It's Okay To Not Have Time For Everything

“A successful CEO reads 50 books per year.”

“I don’t make excuses, I make results.”

“Suffer the pain of discipline or suffer the pain of regret.”

The internet and walls of modern companies are filled with these motivational quotes. Even more, the idea of “no pain, no gain” is studiously promoted by so-called hustle gurus who like to boast about their achievements and superhuman work dedication.

All this is summarized by the hustle culture, which is the new way to glorify workaholism. The target audience for these nicely-wrapped quotes are Millenials - a generation of young, determined minds who know you must work hard to achieve your dreams.

But hustlers don’t necessarily promote the idea of working hard for a better life. Instead, they make you feel guilty for enjoying life and taking personal time. The struggle of a hustler is never over and you should always have a next hill to climb once you’ve achieved one goal.

The hustle culture is characterized by an unhealthy attachment for work (not necessarily productive work), lack of sleep, and fear of missing out (or FOMO).

Why We Shouldn’t Strive to Be Hustlers

Yes, it does take a lot of work to establish yourself. This is especially true for entrepreneurs or freelancers, but every achievement in life comes with a lot of work on the side. However, the over glorification of hard work and staying up late only to add one more project to your quiver is not healthy.

Hustlers boast about sleeping fewer hours (who needs sleep when there’s so much to do?), being busy all the time (with or without true purpose), working on weekends, and/or having a side job to their regular one.

There Is (and Will Be) Pressure

Hustlers are the new “superheroes” of our society and they put pressure on everyone around them.

Remember when you were a child and your mother was asking “why can’t you be as good/smart/hard-working as Susan or Joe?”. Well, Susan or Joe were the hustlers of your school and busied themselves with proving students could do more with their time.

In addition to that, modern society adds a new layer of pressure on young dreamers via social media and various content platforms. On Facebook or Instagram, we constantly see influencers who travel the world while looking flawless and delivering amazing content that’s being praised by everyone.

On the other hand, YouTube shows us you can be a gamer or an entertainer from your own home and make tons of money. And, to add to this, we have the king of hustlers, Elon Musk, who strongly believes in sleeping less and working more.

Backstory is Important

We’re not saying that the people who became famous on online platforms didn’t work hard. We’re not even bashing Elon Musk’s drive to make more with the limited time he has.

But we need to know the backstory and understand the sacrifices these people make on a daily basis. Successful people don’t just plow through the day, looking for more work to add to their plate. They have teams that take care of their needs.

Even more, many have opened up about the dangers of working yourself into oblivion without keeping a watchful eye on one’s limits. Hustling usually leads to low productivity, a constant sensation of being stuck, and depression.

Working yourself to the point where nothing else matters in life doesn’t promote a healthy mindset and leads to physical and mental burnout. While it’s easy to ignore the signs (especially in your 20s), the negative effects will creep in at some point and put you out of commission.

Do More with Less

A smart leader knows how to spread out the tasks of a difficult project in order to get great results and take care of their team. In fact, everyone should consider taking PMP courses to better understand why hustling is not a good long-term strategy.

It’s not bad to want to chase your dreams. But you should do so while working on all aspects of life, not just your career.

Busy doesn’t mean productive

Hustlers don’t understand the power of the wandering mind. But scientists say that the time we spend daydreaming is extremely important for our brain.

We are not designed for the constant grind and we need time to unplug and reconnect with ourselves. In fact, a person that’s constantly busy is no longer productive because they don’t know how to manage their time.

Practice being bored

How long has it been since you’ve been truly bored? In today’s crazy world, boredom is a rare commodity and we don’t appreciate its true value. In fact, we avoid it as much as possible.

According to recent studies and analyses, we need to be bored in order to be creative and authentic. When the brain is in a constant state of stimulation (YouTube, social media, work, home, music, and so on) we lose focus and forget to live.

Work smarter not harder

We’re sure you’ve heard this one before, but what does it mean?

There have been written books and articles, papers, and more on this topic, but we still don’t know for sure. The idea is to be on the lookout for ways to maximize the use of your time without working longer hours. Still, it’s a skill each of us has to master in their own way.

Work-life balance is important

Whether you have a family to go home to in the evening or you’re single, you still need to balance work with personal time.

You are not just your career, which is why you should look for hobbies that make you happy and fulfilled. Explore what makes you a better person and find people with similar inclinations to share these experiences. Luckily, the internet is great at this.

Wrap Up

Yes, you must push yourself to reach new, more challenging goals. But you also need to know and respect your limits (physical and mental ones). Most likely you won’t change the world in this lifetime. But you will have fulfilling life experiences and a better chance at happiness - is that so bad?