Taking a step back from hustle culture at university

Hustle culture can be defined as the universal belief that we can only succeed if we push ourselves to our absolute maximum capacity. In other words, hustle culture is that constant feeling of obligation to knock another two items off your overwhelming to-do list instead of allowing yourself that 20-minute nap you’ve been thinking about all day. But why is it that we all feel determined to stretch ourselves so thin, when we know we’re never going to feel as accomplished as we should? And why do we find it so difficult to admit that sometimes we just want a day or two to sit in bed and watch a useless stream of YouTube videos?

As university students, we are enveloped by this concept. Surrounding us, we have our peers somehow managing endless extra-curricular responsibilities, parents constantly asking why we aren’t doing anything, and the impending doom of our degree drawing to a close. The display of opportunities to be on a society’s exec, or take on some hours at a local bar to earn a few extra pounds, sometimes feels more like an obligation than an opportunity.

Among young people, there is a growing glorification of being constantly busy, and constantly stressed

Don’t get me wrong, taking advantage of these options is a great thing – through them we can develop our abilities for when we enter the ‘real world’. Managing a society, finding some part-time work, and securing a summer internship, are invaluable ways to build our understanding of a professional environment (and to completely frank, they look great on a CV). But what needs to be considered is not whether these are helpful experiences, but instead whether our perception of how much we should be taking on has been warped by hustle culture, and how this can be detrimental to both our degree and our wellbeing.

Among young people, there is a growing glorification of being constantly busy, and constantly stressed. For some reason, I find myself incessantly burning the candle at both ends, and once it is burnt up, I simply find another candle to treat with the exact same brutality. I become lost in an unhealthy cycle of pushing myself far beyond my own limits for two weeks straight, until one day I lie down on my bed and find myself unable to get up or answer my phone for four days.

Yet, once you take a step back from this bizarre idea that we have all unintentionally dedicated ourselves to, you are able to realise that it’s okay to not be occupying yourself every minute of every day. It’s important to normalise having time to yourself, or with your friends, without allowing guilt to fester within you. No one is looking down on those around them for how much or how little they are doing, so why do we get so infuriated with ourselves for the exact same thing?

It is not healthy to force a weight onto your own shoulders that you wouldn’t dream of placing on anyone else’s

What needs to end is the romanticising of hustle notion. It’s time to recognise that we should not feel obligated to seem more productive than we feel to those around us. Hustle culture has its advantages, because it encourages us to push ourselves and build on our capabilities. But what it also encourages is the internal mindset that no matter how hard we try, it is still not enough.

We need to start prioritising our own wellbeing, and understand that to feel a little out of touch with our responsibilities is not the end of the world, and we’re allowed to be lazy if we want to. Whilst it is healthy to take on extra-curricular responsibilities to build your CV, fill the time surrounding our degree, and learn some valuable life skills, it is not healthy to force a weight onto your own shoulders that you wouldn’t dream of placing on anyone else’s.