Elle Madelyn

We are Hustling ourselves to mental illness and death. Why?

“Along the same lines, this need for constant productivity sometimes makes people feel pressured to turn every hobby into a side hustle, which is part of our culture of making everything into a capitalist pursuit, Boyes says. Surely the Stoics wouldn’t approve of manipulating a hobby — an activity we do for the purpose of making us happy — into something that becomes an additional source of stress. Nor would the Stoics approve of another side effect of hustle culture: mentally putting a monetary value our time and allowing it to be a source of stress. As Boyes explains, if you chat with your neighbor for 10 minutes, it can be easy to fall into the trap of thinking “this just cost me [a certain dollar amount]” — especially for freelancers or others who are self-employed.

This commodification of our time and energy makes us feel as though we constantly need to sell ourselves; this can leave us feeling like who we are is never enough. “It can perpetuate feeling like your skills or knowledge expire shortly after they’re acquired, and like there’s always something more we need to be doing to stay relevant,” Dena M. DiNardo, Psy.D., a clinical psychologist in Philadelphia, tells Thrive. This can then lead to low self-esteem, hopelessness, guilt, loss of interest, and increase the likelihood of racing thoughts, difficulty concentrating, trouble sleeping and irritability — an incredibly high price not worth paying.”

https://thriveglobal.com/stories/hustle-culture-constant-work-always-on-mental-health-tips/