We live in a busy world where everything goes fast, and many of us may feel the need to keep up. Unfortunately, this usually means non-stop hustle. This article will present four ways you can slow down amidst the hustle culture.
Who hasn’t heard of the culture? Perhaps now more than ever, the concept of working non-stop has become idealized and glorified. Influencers, Youtubers, and self-professed gurus will tell you that you have to hustle hard until you reach your goals.
“You know what got me here? The hustle.”
Sure, you can take the weekends off, but don’t be surprised if you end up earning less than your peers. By all means, sleep in during your days off, but that’s not something the most successful people do.
In this article, we will consider such implications of this hustle culture and examine the importance of slowing down.
What is Hustle Culture?
Hustle culture is the idea that you have to exert effort at every waking moment, doing something to make yourself better or more successful. It stems from the belief that your mindsets can make or break your reality, and an attitude that allows for relaxation will lead to mediocrity.
For the most part, the hustle can sound inspirational. It gives you hope that if you work hard, you will receive a payout in return. The entire thing sounds so transactional and assured that it could be comforting.
But a study by the World Health Organization has found that overwork kills over 745,000 people in a year. That’s something hustle culture influencers don’t tell you. What is the fine line between hustle and overwork? What do you do when it leads you to burn out?
Signs You Need to Slow Down
Physical Symptoms
Hustling non-stop is sure to have some physical symptoms, some of which include:
- Headaches
- Body pains
- Fatigue
- Disrupted sleeping cycle
- Colds
- Fever
- High blood pressure
Emotional Symptoms
Emotional symptoms usually show up at the beginning of burnout, and they only get worse as time passes by. Perhaps, it just starts with feelings of detachment, difficulty concentrating, and a desire to procrastinate. After a while, this could lead to emotional outbursts, social isolation, and loss of purpose.
Work-Obsessive Thoughts
Because the hustle culture is so pervasive, taking an hour-long break from work may already cause you to feel irresponsible and lazy. This shows that you have been wired to believe that every waking moment has to be geared towards a productive result.
You may also be inclined to think that you need to do more, even when you’re already doing a lot of things. Picture this: you already have a day job and other income streams, to the point that you only get one free day in a week. If you believe that the one free day should be spent doing something that is tied to some form of success, then it is a sign that you tend to overwork and need a break.
Why Should You Slow Down?
You may worry that slowing down would cause you money, success, and accomplishments. Perhaps it will, to a certain degree. However, you should know that the trade-off is considerably worth it.
While slowing down will not give you much in terms of success according to how most of the world defines it, it will provide you with many other benefits, including peace, a better work-life balance, and a healthier body.
Take LeBron James, for instance. He is well-known for his extreme dedication to his craft, but did you know that he gets eight to ten hours of sleep every day? If he understands the importance of rest and recovery, then so should you.
How Do You Slow Down?
Slowing down doesn’t mean that you stop working hard; it just means you understand that work should not take over your life. Slowing down means allowing yourself time to relax, restore, and refresh yourself.
Here are four ways you can slow down amid the hustle:
Stop when it’s too much.
Hustle culture would tell you to push your body to the limit and go beyond what you think you can do. But I am here to tell you that if you feel like everything’s just getting too much for you, it’s okay to slow down and catch your breath. Not everything has to be a race, and you can do things at your own pace.
The problem is that you may have become so acclimated to the hustle that you no longer know how to identify what qualifies as too much. If so, then you may want to get a mood tracker to monitor your emotions and gain more awareness of the things that contribute to your exhaustion. If done correctly, you should be able to nip burnout in the bud in this way.
You can do this by just writing down how you feel on your planner each day. Seeing your mood alongside all you need to do should help you identify your physical and emotional limits. You can also use mood tracking apps like Moody, which can show you an overview of your statistics and triggers at a glance.
Adjust your daily routine.
Many of us are inclined to check our emails and messages first thing in the morning. This means that from the moment we wake up, our brains have already shifted towards the things that we need to do and the people we need to reply to. Consequently, this gears our attitude and mindset for the entire day.
To manage this, you can cultivate a routine that prioritizes self-care. It doesn’t have to be big, and I’m not saying that you allot eight hours each day just pampering yourself. You can just make a few adjustments, like:
- Deep breathing for five minutes before you get out of bed
- Doing some stretches or squeezing a workout before you go to work
- Not checking emails or messages until after you’ve had your breakfast and coffee
Schedule your free time.
If you’re so busy that you need to schedule everything you do, make sure to put your free time on your planner. In this way, you don’t feel bad about not doing much of anything, as you’ve already made sure that you’ll be able to do everything you need to do.
If it’s possible for you, then do your best to shuffle around your schedule until you get at least one full day off. If not, then at least block off one hour each day for your free time. The agenda? Relax without any guilt.
You can use a physical planner for this and just shade off the hours each day that you are committing for rest. If you prefer digital planners, you can download apps like TimeBloc, which will alert for when it’s already time to relax. That way, you have no excuse not to rest.
Reassess your priorities.
Everyone wants to be successful, but is it truly your top priority? If you take some time to think about it, you may discover that your priority is a healthy body and a happy life. If this is so, then you must recalibrate your life to reflect this.
Achieving success and recognition may be important, but not at the expense of your health and sanity. In fact, some studies have even discovered that resting can boost your productivity. If that is the case, then you’re not losing anything when you slow down. If anything, you’ve discovered the way to win in life.
