Gen Zen: How to have a healthy relationship with hustle culture
SINGAPORE — With six side hustles while studying for his university degree, Edmund Chong, then 24 years old, recalled feeling overstretched and burnt out.
He had taken on the side gigs — which included writing articles, running a pet boarding house and dabbling in a vending machine business — in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“I had to spend only four hours a day on schoolwork, and I had so much free time after. It was almost impossible to find a job during the Covid-19 pandemic, so I decided to do multiple side hustles,” he said.
Why? Because he wanted to “well utilise” his time.
“We think time is money, and that we need to fully utilise our time and effort towards saving for ourselves. I think that has led to a very unhealthy, unrealistic expectation of work,” said Mr Chong, now 26, who runs HustleVenture, a platform designed to educate individuals about side hustles and financial empowerment.
Although quiet-quitting and “lazy girl jobs” — which refer to jobs with minimal effort that pay a lot — are gaining traction, burnout from hustle culture still holds strong in Singapore.
For 26-year-old Desmond Lim, social media platforms like LinkedIn instilled an unhealthy desperation to constantly grow his portfolio while he was in his last year of university.
“Seeing all my peers boast about their internships or professional achievements, I feel like I’m constantly losing the rat race,” said Mr Lim, who now works for a social media agency.
His peers' achievements, veiled in seemingly modest social media posts, put him into a state where he felt he could not stop striving for better.
“It reached an unhealthy stage where I felt like I was working all the time, and I had to stop and rethink what was best for me. So I limited my use of LinkedIn to just five minutes a day on my phone,” he said.
While writing this article on a Sunday right after helping out at a good friend's wedding, this reporter could not help but agree with both men about how hustle culture can have an impact on mental health.
To be realistic, it’s hard to entirely step away from hustle culture when you are in a job you are passionate about and want to progress in. And for Gen-Zers entering the working world, “making full use of your youth” to hustle is another common phrase that drives us to burnout.
Is it possible to have a healthy relationship with hustle culture without affecting your mental health? Is finding another job the only way to escape the grind? Here’s what experts have to say.
WHY DO WE HAVE HUSTLE CULTURE?
Mr Chirag Agarwal, co-founder of counselling service Talk Your Heart Out, said: “The term hustle culture has come to refer to the blind pursuit of a career goal that if achieved would justify any sacrifices made along the way — including to your own well-being and happiness.
“I think all of us are guilty of placing too much emphasis on other people's goals, ambitions, definitions of success and confusing them to be our own.”
This disconnect between our real aspirations and other’s leads many to mindlessly enter the rat race, leading to burnout, disillusionment and an inability to bounce back from failure.
Mr Chong added that feelings of inferiority fuel hustle culture — his own grind was fuelled by his unhealthy comparison with his peers.
He added that some industries might be more prone to hustle culture, such as the real estate and insurance industry.
“As you’re self-employed, you feel like you are your own boss with control of your own time,” he said. “So you keep pushing yourself to be better and spend all your time just constantly grinding.”
HOW TO FIND A HEALTHY BOUNDARY WITH WORK?
However, hustle culture is different from “plain old hard work”, noted Mr Agarwal. While the former suggests pushing yourself at any cost, the latter is a virtue.
So how does one find a healthy boundary between work and mental health? Mr Agarwal said it starts with identifying one's personal and professional goals, and then identifying what one is willing to sacrifice or not in pursuit of these goals.
“Only then can one draw the required boundaries — be it in life or at work — because everyone's line is different,” he said.
Mr Agarwal said people can determine what their boundaries might look like by adopting practices that give them some space to think. This includes journaling, guided meditation or going for therapy.
He also suggested some guiding questions that could help kickstart the reflection process. They include:
- What are your values and are your current or future goals in line with them?
- What is non-negotiable for you? What are you willing to give up in pursuit of your goals?
- Who can you speak with to get an honest appreciation for the challenges and opportunities available in the industry you are interested in?
Mr Chong added that proper time management is also key to setting healthy boundaries with work.
“Don’t forget to set aside time for your family, friends or even yourself,” he said. “It’s not always about work and the hustle. Sometimes we just need time for ourselves.”
Is quitting your job one solution to escape hustle culture? Mr Chong said it depends.
Having a conversation with your employer about your goals and understanding their targets for you can determine if there is any mismatch in ideals, and possibly find a compromise.
“Don’t forget that your job is not the end-all. When you’re unable to work, someone else will just take your place,” he said, adding employers should do their part to ensure the workplace is not one which results in employees sacrificing their health.
