The other day, I was daydreaming about what I would do on my day off. I pictured myself waking up, cleaning my house, watching a series, and eating my favorite food.
However, when the day came, I felt anxious—so anxious that I did none of those things. Professionals call it “avoidance procrastination,” but I call it living guilt. The guilt of living slowly, without chasing a big goal or changing the world in one day.
Hustle culture is so imminent these days to the point where I feel as if I must keep grinding to feel deserving of any emotion. I can’t be happy, sad, or frustrated unless I’ve accomplished something deemed worthy of feeling that.
It’s sickening, to some extent. Looking back on my life a couple of years ago, I was never like this. I lived life freely regardless of what I did.
So, what happened?
Suppose you search up the definition of hustle culture. In that case, the internet says, “Hustle culture is a societal mindset that glorifies hard work and constant productivity, often at the expense of personal well-being and work-life balance.”
It is glorified, meaning it has slowly poisoned our society into believing that this is the ultimate goal. You are told to give your all to work and neglect every other part of your life. Studies have shown that, “relentless ‘toxic productivity’ significantly increases burnout, emotional exhaustion, and reduced job efficacy” (Psychowell Center, 2025).
You might think hustle culture only comes from figures like Andrew Tate or “red pill” spaces, which are loudly ignorant about its damage, but it is quieter than you think. It is evident in the “glow-up” or “getting my life together” YouTube vlogs that make it seem as if having a slow down or lazy day is the absolute destruction of your life’s progress, masked in cute editing styles and charismatic personalities.
In reality, you don’t need to get anything together. Your life is perfectly okay as it is. Yes, slow days may feel like a reminder of how you aren’t operating at your maximum capacity, but you need them.
Imagine if life were a constant, how would you recognize milestones, the reflection points, the excitement of the achievement? Even the boring parts, like planning and resting, are essential.
So yes, I can be boring. I want to be boring. It is a part of living. And feeling guilty for living normally is something I’m still unlearning.
If hustle culture were truly the “end all, be all,” then why do people constantly look for themselves and soul-search after years of grinding? Why do they still dream of family, love, and freedom after experiencing hustle culture?
Psychology Today (Apr 2025) explains how “glorified goals” in hustle culture often led to burnout, frustration, and feelings of never being enough, prompting a shift towards finding fulfillment through processes and balance instead. There is so much more to life than work, work, work. Most of us indeed need to work hard, but it shouldn’t take over such an overwhelming part of our lives to the point where we question who we are.
So, I challenge you to live a boring life. Be free. You already have the hustler mindset, now learn to live like how you want to live. Learn about the parts you are missing in your life.
One day, when you spend your day cleaning your house, binge-watching a series, and eating your favourite food on that lazy day, you won’t feel your heart tighten.
You won’t have to justify your rest.
You’ll simply be living, and that’s enough.
Because it’s okay to be boring.
references
PsychoWellness Center. (2025). Hustle Culture the Toxic Impact on Mental Health. PsychoWellness Center. Retrieved from https://www.psychowellnesscenter.com/Blog/hustle-culture-the-toxic-impact-on-mental-health/
Jordon Grumet. (2025). Why Hustle Culture Is Failing You. Psychology Today. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-regret-free-life/202503/why-hustle-culture-is-failing-you