Dealing with hustle culture as a neurodivergent young person

Topics mentioned: university, self-care, self-esteem, burnout

About: Evan shares his tips for breaking away from hustle culture as a neurodivergent young person, recovering from burnout and putting his mental health first.

“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished”.

I’m a neurodivergent university student who has personally been affected by hustle culture, so I wanted to talk about it. In my experience I’ve found that hustle culture can impact neurodivergent people to an even bigger extent, as our journey in life is more likely to be different to others. We are prone to comparing ourselves to the lives and work styles of neurotypical people.

Hustle culture is the pressure to believe that you need to constantly pursue achievements and be productive. It’s a lifestyle that prioritises study and/or work above everything else, especially your mental health.

Hustle culture determines your self-worth and whether you’re “good enough” by your achievements, such as your grades.

If you’ve never heard of hustle culture, you may have heard the following toxic quotes it puts out onto social media:

• “I’ve got a dream worth more than my sleep.”
• “Don’t stop when you’re tired, stop when you’re done.”
• “Join the 5am club.”

Hustle culture is ingrained in social media and the influencers we often come across. It can make you feel like it’s the perfect lifestyle to have and the only way to achieve success (I know I once did!).

In my experience, I’ve found that hustle culture holds much toxicity and is a risk for exhaustion and poor mental health.

Have you ever looked at what someone else has accomplished and put yourself down for not achieving as much as them? Comparison is a common self-esteem stealer and can cause you to feel behind your peers.

Within a society full of hustle culture, it’s important to know:

• You don’t need your whole life figured out right now.
• This is your journey and therefore will be unique to you.
• It is not your responsibility to make everyone understand your life choices and journey.
• Taking small steps still leads to big things.
• There is no universal timeline or race for success and fulfilment.

To some people’s surprise, I do not believe ‘laziness’ is a real thing. Hustle culture ignores the importance of your wellbeing which can lead to burnout.

Here are some signs of burnout to help identify if you are experiencing it.

Burnout can hit you hard and impact your life and mood, but it doesn’t need to last forever.

You are not lazy. Your body is telling you to stop and rest.

To help recover from burnout, find balance in your life. Hustle culture can compromise your work-life balance, so find ways to develop and maintain a healthy and fulfilling lifestyle that balances your work/study with your hobbies and enjoyable activities. It can be helpful to make a list of tasks you need to prioritise and a list for enjoyable tasks.

To end this blog, I want to say that your true value has nothing to do with how productive you are. You deserve to have a happy life outside of your work and/or study.