My Problem with Hustle Culture

Hustle culture is considered good by some, great by few.

“It’s a good mindset. It helps us grow”, they say.

But perhaps there is some truth to this. After all, it is better to be focusing on a generally good goal over being completely aimless about life.

Perhaps it is better to serve society’s expectations and live an ideal career that brings value to society.

Or even better, chase after things that society craves for. Whether that’s money, status or material objects.

Of course, this seems good if that’s what society wants but whether that’s what you want is a valid question to ask yourself.

I’m not denying either of these premises however. My problem is that this creates a culture of showing rather than doing.

Virtue signaling isn’t isolated to movie stars or politicians anymore. Even the ordinary office worker does so.

“How?” you ask. Well, it’s by pretending to do work even though nothing has been accomplished.

A suitable yet familiar term would be busy for it. Of course, I’m not saying nothing as in, literally nothing but not what we want.

We want to succeed but succeed in things that matter to us whether that’s personal goals or work.

There’s nothing successful if you misdirect the aim and hit something else.

Though ironically, in the case of pretending to be busy, you’re doing absolutely nothing so this may be considered to be worse by few.

Regardless, I don’t fancy this personally nor for the so-called greater good of the society.

Not only does pretending to be busy ruin your productivity but it also makes you hate work and your fun.

So you not only waste time but don’t waste time well. At least, it would have been better spent off doing things you like.

That being said, it is understandable since management has always been inefficient and ineffective. This matter is an old tale of ages.

But the knowledge work situation is increasingly laughable when you consider that only roughly 2.5-4 hours is work.

4 hours sounds bad enough but it’s worse when you realize certain studies conclude with amounts around 2.5 hours.

Well, this is another indication that things didn’t just come in the world pre-installed I suppose.

The amount of time that’s getting purely wasted out of management or an out-of-touch CEO is quite bizarre.

Maybe we need a batman after all. Not for vigilante stuff but for handling companies well although crime rate is skyrocketing.

No it’s not. Crime rate is actually lowering down generally. Don’t be misinformed although the housing crisis seems like a headache.

Well, hopefully AI changes this for the better with its big data and learning patterns. Maybe it will discover common flaws of any corporation.

Though, I suppose the massive lay-offs and uncertainty with AI is going to be far worse to see this tiny ray of hope.

Anyways, if you read so far and want a solution to this problem. Look into this book or its summaries.

PS: This is probably my first essay with a heavy personal taste that has no proper focus. It’s more of a rant than anything but I hope it’s enjoyable even if it’s not that useful.