Grind Culture is Chewing Us Up
By Carly Fleming, M.Ed. RP
Registered Psychotherapist
There are lots of ways to refer to it…"Grind Culture", "Hustle Culture", "Workaholism".
Whatever we choose to call it, we know what it means. Productivity above peace, efficiency above joy, results above rest.
Grinding, hustling, pushing limits.
This kind of culture is often associated with the “hustle” of entrepreneurship or climbing the corporate ladder. But it is by no means limited to these realms. Regardless of employment status, many people are grinding, hustling, and pushing their limits for the majority of their waking hours. It takes the form of never-ending to-do lists, squeezing productivity out of every possible moment, booking back-to-back-to-back engagements and obligations. There is nothing new about this phenomenon. In various forms, it has been present in our culture since the industrial revolution, gaining steam through each generation. It’s been hitting a frenzied pace for some time now and gaining a lot of attention.
This frenzied pace is not slowing down, or at least not in any way that would allow us to see a society-wide shift.
Individuals, families and groups are making headway and these are the trailblazers but we all need to catch up. We need to end grind culture before it chews us up and spits us out.
Before we get to the plan for how to stand up to grind culture (stay tuned for another blog post on this topic), we need to understand why it’s such a toxic and unhealthy way to live. Much of the answer to ‘why is this a problem?’ lies in a rudimentary understanding of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems.
The sympathetic nervous system prepares the body for stress and drives the fight or flight response. The parasympathetic nervous system supports routine, day-to-day bodily activities and is involved when our bodies are at rest. When we are in a state of constant hustle, we are over-using our sympathetic nervous system. This is the state that our body comes to know and we come to be familiar with. When the sympathetic nervous system is over-used like this, it can be hard for our bodies to recognize when rest is appropriate or needed. So even though you may have a 10 minute window of time between two stressful activities, your sympathetic nervous system will just stay engaged instead of allowing the parasympathetic nervous system to show up and bring forth some much needed down-time.
This can explain why most people are more likely to reach for their phone to scroll during a short period of inactivity rather than sit quietly and read or meditate.
Social media and the 24-hour news cycle fit very well with the functions of the sympathetic nervous system. Over time, the over-utilization of the sympathetic nervous system and the under-utilization of the parasympathetic nervous system can have damaging results on our bodies, minds, emotions and relationships. You can read more about the negative impact of long-term stress caused by grind culture here.
Looking for some support?
If you’re experiencing the frenzied pace of grind culture, noticing that it’s getting harder and harder to truly feel relaxed, or realizing that relationships are suffering because of it, we want to help. Stay tuned for more support from everwell throughout this month or consider reaching out to a therapist who can help you navigate this journey.
When you’re ready, we can help.
Book a free 30 minute consultation and let’s talk about it.