Hustle culture: Is this the end of rise-and-grind?
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The #grindset mentality has long endured – but some people are finding hustle culture is losing its lustre.
Waking at 0400, necking a Bulletproof coffee and a green juice, hooking into a multi-screen desk set-up for back-to-back calls and strategy sessions: you’re hustling to build a mission-driven empire, and harness the #grindset. Who needs sleep when you’re going to make trillions of dollars?
The hustle-culture narrative promotes the idea that there’s always more to strive for: more money to make, a bigger title or promotion to secure and a higher ceiling to smash. Although not all entrepreneurs embrace these tropes, some experts say some people have still felt the pressure from the decades-long trickle-down effect of total immersion in work, often to the detriment of other facets of their lives. They point out this mindset stems largely from tech start-ups in Silicon Valley, and is perpetuated on social media.
But they also stress that overworking on purpose – and boasting about doing so – can have negative effects on workers’ mental and physical health, and subsequently may be losing its lustre, especially among some employees from marginalised groups and backgrounds.
In the pandemic era, many people are re-prioritising what they want out of work and life: they are quitting toxic workplaces, leaning out, strengthening boundaries and carving more time for personal lives and hobbies. Plus, experts say economic uncertainty and greater awareness of inequality can make both the ideas and language of the rise-and-grind mentality feel outdated and out of touch.
