

And the opposite?  Can you ever have a healthy and happy life if you constantly put it aside for more progress and success?  Hmmm?

It’s your choice.