I have a good friend who is working on a book to address that very topic. She's contrasting hustle culture with "blue zone" culture and applying it to business. I'll share this with her.
I see loud hustlers on social media doing absolutely nothing meaningful with their time. Their way is not everyone's way. This is such a fascinating subject.
Thank you for supporting my article and for sharing it with others.
My pleasure. Currently, the person to whom I referred writes a newsletter on LinkedIn -- and it's well-received -- but I hope to get her over here to Substack. We'll see how that goes.
Happy Wednesday Paul. LinkedIn is interesting lol. I've built a cherished community there, but unfortunately, I don't have the bandwidth to post every day, and I don't think I need to. I love growing slowly and deliberately, so I share a post every Wednesday, and I live in the comments during the week. For now, this will have to do. Substack is nice. At least I don't have to put up with bathroom selfies. "wink wink"
LinkedIn isn't for everyone. I run a boutique B2B writing and editing agency, so I need it for those purposes. My criteria is, if your audience (target market) is there, then you need to be. Otherwise, don't waste precious time. That's one reason I ditched X.
My clients are not there. Heck, most of them don't even have a social media account. I am somewhat new to being online. Two years isn't long. I think we need some digital presence online. It makes you more adaptable to bs.
There's a lot of that online for sure. I made a big part of my living because of social media (books, speaking, client work), so I can't besmirch it too much. But I'm a huge fan of @Joe Pulizzi who is famous for saying don't build your house on rented land. Substack still qualifies as "rented," but it feels more "owned" compared to the typical social nets.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some very important hustling to do. And by hustling, I mean I will walk by the ocean. Because sometimes, the most revolutionary act is permitting yourself to just... be."
I would absolutely be 100% more productive if I could take a daily sunset walk on the beach.
Neela there are so many things I love about this post. I love how you correctly point out that true hustle is simply doing the daily tasks IN PRIVATE that are boring and repetitive, but necessary to keep the lights on.
But I really love how you are clarifying that we all have to work to define what our version of 'hustle' really is. We waste too much time worrying that we need to keep up with some 'standard' we see on social media for what we should be accomplishing.
Sometimes, often times less is more. Especially when it comes to creative work. As you correctly point out, the pressure of 'hustle' causes our creative processes to shut down. Stress fills our brain and removes our ability to mentally connect dots and create effectively.
Love that you are on a crusade to change our perception of hustle. It's a fight worth fighting!
Nicely said Nick! The 2024 concept of "hustle culture" annoys me tremendously because the practitioners perpetuate the cycle of silliness. Thank you so much for stopping by!
If we're hustling all the time, are we still hustling? It's a bit like that little lad who cried wolf so no one believed him when some real heavy stuff went down! Honestly Neela - I am with you 1000% on this; having experienced burn out years ago, I can attest to the good it does, but simply investing in relaxation and not being in hustle mode 24 x 7!! If people insist on hustling constantly, label relaxation time too as a Hustle Chill or something if it makes them feel better !!
Most people would think I hustle all the time but I've found ways to have fun with the things that I do except actual work. That is not so much fun these days lol
I 100% agree. Thank you so much bro. I appreciate you stopping by!
All hustle is not the same. If we are lucky enough not to have to hustle to survive then let's have some fun with it - or go the other way with an anti-hustle routine.
Indeed Lisa. Hustle with purpose and not because everyone is doing it or because you think this will make you go viral ... I am watching you LinkedIn. I appreciate you stopping by!
I can't love and agree with this enough, Neela! I use several of your techniques for 30 days of challenges on anti-hustling on a regular basis. I also believe we are more well-rounded and productive humans when we are taking time to satisfy our mental and physical needs.
👉Real hustle isn't about the grind. It's about the purpose behind the grind.👈 Amen to that!
Thank you for your constant support. I appreciate you.
This may sound cliche but we really can't pour from an empty cup. We can hustle but we need to do it with purpose. I love how your life is family-focused and mental health-focused. Happy Wednesday Chason. Thank you for stopping by!
Good thoughts here! I'm glad social media wasn't a thing when I was setting out on my publishing career at the beginning of the 1990s: the superabundance of advice would have confused the crap out of me. Hustle culture very much WAS a thing in the Yuppie Decade, but thankfully I'd internalised the opposing idea of Creative Idleness, which is pretty much what you're talking about early in your article I think.
Good ideas rarely come when we're staring at a blank screen, searching our mind frantically for good ideas. Such is life's irony.
In my case, they pop unbidden into my sleeping mind and prod me awake at 4 in the morning. 🤷
Happy weekend to you. Truthfully I've built a nice practice without using social media (offline). There is merit still in doing this. It sure gets noisy online. I feel like although people worked hard back in the day, they were strategic and without the distractions and red tape found a way to live their life ... I do appreciate you stopping by 🙏
Love the archimedes story. Always get best ideas when running, showering or swimming so makes sense. Agree entirely thar hustle in that sense is knackering- so many times I try to force writing it fails miserably.
Yes, same - usually when I'm working out, which then forces me to stop and write it down lol........... I appreciate you stopping by! Thank you for the feedback!
Doing live streams was my way to get around the 'constantly producing' bit while still feeding the algorithm of YouTube - I don't mind a once a week production - plenty of recharge time in between - happy writing Neela 🤗☕
Happy Wednesday Mike - There are so many studies showing that our brain tends to retain less after a specific # of hours. Same same - which is probably why we talk about this stuff. Thank you again.......
Neela, your proposed Hustle hierarchy clears lots of confusions I had. 👏👏👏
The Necessity Hustle is inevitable. For some this consumes all the energy. Any miscalculation in “Energy-Hustle Alignment” can lead to mental health crises.
I am following most of your “Anti-Hustle” rules. “The Tech Detox” has done wonders for me.
P.S: The image of the sinking person made me anxious. I have a swimming lesson today 😂
I have a good friend who is working on a book to address that very topic. She's contrasting hustle culture with "blue zone" culture and applying it to business. I'll share this with her.
Hey Paul
Happy Tuesday.
I see loud hustlers on social media doing absolutely nothing meaningful with their time. Their way is not everyone's way. This is such a fascinating subject.
Thank you for supporting my article and for sharing it with others.
My pleasure. Currently, the person to whom I referred writes a newsletter on LinkedIn -- and it's well-received -- but I hope to get her over here to Substack. We'll see how that goes.
Happy Wednesday Paul. LinkedIn is interesting lol. I've built a cherished community there, but unfortunately, I don't have the bandwidth to post every day, and I don't think I need to. I love growing slowly and deliberately, so I share a post every Wednesday, and I live in the comments during the week. For now, this will have to do. Substack is nice. At least I don't have to put up with bathroom selfies. "wink wink"
LinkedIn isn't for everyone. I run a boutique B2B writing and editing agency, so I need it for those purposes. My criteria is, if your audience (target market) is there, then you need to be. Otherwise, don't waste precious time. That's one reason I ditched X.
My clients are not there. Heck, most of them don't even have a social media account. I am somewhat new to being online. Two years isn't long. I think we need some digital presence online. It makes you more adaptable to bs.
There's a lot of that online for sure. I made a big part of my living because of social media (books, speaking, client work), so I can't besmirch it too much. But I'm a huge fan of @Joe Pulizzi who is famous for saying don't build your house on rented land. Substack still qualifies as "rented," but it feels more "owned" compared to the typical social nets.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some very important hustling to do. And by hustling, I mean I will walk by the ocean. Because sometimes, the most revolutionary act is permitting yourself to just... be."
I would absolutely be 100% more productive if I could take a daily sunset walk on the beach.
Neela there are so many things I love about this post. I love how you correctly point out that true hustle is simply doing the daily tasks IN PRIVATE that are boring and repetitive, but necessary to keep the lights on.
But I really love how you are clarifying that we all have to work to define what our version of 'hustle' really is. We waste too much time worrying that we need to keep up with some 'standard' we see on social media for what we should be accomplishing.
Sometimes, often times less is more. Especially when it comes to creative work. As you correctly point out, the pressure of 'hustle' causes our creative processes to shut down. Stress fills our brain and removes our ability to mentally connect dots and create effectively.
Love that you are on a crusade to change our perception of hustle. It's a fight worth fighting!
I wish I could start my day with a walk, but I work with Eastern time, and it's not possible sigh.
I'm glad you think so. I have often found speaking to people who hustle doesn't work. They have to burn to learn hehehehe.
Thank you Mack.
I appreciate your support always.
Happy Wednesday!
Real hustle is doing what needs to be done when it needs to be done.
Hustle culture is performative art, and tells us nothing good about the practitioner, but at least one thing bad.
Nicely said Nick! The 2024 concept of "hustle culture" annoys me tremendously because the practitioners perpetuate the cycle of silliness. Thank you so much for stopping by!
If we're hustling all the time, are we still hustling? It's a bit like that little lad who cried wolf so no one believed him when some real heavy stuff went down! Honestly Neela - I am with you 1000% on this; having experienced burn out years ago, I can attest to the good it does, but simply investing in relaxation and not being in hustle mode 24 x 7!! If people insist on hustling constantly, label relaxation time too as a Hustle Chill or something if it makes them feel better !!
Most people would think I hustle all the time but I've found ways to have fun with the things that I do except actual work. That is not so much fun these days lol
I 100% agree. Thank you so much bro. I appreciate you stopping by!
That's brilliant Sis and you are very welcome always! :)
All hustle is not the same. If we are lucky enough not to have to hustle to survive then let's have some fun with it - or go the other way with an anti-hustle routine.
Indeed Lisa. Hustle with purpose and not because everyone is doing it or because you think this will make you go viral ... I am watching you LinkedIn. I appreciate you stopping by!
I can't love and agree with this enough, Neela! I use several of your techniques for 30 days of challenges on anti-hustling on a regular basis. I also believe we are more well-rounded and productive humans when we are taking time to satisfy our mental and physical needs.
👉Real hustle isn't about the grind. It's about the purpose behind the grind.👈 Amen to that!
Thank you for your constant support. I appreciate you.
This may sound cliche but we really can't pour from an empty cup. We can hustle but we need to do it with purpose. I love how your life is family-focused and mental health-focused. Happy Wednesday Chason. Thank you for stopping by!
Thanks for the guidance Neela! I'll try and apply the Hustle Hierarchy as I work today!
P.S I love Crystal Cove!!!! It was my favorite beach to visit when I attended UCI lol
No way - you lived in Cali? So interesting.
It's one of my favs as well as Laguna Beach.
We moved closer to Laguna which is so nice.
More time for the ocean.
Have a wonderful day Daniel.
Thank you!
This is wonderful work.
appreciate you stopping by :)
Hope all is well with you!
Good thoughts here! I'm glad social media wasn't a thing when I was setting out on my publishing career at the beginning of the 1990s: the superabundance of advice would have confused the crap out of me. Hustle culture very much WAS a thing in the Yuppie Decade, but thankfully I'd internalised the opposing idea of Creative Idleness, which is pretty much what you're talking about early in your article I think.
Good ideas rarely come when we're staring at a blank screen, searching our mind frantically for good ideas. Such is life's irony.
In my case, they pop unbidden into my sleeping mind and prod me awake at 4 in the morning. 🤷
Hey Steve
Happy weekend to you. Truthfully I've built a nice practice without using social media (offline). There is merit still in doing this. It sure gets noisy online. I feel like although people worked hard back in the day, they were strategic and without the distractions and red tape found a way to live their life ... I do appreciate you stopping by 🙏
Thank you for restacking my article 🙌
“Real hustle isn't about the grind. It's about the purpose behind the grind.” Thank you!
NO NO - thank you so much!
Love the archimedes story. Always get best ideas when running, showering or swimming so makes sense. Agree entirely thar hustle in that sense is knackering- so many times I try to force writing it fails miserably.
Yes, same - usually when I'm working out, which then forces me to stop and write it down lol........... I appreciate you stopping by! Thank you for the feedback!
No problems you always have good (workman) shit!
Doing live streams was my way to get around the 'constantly producing' bit while still feeding the algorithm of YouTube - I don't mind a once a week production - plenty of recharge time in between - happy writing Neela 🤗☕
I love your way David. We try different things until we figure out what works for us.
Thank you so much for stopping by!
Neela , this is dope!
The productity gurus will lead you down the path of burnout.
Gary Vee has some good stuff, but surviving on 4 hours of sleep a night and constantly hustling isn’t for everyone.
I’ve been down that road, no bueno.
Happy Wednesday Mike - There are so many studies showing that our brain tends to retain less after a specific # of hours. Same same - which is probably why we talk about this stuff. Thank you again.......
Neela, your proposed Hustle hierarchy clears lots of confusions I had. 👏👏👏
The Necessity Hustle is inevitable. For some this consumes all the energy. Any miscalculation in “Energy-Hustle Alignment” can lead to mental health crises.
I am following most of your “Anti-Hustle” rules. “The Tech Detox” has done wonders for me.
P.S: The image of the sinking person made me anxious. I have a swimming lesson today 😂
oh nooooo 🤣 - best of luck in your swimming Salima.
I am so happy this article helped :)
Have a wonderful Tuesday Salima.