By Tamra Kaghembe

I’ve personally always had a complex relationship with the phrase ‘Rise and Grind’. Coming from immigrant parents, the concept of working hard is one that has been ingrained in my psyche from a young age. 

Throughout our lives, we are conditioned to believe that workaholism is the norm and that time away from our duties is time wasted. Of course, I am aware of the benefits that one can reap from this lifestyle. But I am starting to question just how far these benefits run.

As a full-time student in my most difficult year of university, the constant fear of falling behind runs deep. With deadlines dotted all over the semester, the importance of looking after your physical and mental well-being is quickly forgotten. Instead, you pull all-nighters slaving away at your desk. The growing glamourisation of consistently working hard with no estimation of just how much hard work constitutes as enough is setting us all up to burn ourselves out before our time. 

‘The grind never stops’, a popularised slogan, appropriates hustle culture and leaves us no room in our lives to just slow down and breathe. From the moment we wake up, we are bombarded with messages of productivity and what it looks like. This bombardment normalises that we should be pouring maximum energy into the career and money-driven aspects of our lives to the detriment of other areas.

Much of our lifestyle is motivated by capitalism, and it is without surprise that big corporations, alongside social media, feed into the spread of these destructive power structures. Platforms like Instagram are riddled with posts showcasing people’s triumphs followed by a caption sharing the behind the scenes ‘grind’ that got them there. Whilst this isn’t to discredit these individuals, the effects of these posts are detrimental as others in our society grow increasingly anxious trying to meet these higher standards. 

There is an increasing sense of pressure to overwork ourselves in the quest to perform to the absolute best that we possibly can. Surviving no longer means giving our bodies what they need – sleep, food, water – but instead endlessly labouring away at tasks that only leave us feeling exhausted. Studies have shown the effects that prolonged working hours have on our health. Not only have health specialists deemed grind culture unhealthy, but they have also shown that the concept is a lie, an illusion meant to keep people working, chasing after results that most of the time are unattainable. 

Grind culture can result in burnout, which the World Health Organisation have termed as ‘a syndrome conceptualised as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.’ However, the idea of possibly stepping back from our workspaces leaves many of us worried about being labelled as lazy. Even though rest is essential, allowing our bodies to recuperate leaves many still feeling that taking breaks promotes unproductivity. Rest merely equates to idleness in a world that doesn’t wait for you. 

In grind culture, success means a nonstop climb to where you ‘can’ and ‘should’ be. But who’s to say what drive and determination is? It can look like many things for many different people. You don’t have to be in competition with the world and constantly comparing your path to those others are walking down. I know this is easier said than done, particularly with the pandemic inflicting further self-doubt about whether we are doing enough, but I cannot stress the importance of taking moments to pause. 

Shift your perception of what it means to ‘put in the work’ and begin by organising your day to ensure that you get enough hours of sleep. Sleep plays a pivotal part in how we perform in the world. By depriving ourselves of sleep, we are essentially disrupting our biological rhythm. Learn to prioritise activities that give you time to yourself, whether this be meditating, self-care rituals or just visiting a friend. Maintain a life outside of demanding workloads. Resist the urge to ignore your bodies way of telling you that it requires some care, even at the cost of losing your train of thought. 

Whilst this may seem like naïve advice in a time where we are being pulled from every direction, it is a reminder that we as bodies matter. That we are deserving of empathy when it comes to our well-being. We deserve to prioritise our pleasures.