HUSTLE CULTURE

Link to full podcast: https://soundcloud.com/heelhang/the-artists-circle-hustle-culture

“A good work ethic is not so much a concern for hard work but rather one for responsibility. There have been a great many men and women who have in fact used work or hustle or selfish ambition as an escape from real responsibility, an escape from purpose. In matters such as these, the hard worker is just as dysfunctional as the sloth.”

-Criss Jami

Prompt:

Every artist must hustle from time to time… it’s normal, and it’s always the hope that this hustle is because of a [slight] obsession with their craft. “Hustle culture” on the other hand is the idea that one should always be working hard to achieve success. I’m interested in your thoughts and experience with the hustle as an artist and the culture of overworking.

My answer:

I am guilty of toxic productivity. I hustle to feel “ok” about things going wrong in my life. I hustle out of fear. I hustle out of sadness. I hustle because I am competitive. I hustle because I am driven. I have to actively work on creating balance in my life, and setting healthy boundaries so that I don’t overwork myself and get burned out. When I am burned out I CAN’T create my best work.

Thoughts and Actions:

Hustle Culture is at its core, a lack of healthy boundary setting.

The “go hard or go home' mindset is physically unhealthy: hustle culture puts the body in a state of fight or flight. Hustle culture does not allow time for rest, and burnout is inevitable. This continuous stress can be harmful to both your mental and physical well-being.

The hustle-culture narrative promotes the idea that there's always more to strive for: more money to make, a bigger title or promotion to secure and a higher ceiling to smash. Although not all artists, workers, and entrepreneurs embrace these ideas, some experts say many people still feel the pressure from the decades-long trickle-down effect of total immersion in work, often to the detriment of other facets of their lives. They point out this mindset stems largely from tech start-ups in Silicon Valley, and is perpetuated on social media.

I honestly find hustle culture gross. And I’m not alone. The pandemic forced a reevaluation of life/work balance for many people.

“Since Covid-19, people have started to reject hustle culture and pull back – they’re no longer willing to do the work that doesn’t matter, and they’re setting boundaries between themselves and toxic narratives,” says Brooks E Scott, a California-based executive coach and interpersonal communications expert. “They see that hustle culture is no longer working as the key to becoming successful.”

So let’s translate this to the art world… the obvious reward for doing any kind of work is monetary gain… but what about the less obvious rewards like community or purpose? I personally feel like I have seen many many artists reject slaving away at the traditional “gig” work in favor of starting more personally rewarding artistic endeavors.  Is this a trend? Or are we at least starting to question what we are working so hard for?