Take our Burnout Test

Find a therapist near me

"Hustle culture" makes an already-complicated daily existence busier and less open to mindfulness.

Current social media trends promote an unhealthy attachment to productivity.

Longstanding norms of hyper-productivity are leading to increased rates of burnout.

The irony should not be lost on us: optimizing and maximizing, two words we are hearing more and more in the current life-advice social media zeitgeist, are actually resulting in exhaustion and burnout, virtually defeating their intended purpose of increasing productivity and reaching a state of ultimate effectiveness.

From “wellnessmaxxing,” the idea of optimizing self-care, to “biohacking,” the idea of intervening in natural bodily functions (such as sleep) to “hack” or maximize physical functioning, to “habit stacking,” the idea of adding a new habit to an already established one, there are a multitude of buzzy, trendy ways to reach optimal daily functioning. And these trends are to say nothing about longer-standing problematic optimization standards like blurry work boundaries and constant digital connectivity.

How Hustle Culture Adds Stress Instead of Relief

While we may, in fact, be living in a time of unprecedented daily optimization, the downside of this “hustle culture” is that it can make an already complicated, overwhelming, and stressful daily existence even busier, more outcome-oriented, and less open to mindfulness........

© Psychology Today