Nerd Church - I'm Resisting the Onslaught of January Hustle Culture

 

It's that time of year again - the time when everyone and their great-aunt Lucy is trying to get you to buy into the ideals of work and productivity.

January is a webscape of blogposts which promise to increase your productivity by 1000%! or earn 50 times more by adopting THIS winning attitude! 

Vlogs of new fitness regimes/money-making schemes, which seem more like shaming lectures than helpful tips.

Humble-brag tweets about how 'few' followers/views/monies someone got last year, and how they're gonna do so much better in 2022 - and you can too if you enrol in this course!

...And under-pinning it all this vibe of having to do more! more! MORE! or else you only have yourself to blame for your unenviable position in life/work/Western society/whatever.

That's not to say that you can't have goals and New Year's resolutions, and all of that jazz...

...just don't make it out to be an absolute must. 

Have the excitement of something to work towards, while knowing that it's perfectly fine to not reach the destination you had in mind - lord knows, the last two years have shown that planning with no flexibility isn't something we can rely on.

Don't work yourself into exhaustion for anything - nothing is worth your health and wellbeing; it's not positive, not healthy, and not sustainable.

'Hustle culture' is less avoidable in January than it is the rest of the goddamn time, and it can feel more than a little pressuring.

And you know - because I am publicly a hot mess - that overworking is something that I struggle with. A lot.

So, this is a reminder to you, me, and everyone else:

You do not and should not have to work yourself to exhaustion.

Productivity is not the be-all and end-all of existence, and you matter regardless of how much you do or do not manage to get done.

I keep over-estimating how much I should be able to do in any given stretch of time - so my to-do-list is rarely reasonable because I don't even think about how much I can do in that time.

And then my self-worth goes down through the floor and into the basement when I don't get the things done that I think I should.

So, despite this year very much being at its beginning, I've already had to remind myself - several times - that pushing myself when I'm already struggling is not the way to be.

I've had a migraine since the last days of December - not fun. 

And since my first instinct when I'm not feeling my best is to double-down and work harder, I've had to force myself to rest and take things easy (...or at least easier.)

So trust me when I say I know the pain of resisting the productivity porn that clutters the web - especially at this time of year.

But you can only do what you can do. Sometimes that's more, and sometimes that's less. AND THAT'S OK.

Rest. Take breaks. Enjoy what you're doing. Avoid putting pressure on yourself.

I know it's easier said than done - good luck!

Do you notice an increase in hustle culture/productivity porn at this time of year?

Have you got any New Year's resolutions?

Talk to me! 😁💬

You can follow me on Twitter @CeeDoraReads, on Pinterest, and on Dora Reads @ BlogLovin. For more ways to support me, check out the Support Me page

Related Reading:

• Nerd Church - Embracing the Minimum and Learning To NOT Go The Extra Mile

• Nerd Church - Battling My Puritanical Work Ethic (And Society I Guess)

Sharing and commenting is like sunshine breaking through clouds! 💖

← Previous Post