8 Simple Steps To Be Anti-Hustle Culture And Productive
In recent years there has been a big shift away from hustle-culture to a more mindful anti-hustle culture approach. This trend can be attributed to a combination of the pandemic and an increase in burnout in the general population.
A recent study noted a shift in workplace trends in the US with more companies advertising vacancies for ‘anti-hustle’ jobs – an increase of 356% since the pandemic.
In fact, I used to be a BIG ADVOCATE for hustle culture. Always grinding, working, strategising and pushing myself to the limit in order to achieve my success. However, with that mindset, there are some big drawbacks such as regular burnout, constant anxiety and a deep sense of not being good enough.
As a Mindset and Productivity Coach for perfectionists, shifting away from the hustle-culture mindset is a big part of the work I do with my clients.
In this article, I am going to explain why being anti-hustle culture is the BEST approach you can take to productivity, dispel common anti-hustle culture myths and give you a practical 8-step process for developing an anti-hustle culture mentality.
What is hustle culture?
Hustle culture is a phrase that is thrown around quite a lot in productivity circles.
Simply put it’s a trend in society that praises constant work, extreme productivity and striving for success at any cost including the cost to your mental health and wellbeing.
You’ve probably heard it before from productivity gurus on YouTube and Instagram talking about ‘while you’re sleeping and eating, I’m working and that’s why I’m successful’.
THAT is the hustle culture mentality.
It often involves:
- Long working hours
- Sacrificing your personal time and self-care
- Prioritising your career achievements
- Tying your self-worth to the things that you do and not who you are as a person
- Always being busy
- Obsessing over status and success
- Taking up a side hustle
It is thought that the rise of hustle culture happened due to an increase in the ‘gig economy’. The BBC describes the gig economy as ‘a labour market characterised by the prevalence of short-term contracts or freelance work, as opposed to permanent jobs’.
Which resulted in more people working multiple jobs and picking up side hustles to make ends meet.
Why do perfectionists fall into the trap of hustle culture?
Perfectionists tend to fall into the trap of hustle culture more than most people.
Most of my clients come to me because they’ve burnt out from hustle culture and want to find a new way to exist in this world without tying their self-worth to their achievements.
Here are a few reasons why perfectionists buy into hustle culture:
- They have extremely high standards for themselves and believe that if they keep pushing they will achieve their goals even if it’s unrealistic
- Most perfectionists have a big fear of failure so they will do anything to avoid making mistakes and will obsess over the tiny details
- Approval and praise are things that perfectionists need to feel like they are worthy of success because Imposter syndrome is a real problem for perfectionists
- They tend to over-commit to tasks because they don’t want to let other people down and want to control everything at the same time. Most of the time it is unrealistic to achieve their goals in a short timeframe so they end up burning themselves out instead
Is anti-hustle culture just laziness disguised as self-care?
Being anti-hustle culture is not the same as being lazy as they are two completely different things and it is incredibly reductionist to lump them together.
According to Cambridge Dictionary, lazy means ‘not willing to work or use any effort’.
Most of the people I’ve seen trying to equate laziness and anti-hustle culture are CEOs, control freaks and perfectionists who are in denial.
Those are the people who find it hard to believe that there are other ways to be productive without burning themselves out in the process.
Anti-hustle culture is all about promoting a more balanced approach to work and life focusing on mindful productivity and well-being.
Someone lazy just doesn’t want to do anything whereas people who are anti-hustle culture do want to actually get things done. They just don’t want to sacrifice their well-being in the process and that’s a big difference.
Is quiet quitting and being anti-hustle culture the same thing?
Since the pandemic there has been a big drive for quiet quitting and anti-hustle culture however they are two different but related concepts.
Quiet quitting involves doing the bare minimum at work without going above and beyond in your duties. Most of the time it’s in response to burnout or dissatisfaction with your working conditions.
Apparently, up to 50% of the workforce is engaging in some form of quiet quitting in the US but this figure could be a lot higher with the popularity of the term trending on social media.
Whereas being anti-hustle culture focuses on being productive without necessarily overworking or sacrificing your well-being in the process.
So you still get things done, have big goals and work hard towards them but you just do it in a much healthier and intentional way.
8 Steps to being anti-hustle culture and still having big goals
1. Identify values and redefine success
The first step to being anti-hustle culture is to identify your values and redefine success so that it doesn’t involve pushing yourself to the brink of burnout every day.
Your core values are the principles and qualities that govern how you show up in the world and why you do the things that you do. Many of us fall into a hustle culture mentality because we follow the values of other people in our workplace, family and influencers online.
We stray so far away from what we truly want that we assume that grinding every day is the only way to work.
Identifying your values provides you with a sense of purpose and a clear direction for how you want to live your life which reduces your stress and increases your satisfaction.
It also helps you make decisions that are consistent with your long-term wellbeing and happiness. Maybe, for you, success isn’t about reaching CEO status but instead about earning enough money to live comfortably while spending time with your family.
The great thing is that you get to decide what success ACTUALLY means.
How to do it:
- Take some time to think about the things, people and experiences that mean the most to you.
- Reflect on why they are important to you. I recommend you write them in a journal or notes app
- Identify the top 3-5 values that stand out to you (e.g. family, integrity, kindness, courage etc…). You can download the FREE Values Over Perfection Workbook to help you
- Create a new definition of success based on your values and wellbeing
- Make an effort to check in with yourself to realign with your values and success criteria if you feel like you’ve strayed away – I like to do weekly, monthly and quarterly reviews
2. Set Boundaries
A big part of being anti-hustle culture is setting and maintaining personal and professional boundaries. Boundaries are essentially limits you set to protect your time, energy and well-being.
They are incredibly important because they ensure that you have time for rest and personal activities but also give you the ability to focus during working hours so you can still get the job done.
Most of my clients struggle with setting boundaries because they tie their self-worth to their career and achievements so they feel like they are not good enough if they don’t push themselves to the absolute limit.
This way of thinking is incredibly unhealthy and counterintuitive to being anti-hustle culture.
Setting boundaries doesn’t have to be a really difficult task, you can start small and be scrappy with it until you get a hang of setting clear, concise and effective boundaries.
If you’re a beginner, I highly recommend you read the book ‘Nonviolent Communication’ by Marshall B Rosenberg since it explains boundaries amazingly and provides clear instructions on how to communicate your boundaries to others.
How to do it:
- Write down all of the areas in your life where you feel dissatisfied. Take a moment to reflect on the need that is being unmet
- Once you know what your unmet needs are think about what you need to happen to feel better about the situation
- Take note of the things you need to do PERSONALLY to keep yourself safe, happy and fulfilled (e.g. not doing overtime every day, leaving conversations that are draining etc..)
- Remember your boundaries are for you and you alone – you can’t force someone to respect your boundaries but you can choose to not engage with people who fail to respect you.
- For example, you can set specific times for starting and ending work and try to stick to these times as much as possible
- Make sure you communicate clearly with your colleagues and family about your boundaries to set expectations because other people are not mind readers
- You can also set boundaries for technology to make sure that your work and personal life are separate (e.g. no work emails on your personal phone, do-no–disturb mode and engaging in digital detoxes)
3. Practice self-care
Developing a consistent self-care practice is essential for all areas of your life especially if you want to be anti-hustle culture and still get things done. Self-care involves doing activities that look after your physical, mental and emotional wellbeing.
Self-care activities can be as simple as journaling regularly, going for mindful walks, practising yoga or even having a relaxing bubble bath.
Or it can be complicated activities such as going on mini-city breaks and participating in engaging hobbies such as hiking or performing at comedy gigs.
Whatever you do make sure your self-care activities actually boost your overall health, and energy levels and provide you with mental clarity. Otherwise, it’s not self-care if it’s draining your energy and making you feel worse.
How to do it:
- Make sure you incorporate regular exercise into your routine
- Try to eat a healthy balanced diet and get enough sleep
- Develop a mindfulness practice to help you manage your stress levels
- Don’t let work become your whole life so dedicate time to practicing a hobby
- Spend quality time with your friends and family.
- Ask for help when you need it
4. Focus on Mindful productivity
I am all about mindful productivity. In fact this whole blog, The Valued Life, is dedicated to ensuring perfectionists learn how to create a realistic mindful productivity system that incorporates self-awareness, energy management, values-driven goal-setting and simplified systems.
Mindful productivity is literally the antidote to hustle culture because it prioritises high-quality focused work that can be maintained over a sustained period of time.
It’s not about going through never-ending cycles of go-go-go and burnout which participants of hustle culture consistently go through.
How to do it:
- Identify and focus on tasks that have the highest impact on your goals and remove or delegate low-priority tasks
- Set REALISTIC goals that align with your values and long-term wellbeing
- Work at a steady, consistent pace without rushing while taking regular breaks to maintain energy and focus
- Incorporate techniques like deep breathing, meditation, or mindfulness exercises to stay present and engaged in your work
- Check-in with yourself regularly and decide if you need to change anything in your schedule
5. Find work-life flow
Don’t get it twisted – just because I am anti-hustle culture doesn’t mean I am anti-hard work. It’s ok to have big goals and in fact, I truly encourage you to dream big so that you can live the BEST possible life you can.
This is why I don’t encourage work-life balance which may be surprising to many people in the wellness space. Instead, I encourage work-life flow which is a step up from work-life balance because it requires a high level of self-awareness and strong internal boundaries.
Work-life flow is also known as work-life integration and work-life harmony in other productivity circles but essentially they are the same thing.
It is about making sure personal and professional needs are met WITHOUT focusing on finding a neat 50/50 balance between the two because let’s be real, that is an unrealistic goal for most people.
When you know what your own needs are you can adapt to changing circumstances without feeling guilt or shame because you acknowledge that different seasons in your life require different things.
For example, if you’re an accountant you know that the end of the financial year is going to be a hectic time in your professional life so instead of forcing yourself to have a ‘work-life balance’ you find ways to nurture yourself during the busy season to ensure you get things done to the highest quality but in the shortest time.
You know that once the busy season is over you can focus most of your energy on your personal life without feeling guilty. It’s all about flowing between your personal and professional life with ease and confidence.
How to do it
- Regularly journal to help you adjust your working patterns according to your energy levels
- Identify your personal needs and set non-negotiable boundaries around them in your personal and professional life
- Take a flexible approach with your schedule to accommodate changing needs
- COMMUNICATE CLEARLY using non-violent communication with your colleagues, friends and family
6. Read books
Reading books is my favourite way to gain knowledge and create a paradigm shift in my mindset. For some reason, a good well-written book has the ability to trigger my brain to deeply think about topics and apply new perspectives in my life.
Podcasts are good too but there is something special about a book/audiobook.
I recommend you read books the following books if you want to start the process of breaking away from hustle culture to a more sustained high-quality mindful productivity system:
- Deep Work by Cal Newport
- Atomic Habits by James Clear
- The Body Keeps The Score by Bessel van der Kolk
- Daring Greatly by Brene Brown
- The Light We Carry by Michelle Obama
- 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey
Cal Newport has also recently released a book called ‘Slow Productivity’ which seems really promising but I haven’t read it yet so I haven’t officially added it to the list. I thoroughly enjoy all of Cal Newport’s other books so I’m sure this one is great too!
7. Simplify your life
Sometimes, you are just making yourself busy because you are unhappy in your life and will do anything to avoid feeling that discomfort. So you add more and more tasks to your to-do list and dig your feet further into hustle culture.
Sometimes you are making yourself FEEL busy without actually BEING busy because you spend all your time worrying about what you need to do and how hard your life is.
Whatever the reason, simplifying your life will help you prioritise the things you ACTUALLY need to do and untangle yourself from the clutches of hustle culture.
When you focus on the things that truly matter by streamlining your routines, environment and commitments you’re able to be more efficient, and productive and have more space for meaningful connections with others.
How to do it:
- Regularly declutter your home and workspace to eliminate unnecessary items
- Unsubscribe from unnecessary newsletters, use filters and regularly clear your inbox to maintain a manageable email flow
- Politely decline commitments that don’t align with your values or goals. You need to take responsibility for protecting your energy from negative people
- Establish daily routines for common tasks, such as morning and evening rituals, to reduce the number of decisions you need to make
- Prioritise deep, meaningful relationships over having a large number of superficial connections
- Go on a social media detox regularly in order to clear your mind
8. Ask for help
For many years I didn’t think it was possible to achieve my goals without pushing myself to the brink of burnout every single day. It was only through talking to other people whether it’s mentors, co-workers even therapists and coaches that I noticed there was a different way to be productive.
Asking for help doesn’t have to be a big complicated song and dance and it is not a weakness to share that you’re struggling with others. In fact, it will be your greatest strength because every successful person knows that their success comes from the people in this closest circle.
You don’t have to carry the burden of being a puppet in hustle culture all alone.
There are many people who have paved the path ahead of you, learning the difficult lessons and finally settling on an anti-hustle culture productivity system. You can learn from them without having to go through all that pain by yourself.
How to do it:
- Look for individuals who embody the qualities and success you aspire to. Consider mentors both within and outside your immediate field
- Reach out and establish a connection, showing genuine interest and respect. You can do this via LinkedIn, attending networking events or good old-fashioned email
- Be proactive in seeking advice and learning opportunities
- Regularly seek advice, feedback, and learning opportunities. Be open to constructive criticism and use it to improve
How are you going to start your anti-hustle culture journey?
What tip stood out to you the most when it comes to being anti-hustle culture?
As you can see, embracing an anti-hustle culture mindset doesn’t have to be a complicated long-drawn-out process. It’s something you can start doing today!
It’s all about adopting a mindful productivity system that incorporates your high ambition with self-care and consistency. That is all.
Remember, it is incredibly unhealthy to believe that you NEED to burn yourself out in the process of pursuing your goals and I hate that society has made us think that was the only way for many years.
Hopefully, this article has helped you find a much more healthy approach to productivity.
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