Stress And Overwork Are Not Badges Of Honor
Don’t give in to the stress and hustle culture
I’ve been thinking a lot about work life balance, stress, and burn out lately. Fortunately, it’s not something I’m personally suffering — I generally like my job and enjoy the people I work with.
But I also live in Silicon Valley, the epicenter of hustle and startup culture. And all the overachievers, hustlers, and humble (and not so humble) braggers make it pretty hard to take it easy. The constant competition makes me feel that every time I take a moment to relax, I risk falling behind. I’m sure my peers feel that way too.
It creates this terrible feedback loop where because I’m afraid of falling behind, I work harder. Other people see me working harder, get scared, and work harder too. I see that and freak out and work even harder. It’s not healthy and definitely not sustainable.
Yet people here seem to wear that stress like a badge of honor. It could be work stress, financial stress, parenting stress, even fitness stress. There’s this feeling that if you’re not stressed about something, then you’re not properly living life to the fullest.
It reminds me of something I once read on LinkedIn saying that if you’re not constantly oversubscribed and needing to put things on the backburner, then…
