In the past couple of years, ‘hustle culture’ has been glamorized to the extent that if a professional doesn’t hustle, they are thought of as lazy and unwilling to become a greater version of themselves. But in reality, hustle culture often harms a person’s health because it promotes constant work without breaks. People caught in hustle culture usually get less sleep. They often eat fast food or skip meals due to busy schedules. Lack of time also means they don’t exercise or take care of their bodies properly. This massively affects their health and one fine day, their body gives up.
For example, Kritarth Mittal, a 25-year-old techie who is also the founder of Soshals app, is a hustler. He hustled so hard that he ended up in a hospital. Lack of sleep, pulling all-nighters and not taking care of his diet led his body to break down.
“Hustle culture comes with a cost. I’m just here to show you the ugly side of it so you don’t get swayed easy,” he wrote on X, sharing a picture of himself on a hospital bed.
Hustle culture comes with a cost — some you incur right away and some over decades.
Choice is yours, I’m just here to show you the ugly side of it so you don’t get swayed easy.
This is me after pulling all-nighters, sleeping for <5-6 hours, and no diet plan: pic.twitter.com/NcksKnwr7h
— Kritarth Mittal | Soshals (@kritarthmittal) September 2, 2024
However, Kritarth isn’t on this journey alone. There were several other professionals who responded to his post by sharing their own experiences of burning themselves out to the extent that they needed medical intervention. Have a look:
You should never pull all nighters. Sleeping for atleast 7-8 hours a day and not drinking or smoking has made me sustain this long.
The code that we write during the allnighters can be always written in the morning after a nice sleep.
This is the strategy I use.
— Gautham Vijayan (@gautham_vijay_) September 2, 2024
Get well soon Kritarth!
Lately I’ve learnt it too, as much as hustle is important- same goes for personal health and family time too 🙂I’ve strictly spared a few 2-3 hours dedicated to personal care and family time- these can’t be traded off for anything 🙂
— Abhishek 𝕏 (@itsBaranwal) September 2, 2024
All bodies are not equal. You need to understand the signals your body is giving and take it slowly. I had to go through the same. I stopped responding to the after 10 PM and early morning phone calls.
— Swapna Sagar (@SagarReacts) September 2, 2024
I tried getting by with just 6 hours and 30 minutes of sleep each night for a week, staying busy throughout the day. By the fourth day, I fainted in the hostel room while sitting on Chair. It was a tough lesson that pushing yourself without enough rest takes a serious toll.
— Prawesh_ (@stark_Tonyz) September 2, 2024
Luckily I learnt it in first 2 years of my career in 2013-15.
I was doing production deployments at 1am, 5am, was barely eating. Lost 10kg, low bp.
Then I switched to product based companies and never looked back to a shitty job.— Ankur Garg (@ankur512512) September 2, 2024
Did it for two years, clocked 70-80 hours every week, one meal a day, no sleep..no doubt i made crazy money, but not worth it for long time, looking after your body and career should go hand in hand and enjoy life when you can. Anways, best of luck with your recovery
— Sidharth (@iamsidx) September 2, 2024
I faced the same situation. Late nights at office or bringing home work, lots of stress, skipping foods or eating from outside. Didn’t attend any family functions, parents birthdays etc. work seemed more important than everything. Ended up with Tuberculosis not once but thrice.
— anonymous (@anonymous22412) September 3, 2024
Get well soon, man!! And yeah, health over anything and everything! If it takes a toll on your health, it is 100% not worth it. I can vouch for this at the ripe old age of 31.
— Bandkhor Future Aamdaar A 🇮🇳 (@AdvanceDexter) September 2, 2024
Hussle culture is the scam of the century started by people who want humans to work like slaves only so that 1% of the population gets to enjoy their lives.
— Raj Chhabria (@raj_chhabria21) September 3, 2024
This is the reason why we need a more balanced life – one which dedicates time to work, family time, recreational activities, and overall happiness.