Swap burnout for balance

Why has society led us to believe that working ourselves into the ground is something to wear as a gold medal? It’s time to stop the too-often celebrated endless hustle that perpetuates burnout culture and replace it with balance and self-care. As it turns out, they are the greater accomplices to success at the end of the day.

- LOLITA WALTERS

Are you constantly glued to your screen, putting in long hours at work and sacrificing your personal life in the name of achieving success? You're certainly not alone in the overwork cult. Many people fall victim to the idea that we should go hard or go home” in a never-ending hustle when it comes to business and careers. Society has gathered around the fallacy that it’s somehow a badge of honour to be able to boast about how many hours one works in a week, with the belief that the more hours you put in, the more successful you will be. Yet here’s the thing: overworking doesn't actually lead to success. In fact, it can lead to a phenomenon called burnout.

An overworking society

According to a 2019 survey conducted by the Australian Psychological Society, approximately 40 per cent of Australians reported experiencing high levels o work-related stress and a staggering one in five reported experiencing burnout. Additionally, a 2018 study found that the average Australian works at least 10 per cent more than the recommended 40 hour week, coming in on average at 44 hours per week. Shockingly, one in four Australians were found to be working more than 50 hours per week.

One of the main causes of this culture of overworking is the belief that putting in long hours is necessary for success. Such an idea is often reinforced by the perception that taking time off or working fewer hours is not valued or respected by employers or simply by your own overachieving standards you may set for yourself. If you run your own business or are set on making that promotion, you may also be so fuelled by your passion and drive to achieve your mission, it can blind you to the unsustainable nature of your work-life balance if it’s become lopsided. All that hard work for what though, and at what cost?