Hustle Culture: How The Rise-and-Grind Mentality Does More Harm Than Good

By Moon Harper

Mar 09, 2024 02:00 AM EST

Hustle culture, which has gained popularity for working longer, harder hours to achieve success, has resulted in workers feeling defeated, disengaged, and burned out.

What Is Hustle Culture?

Hustle culture, also called grind culture or toxic productivity, promotes the belief that working intensely without breaks is the most effective path to achieving professional objectives. This approach often leads individuals to work far beyond the standard 40 hours per week, intruding upon employee's personal lives.

What Hustle Culture Brings?

A 2022 survey by Deloitte and Workplace Intelligence, with 2,100 participants, revealed that:

70% of C-level executives contemplate leaving their jobs for better well-being support.
Employees and executives are challenged to prioritize their well-being.
40% of employees feel exhausted, stressed, and overwhelmed.
30% of executives report feeling lonely.
Over half of employees and executives are dealing with fatigue and mental health problems.

Hustle culture thrives on the drive to achieve more, believing work alone brings purpose. However, it overlooks the need for downtime, personal time, family moments, and hobbies. Since the pandemic reshaped work practices, both business owners and employees have been reassessing workplace culture. Most large companies now acknowledge the significance of work-life balance in retaining talent and productivity, and workers are increasingly unwilling to compromise their health and personal lives for work.

Famous Advocates of Hustle Culture

Gary Vaynerchuk, widely known as GaryVee, is an entrepreneur, speaker, and internet personality who popularized "the hustle" concept in 2018, defining hustling as the passionate pursuit of a goal, believing that smart work will never replace hard work.
Elon Musk, a supporter of grind culture, tweeted in 2018 that nobody ever changed the world on 40 hours a week, referring to the 100-hour weeks Tesla employees worked during the Model 3 sedan production. Musk recounts sleeping in his office daily during his early days in technology. He advises to work hard every waking hour, believing that working twice as much as others can double productivity over a year.
When WeWork was founded in 2010, Adam Neumann promoted hustle culture as a key aspect of its brand. Through initiatives like "Thank God It's Monday" celebrations and the "Work Is Life" platform, Neumann aimed to make long workdays more enticing and advocated for the workaholic lifestyle. However, under new management, WeWork's focus has shifted to providing "flexible solutions" and "safety-focused spaces" to make workers feel more motivated, productive, and content.

Pros of Hustle Culture

Promotions and Rewards: Working longer hours at your job can lead to recognition, promotions, and salary increases.
Higher Income: Working longer hours or juggling multiple jobs can boost annual earnings.
Enhanced Productivity: Putting in extra effort at work can enhance productivity.

Cons of Hustle Culture

Mental Fatigue: According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, hustle culture leads to burnout and mental breakdowns, which are often linked to irregular schedules. A study in the Journal of Occupational Health found that burnout risk doubles after 60 hours of work compared to a 40-hour workweek.
Reduced Personal Time: Hustle culture leaves many professionals to resort to "quiet quitting" only to prioritize hobbies, family, and friends.
Poor Health: Working long hours led to 745,000 deaths from heart disease in 2016, possibly caused by working for over 55 hours a week, according to the World Health Organization. Similarly, a 2019 meta-analysis found that long hours at work increase cardiovascular disease, stress, depression, anxiety, poor sleep, alcohol use, smoking, and overall mortality risks.