From Frenzy to Focus: Elisa Martínez On How We Can Cancel Hustle Culture And Create A New Sustainable Work Paradigm

An Interview With Drew Gerber

Say “yes” to yourself. As you get clear about your “why,” you’ll see that you’ve been saying “yes” things that don’t actually align with your core values. Experiment with setting healthy limits and boundaries around certain things, people and opportunities — even some you think you should say “yes” to. Practice saying “yes” to yourself and to things that feel good, healthy and that reflect what your true priorities are.

“Hustle Culture” is an ethos often propounded by young self-proclaimed internet gurus that centers around the idea that working long hours and sacrificing self-care are required to succeed. This mentality may have gained popularity in the mid-2010s, but it has peaked, and now it has been sardonically renamed “Burnout Culture.” So why exactly is Hustle Culture the wrong path to take? What damage can it cause? What is a viable, sustainable alternative to hustle culture? How can we move from Frenzy To Focus? In this interview series, we are talking to business leaders, mental health leaders, marketing experts, business coaches, authors, and thought leaders who can share stories and insights about “How We Can Cancel Hustle Culture And Create A New Sustainable Work Paradigm.” As a part of this series, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Elisa Martínez, LMFT.

Elisa Martínez, LMFT is a psychotherapist, speaker and mentor who helps achievers and professionals break free of burnout, overwork and stress so that they can live with enthusiasm, purpose and fulfillment. To learn more about Elisa and her work, visit https://www.elisamartineztherapy.com.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to know how you got from “there to here.” Inspire us with your backstory!

I’ve always been a high-achiever in school and work: whatever I do, I want to do it well. Growing up, much of my identity and self-worth was tied to “being the best” and getting lots of external validation and praise. This pattern carried over to my career, leading to me getting caught up in the overwork of hustle culture. After several cycles of burnout, I started taking my psychological health more seriously. Being a therapist keeps me on top of my self-care game, because my well-being directly impacts my ability to support others — I can’t help my clients to grow and heal if I’m not doing that myself! I now help lots of burned-out professionals and achievers break free of the hustle and create engaging and fulfilling lives.

Tell us about your typical day!

I start my day hydrating with lots of water and doing some yoga, stretching or a 30-min workout. I take my kitties outside for some exploration time, then make breakfast. After checking my email/messages, my work day tasks begin: meeting 1-on-1 with clients or colleagues, writing or creating online content and doing some form of professional development activity (training, reading, etc.). I work from home, so I’ve got a lot of flexibility to take breaks, eat lunch, which might include sitting outside, chatting with a friend, going on social media or doing chores around the house. At the end of the day I watch a good TV show, eat a healthy dinner and might read a fiction novel.

What lessons would you share with yourself if you had the opportunity to meet your younger self?

I would tell my younger self “you are worthy, just the way you are. Get support to lean into your fears and the dark places within that you want to avoid, because that’s where the healing is. Therapy is an amazing tool — use it! Stay focused on what lights you up and what you’re passionate about — don’t let yourself forget this part of you in the busyness of life. Be with people who make you feel good about yourself. Show yourself kindness. Find ways to be of service to others, because in the end it’s all about love. There is great joy in giving!”

Ok, thank you for sharing your inspired life. Let’s start with a basic definition to make sure that all of us are on the same page. How do you define Hustle Culture?

It’s the “rise and grind” mentality we often see in modern workplace environments that equates one’s productivity to their worth. There’s a huge focus on ambition and success — working harder, faster, smarter, longer and stronger so that you can CRUSH your goals! Unfortunately, this comes at the expense of rest, self-care and that ever-elusive work-life balance. If you have to work overtime, skip meals, get little sleep and sacrifice your personal life and downtime — that’s just the price of success. Hustle culture promises that if you make these sacrifices now, you’ll get a big payoff later (achievement, money, etc.) — and then you’ll have the time, freedom and resources to live the good life and relax. You feel guilty and like you’re “wasting” the time you spend on anything non-work related. The struggle and sacrifice are to be worn as badges of honor, even though you’re burning yourself out. If you have a problem with the hustle, then you just need to work on your mindset. It’s pretty toxic!

Now let’s discuss an alternative to Hustle Culture. To begin, can you share with our readers a bit about why you are an authority on the problems that come with Hustle Culture?

I’m no stranger to the hustle — I was steeped in it when working for a startup, as an educator and an entrepreneur. It led to several cycles of burnout which I fortunately recovered from! As a psychotherapist, I have a keen interest in the sociocultural and systemic contexts that burnout and related mental health challenges thrive in. I understand the psychological dynamics that contribute to burnout and use a highly-individualized, holistic and neuroscience-informed approach to help people heal and shift into healthier patterns so that they can create super fulfilling lives for themselves.

The specific term “Hustle Culture” may have been popularized in the 2010s, but the concept behind it and the behaviors that come with it can be traced back hundreds or perhaps even thousands of years. From your vantage point, experience, or research, what were the main drivers of Hustle Culture?

The term “hustle” is actually rooted in African-American culture and speaks to what Black people had to (and still) do to overcome limited financial and occupational opportunities imposed by systemic racism. This appropriated term evolved to represent the almost-heroic, empowered action one takes to thrive and succeed. Ever-increasing industrial development in the 70’s required employees to work even more and led to the coining of the term “workaholism.” The exponential growth of the tech industry in the 90’s brought a new, normalized standard of overwork. Elon Musk himself said “nobody ever changed the world on 40 hours a week.” Capitalism, consumerism, high unemployment and economic instability have all contributed to the drive to have more, work harder and do whatever you have to do to not only survive, but also be successful — and even change the world.

I work in the marketing industry, and so I’m very cognizant of this question. What role do you see that marketing and advertising has played in creating the frenzy caused by Hustle Culture that many of us feel?

A huge one! In our consumer culture, marketing and advertising paints a tantalizing picture of the “good life” and the products and services we need to have it — even if that requires being a part of the hustle to achieve it. It leverages social media and influencers to promote an idealized lifestyle that we compare ourselves to. Seeing the success that they made happen motivates us to work hard for what we imagine could be possible for us. Hustle culture assumes a meritocracy where people will be rewarded based on their abilities, hard work and merit, however it doesn’t take into account the systemic challenges and oppression that often stand in the way of success for many.

Can you help articulate the downsides of Hustle Culture? Why is this an unsustainable work paradigm?

The paradox is that hustle culture actually decreases productivity and the quality of your work by putting you in a chronic, physiological state of “fight or flight” stress. This can lead to very real mental and physical health problems: depression, anxiety, heart disease, impaired immunity, increased diabetes risk and more. Your brain needs time to rest and recharge in order to be creative and engage in expansive, outside-the-box thinking, but this is so much harder if you are continually putting your self-care and a healthy work-life balance on the back burner. The never-ending and future-focused Hustle Culture cycle keeps us from enjoying life in the present, by convincing us that the only way to find self-fulfillment is to continually strive for specific external outcomes. We lose sight of why we are working so hard and end up missing out on what makes life truly meaningful and precious to us in the here and now. Our sense of self-worth becomes tied to whether or not we’re crushing our goals, rather than to our inherent value as human beings. The competitive pressure to achieve, no matter the cost, also fails to address the systemic socioeconomic inequities that help fuel the rise-and-grind paradigm.

Let’s now discuss Focus, the opposite of Frenzy. Can you please share one area of your personal or business life where you simplified things and then felt less frenzied and more fulfilled? Can you please explain?

I started practicing saying “no” to projects I didn’t have the bandwidth for, social invites that I didn’t feel up to attending and certain, so-called “obligations.” This can be so, so challenging! I initially felt anxious and guilty, like I was letting others down. But going back to my “why” reminded me of my larger purpose for holding a boundary around my time, space and energy. By saying “no” I could actually say “yes!” to myself and to those parts of me that were so in need of rest, recharging and renewal. This has resulted in freeing up energy and drive to do more of the things that are important to me.

What life experiences have you adopted in your business or personal life that have left you more satisfied? Can you please explain?

I’ve learned to be much more mindful about the people I spend time with. I’m more intentional about making the effort to cultivate and maintain social and work relationships with supportive people who enrich my life. As social beings, we’re meant to connect with others. Unfortunately, Hustle Culture can leave us feeling isolated and alone. Creating time and space for these healthy relationships satisfies my inherent human need for meaningful connection. It makes a big difference in my life!

Okay, fantastic. Here is the main part of our interview. In your opinion, how can we break the addiction to being busy or trying to find the next big thing? How can people truly focus on tasks that make THE difference to their business and lives giving them satisfaction or life purpose alignment? Based on your experience and your area of expertise, can you please share “Five Ways To Move From Frenzy to Focused”?

1. What is truly important to you? Identify your top 5 core life values (use a list like this, or simply Google “core values list”). What changes or actions can you take to live in alignment with these values in the present — not just in some promised future? Getting in touch with your “why” can be eye-opening and help you reorient to what really matters.. Your top 5 values may evolve over time, so check in with your list periodically to update it and to remind yourself of what’s most important when the going gets tough.
2. What does your ideal day feel like? It’s easy to be more preoccupied with what we think it should look like — but even this is ultimately based on a feeling state we want to attain. Do more of the things in the here-and-now that help you connect to that feeling — rather than just putting it off for the distant future. By engaging in healthy things that feel good now, you’ll be replenishing yourself and getting clearer about your priorities.
3. Get back to basics. Prioritize your biological needs by getting enough sleep, eating healthy food and doing some form of movement or exercise. This brings your brain and body back to homeostasis, which helps you think more clearly, feel more energized and improves your mood (the science around this is pretty solid!). The idea is to gradually build long-term, sustainable change, so start small by picking one area and experimenting with “bite-size” changes. For example, you might start by sleeping with your phone in the other room, stretching for 5 minutes in the a.m. or eating a healthy breakfast at least 1 day a week. The important thing is to just start somewhere, then you can build on these habits.
4. Slash your to-do list. This sounds impossible, I know! With all the pressure to achieve and crush those goals, we overestimate what we can get done in a day — and then feel like we’ve failed when we don’t. Have 1–3 priorities on your daily task list, max. When you’re not in overdrive every waking moment trying to tackle a lofty to-do list, your nervous system (mind and body) can downshift and pump out less of the stress hormones that contribute to the psychological and physical challenges associated with burnout. You’ll feel more grounded, focused and able to produce higher quality work on the 1–3 priorities you’ve chosen. It’s a way to work smarter while taking care of yourself!
5. Say “yes” to yourself. As you get clear about your “why,” you’ll see that you’ve been saying “yes” things that don’t actually align with your core values. Experiment with setting healthy limits and boundaries around certain things, people and opportunities — even some you think you should say “yes” to. Practice saying “yes” to yourself and to things that feel good, healthy and that reflect what your true priorities are. When you say no and set boundaries, it’s normal to feel like you’re being “selfish.” However, saying “yes” to yourself will help you recharge your battery so that you can give of yourself from a less depleted place. Remember, you can’t pour from an empty cup!

How would you describe a work paradigm that is a viable alternative to Hustle Culture? What would it look like, and what would you call it?

“Conscious work” is based on the fact that we work better and contribute more when people’s needs and wants are included in the “success” equation. What are the core values being served as we work to achieve x, y and z? It expands the definition of success beyond quantifiable dollar amounts to include the very real benefits that result from the sustained well-being of individuals and the larger community. Instead of viewing people solely in terms of their “productive output value,” our whole selves are supported by attending to mental and physical health, social and connection needs, down time, recreation and self-care. This increases our ability to be more flexible, creative and to better navigate complex challenges, which contributes to our productivity and our well-being. Working consciously also embraces and nurtures people’s work styles beyond individualistic, patriarchal work norms, recognizing that we all have unique gifts, strengths and capabilities to contribute.

Do you have any favorite books, podcasts, or resources that have inspired you about working differently?

I really like the book Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle” (Emily Ngoski, PhD and Amelia Nagoski, DMA). While written with women in mind, it has actionable info that applies to everyone!

As a psychotherapist, I use the Internal Family Systems approach to help people break free of their hustle and burnout cycles. And while there can be inner psychological dynamics that contribute to burnout and that are best addressed with psychotherapy, for those for whom self-help is desired and appropriate I recommend Self-Therapy: A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Wholeness Using IFS, A Cutting-Edge Psychotherapy, 3rd Edition (Jay Earley). Other recommendations:

Books:

• Pause: Harnessing the Life-Changing Power of Giving Yourself a Break (Rachael O’Meara)
• I’m So Effing Tired: A Proven Plan to Beat Burnout, Boost Your Energy and Reclaim Your Life (Amy Shah) -
• Overworked and Overwhelmed: The Mindfulness Alternative (Scott Eblin)

Podcasts:

• Decode Your Burnout (host Dr. Sharon Grossman)
• Simplify (hosts Caitlin Schiller and Ben Schuman-Stoler): episode 38, “Do What You Do Best, Drop The Rest” with Tiffany Dufu.
• Beyond the To-Do List (host Erik Fisher): episode 25, “How to Combat Burnout” with David Shar

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can inspire.

Bringing more education about psychological health to families and youth — and ensure that they have access to mental health care and other social, occupational, educational, healthcare, financial and other resources that they need to thrive mentally and emotionally. Human beings are our most precious resource. When they can be the healthiest versions of themselves, so much is possible for our world!

What is the best way for our readers to continue to follow your work online?

You can learn more about me at https://www.elisamartineztherapy.com and connect with me on Instagram (@creatingcalmconfidence), LinkedIn (Elisa Martinez, MA, LMFT), Facebook (Creating Calm & Confidence) and YouTube (@elisamartinezlmft).

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent on this. We wish you only continued success.

About The Interviewer: For 30 years, Drew Gerber has been inspiring those who want to change the world. Drew is the CEO of Wasabi Publicity, Inc., a full-service PR agency lauded by PR Week and Good Morning America. Wasabi Publicity, Inc. is a global marketing company that supports industry leaders, change agents, unconventional thinkers, companies and organizations that strive to make a difference. Whether it’s branding, traditional PR or social media marketing, every campaign is instilled with passion, creativity and brilliance to powerfully tell their clients’ story and amplify their intentions in the world. Schedule a free consultation at WasabiPublicity.com/Choosing-Publicity.