HOW TO STOP FEELING PRODUCTIVITY SHAME WHILE LIVING IN A HUSTLE CULTURE
One of the exercises I frequently help clients with is identifying their negative beliefs and figuring out where they come from. Separating what beliefs are yours vs. beliefs that you inherited from society or your family can act as a key to identifying your core desires and values. Some of the beliefs we inherit can be destructive to our sense of purpose and limit our capability to lead fulfilling lives. These inherited negative beliefs often become what I refer to as our saboteurs.
As I mentioned in a previous post, our saboteurs originate from our early development as coping mechanisms to protect us from forces we had little to no control over, but as adults their overprotective nature causes us to be way too hard on ourselves. A common saboteur that I discussed before is the Hard Worker (this critical voice tells you that your value is tied to your level of productivity, and that you are never doing “enough”). This saboteur thrives in our hustle culture, built on the belief that the more we hustle, the more we are celebrated and admired, so we never stop working. This way of living has become so pervasive and internalized that we no longer see any other option. We sacrifice our personal lives to worship at the feet of our materialistic, efficiency-obsessed, hustle culture.
First, what is hustle culture, and where did it come from?
CAPITALISM
America is a capitalist culture and was primarily built upon the framework of the Protestant work ethic. It has always been part of American culture to value progress and hard work, and also to define success in terms of wealth and status. By valuing profit above all else, capitalism is the perfect environment for hustle culture, which is basically a societal norm that encourages people to work constantly in pursuit of material success. We have to work to live, but capitalism encourages us to live to work. This isn’t new, and exists in many other cultures the world over, however it is so internalized for so many of us, that we no longer see how it deteriorates our well-being. Our job titles become synonymous with our identities, and exhaustion becomes a badge of honor.
THE RISE OF TECHNOLOGY IN THE MILLENNIAL GENERATION
I fall into the millennial age bracket, and one of the things my generation is most commonly referred to is the burnout generation. We grew up with the internet and the rise of technology that taught us to always be “accessible” and expect instant gratification. Capitalism’s values create a natural breeding ground for hustle culture, with the dangers of burnout being intensified by technology creating 24-hour access to work. Silicon Valley’s start up culture has created a corporate model that’s now been replicated in all industries across the nation, and has left Millennials everywhere burning out from a toxic Kool Aid mixture of unrealistic expectations and the belief that we can have everything we desire if only we work hard enough.
The Dark Side of Hustle Culture
The negative result of hustle culture is productivity shame; a concept coined by author, Jocelyn K. Glei, and is “the act of regularly setting unrealistic expectations for what you can accomplish, and then beating yourself up when you fall short.” Internalizing the beliefs and values of our hustle culture creates our internal saboteurs that beat us up when we inevitably fall short of these superhuman expectations. With instant gratification ingrained in our day-to-day lives using apps that train us to believe everything is just a click away, not to mention the standards set by unicorn company success stories and social media comparison wreaking havoc on our self-esteem, it is no wonder our sense of what we should be able to accomplish is so skewed.
All of the technological efficiency that grew leaps and bounds over the past several decades was supposed to make our lives easier and more enjoyable, and yet we are working more than ever before and job security is practically non-existent. Boundaries between work and personal life have been lost thanks to constant access to email, pressure to beat out the competition in order to keep your job, and the start up corporate model with seemingly generous benefits of meals, nap pods, laundry service, etc to ensure you never have reason to stop working. The luxurious sounding unlimited time-off policies have also proved to be another hustle culture trap disguised as a company perk. A recent Insider poll showed that 29% of Americans with unlimited PTO reported “always” working on vacation, compared with 15% of Americans with traditional vacation accrual plans.
All of this pressure to perform has also led to an increase in prescription stimulant abuse among both college students and professionals who feel the only way to compete is to take amphetamines. Our hustle culture with its catch phrases of “rise and grind” made popular by social media and ad campaigns, and value on materialism, status and efficiency above all else, has become a relentless whip that drives too many of us.
Superhuman expectations are not just limited to work life either. Productivity shame can creep in whenever we feel our time is not being spent in ways hustle culture would approve of. Extracurricular activities must be chosen for college applications and networking purposes, and not just the simple human desire to experience joy or fun. Stay-at-home parents can feel their role in society is valued less than working parents. Even sleep is viewed as an inconvenience.
As daunting as all of this sounds, your awareness of it is the first step to freeing yourself from the hustle culture trap.
How To Shift Your Perspective and Stop Feeling Productivity Shame
Recognize that the shame you feel from never doing “enough” was not even yours to begin with, and was built off of cultural values that you were born into. You inherited the belief that your value is tied to your productivity, and it is reinforced by simply existing in our modern culture.
Practice self-compassion. Navigating our society and world is not always easy, and your saboteurs who beat you up for not performing at superhuman levels were only ever trying to keep you safe. Forgive yourself for being complicit with these toxic messages, and remind yourself that you always have a choice in what you believe.
Define what is “enough” for you. We all have limited stores of energy within us, and honestly and courageously acknowledging what your limits are will allow you to decide what doing “enough” really looks like for you.
Create strong boundaries that are aligned with your definition of “enough.” The outside world will continue to push you, but you always get a say in what you choose to invest your time and energy into.
At the end of the day, you are the only one who can control what you are putting your energy into. You should never have to feel like you need to earn the right to take time to care for yourself, or that your worth is contingent on how much you get done. I know it's hard in our fast-paced world, but please remember you are a human being, not a human doing. You are enough simply because you exist, and you deserve to invest your energy into what really matters to you.