Some years ago, I used to be that guy. The one who was in the gym, on the rowing machine by 6am on a weekday (and with the social media pictures to prove it.) Workout, shower, change, and on the train to the office by 07:30. Just like all of those online influencers, I was making the most of every moment of the day. I was a super-productive morning person. I was “crushing it”. Or felt like I was at least. But then something changed.
In 2020 I started working for myself. No longer did I have to be in the same office every day at a particular time. I didn’t need to be in the gym really early to get a workout in before the day began any more. With the loss of a requirement to be in the same workplace every day, I gained the freedom to set out my calendar to suit myself better. That started with the realisation that in actual fact I don’t naturally wake up at five o’clock. Not anywhere close. Left to its own devices my body wakes up at around 8am and so I waved goodbye to the necessity of ridiculously early gym sessions.
But the previous iteration of me had bought into something very popular but, I believe, quite toxic. The hustle culture. This manifests itself in a number of ways. Foremost is the “5am Club” social media trend, made popular by some influencer or other. It asserts that being up really early means you have a longer day and get more done than other mere mortals. The natural extension to this is then the need to “always be hustling” or in other words, spending every waking hour on whatever your work of choice happens to be. Although it began on social media, this culture has naturally bled across into the corporate world as well. Hustle culture in modern workplace can be seen in such practices as:
Time tracking of employees at a ridiculously granular level
The pressure to keep your Microsoft Teams green light on at all times
Sending emails long out of hours or over the weekend
Unpleasantly early online meetings (because we’re all just so busy, right)
If you recognise any or all of these from your own place of work, then I sympathise deeply. Having been bombarded with weekend emails, encouraged to put in an extra hour every day “Because it shows commitment” and being hassled on Teams the second my light went green, I get what you’re going through.
Taking these practices into account though, it’s no wonder that many companies experience catastrophically low employee engagement. It’s also little surprise, though a great tragedy, that poor mental health in the workplace is so prevalent.
Before I go on though, let me be very clear on a couple of points:
I work really hard for my clients and sometimes this necessitates long hours or early starts. These are however, the exception rather than the rule. Generally, if I leave the house early, it’s through my own choice to travel when the traffic is lighter. If I choose to work late, again it’s my decision to do so for particular need
Sometimes, specific short term circumstances dictate that we all need to work long and unpleasant hours. However idealistic you might be, this is just a fact of working life. But the operative words should be “short term”. Again, on occasion rather than being the norm
Now I accept that your agency over your time and working conditions may not be as great as mine. But I believe that there are things that all of us, and particularly those in leadership, can do to help.
Find your own rhythm
It was quite the eye-opener for me to find that I was not naturally a morning person. Nowadays it seems incomprehensible that I would get up three mornings a week at just after 5am and head straight for the gym. I prefer a gentler start to the day. But crucially, what I’ve also found is that there are times of the day when I do certain things better. Meditation, thinking and brainstorming are best done first thing in the morning. That’s when I have all of my most creative ideas. When I have to write a report, blog post or even some of my book, I’m more productive either before lunch or late into the evening. Yoga, swimming or the gym fit best sometime after dinner. Although I don’t rise with the lark much these days, I am rarely in bed before midnight. This isn’t a badge of honour, it’s just what works for me. The way my energy fluctuates through the day lends itself to this pattern but it will most likely be different for you. The important thing though is to work this out for yourself and then try to box off time for tasks when you will be your best at doing them. In my own example, imagine the impact of spending the morning answering dozens of emails or other messages? I can do it for sure, but then all of my best time for creative thought has just disappeared. Once gone, it’s something I find hard to get back later in the day. As a wise man once said to me “Manage your energy, rather than just your time.”
Leaders: Be mindful of the shadow you cast
If you’re in a position of leadership, this comes with responsibilities far beyond the remit of the actual work you do. This applies to appointed leaders and managers, but also to people who are in some sort of position of influence in a team or business. And this second category covers a very large number of us! If you’ve been in the team a number of years and know your way around, the junior staff members WILL be looking up to you. Whether anyone says so or not. So be very careful of the behaviours you exhibit. The “shadow you cast” as it were.
Reading and sending emails late at night or over the weekend might suit the rhythm of your week and if so, there’s nothing inherently wrong with that. But it will create an unwritten impression in the minds of the people you’re responsible for (or influence) that this is what’s expected of them too. Leaders lead best by example and so make sure that you show a positive one. Almost all email software has the facility to delay sending until the time you choose. So by all means read and write them when it suits you. Then tell Outlook or whatever to send them out at 9am on the next working day. Don’t wear the fact that you’re working unsociable hours as a badge of honour. It will definitely impact your team’s behaviour and in some cases, their mental health.
I heard a true story recently of someone eating their lunch at their desk but holding it discreetly on their lap while doing so. This was so that their manager in the next office couldn’t see them and so wouldn’t assume they were slacking off from work. Nothing had ever been said to spark this behaviour, but somewhere a tacit understanding had crept in. Rest breaks are important and not something to be embarrassed to need (not to mention being legally mandated under UK law). So leaders, take breaks and make sure your team is comfortable doing so too.
Set boundaries
OK this one might seem a bit idealistic, especially given the frequent imbalance in power between lower-level employees and staff in more senior positions. However, without clear boundaries in the workplace, you can find your life being ridden over rough-shod.
If there is time in the day before or after which it’s generally inconvenient for you to be on calls (I mean this in the case of the very early or very late meetings) then be clear about this. As I said earlier, we’ll always have to make exceptions, but without boundaries discretionary effort can quickly become the expectation. Be clear about when you can and can’t be contacted and by what means. Someone I know very well recently left a job where their personal mobile phone was bombarded with work calls and WhatsApp messages late in the evening and over the weekend. This is clearly an unacceptable state of affairs, but my experience has shown it to be far from an isolated instance. Ask for a work-only phone and then clearly agree the hours when it’ll be switched on. In contrast to the horror stories, I’ve known many good workplaces where this is possible. If you repeatedly find that this isn't the case in your own, it might be time to vote with your feet.
I know that I’m in the fortunate position of having a great deal of agency over my time. And I’ll say it again: Sometimes teamwork means we have to work in ways that don’t suit us for a short time. But embracing hustle culture and by extension creating unfair expectations on team members is harming us. It’s not as productive as advocates make out either. Working long hours leads to diminishing returns. We get tired, our work-rate drops and we make mistakes. Going without breaks during the day and over the weekend leads to high levels of stress, poor mental health and ultimately burnout and breakdown. The previous 6am gym-goer that I used to be was utterly knackered by mid-afternoon and a zombie over the weekend. No use to anyone and yet still I was required to push on and achieve things.
So say no to the culture of hustle. To being constantly switched on to work. If even one thought within this piece helps you to change your working life, or that of your team for the better, little by little it’ll be a positive thing for all of us.
Photo by Tim Gouw on Unsplash
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