Look how good I am: What is toxic productivity (or hustle culture) and why shouldn’t you work like this?

You can say all you want is that it’s not “normal” to have consistent overwork, guilt to rest, and what you’re doing forever depreciating, but for some, Monday will still start Saturday.

This is how toxic productivity thrives, but also a “clamor culture” with the philosophy that being a good employee is not enough. After all, you have to be the best.

The renaissance of toxic productivity came during the pandemic: for example, employee activity increased by 42% on Saturdays and 24% on Sundays in 2020 compared to the previous year, according to Prodoscore. And here is a healthy dose of perfectionism, although as a rule it has never been superfluous, it is worth knowing the measure, otherwise “hello” to a weakened psyche, health problems and burnout that looms on the horizon.

Yulia Tereshkina, a psychoanalytic psychotherapist and psychologist in the service of Yasno, talks about how to recognize toxic productivity, what it is full of and how to get rid of it.

Julia Tereshkina

How is toxic productivity different from normal productivity? What about workaholism?

Toxicity is the result of unconscious and untreated aggression. This is a covert attack that may seem like a manifestation of motivation, love and kindness from the outside.

Unlike ordinary productivity, poisonous productivity is expressed not in creation and creativity, but in aggression towards oneself – weak and ineffective.

Outwardly, a person looks creative, but internally he is trying to destroy his imperfect self or the world around him. This duality leads to insatiability and perfectionism. It seems to a person that because he is not satisfied, then more effort must be made – at this moment conscious constructive intentions collide with unconscious destructive intentions.

The need to work hard can be realistic, but it can also mean that the person does not feel worthy of good things and tries to make up for it by sacrificing oneself. In many ways, toxic productivity is similar to workaholism, where people go to work to hide from themselves and their unbearable emotions.

How does toxic productivity manifest itself?

Now in popular culture, spiritual practices that require destroying the “evil” self and developing beauty, success and productivity in oneself are in great demand. But in reality, with toxic productivity, one cannot be satisfied with one’s work and achievements, or these feelings disappear instantly.

Such people will not always be satisfied with themselves and will be filled with internal aggression.

Everything about creation and creativity does not require a race for success: the result is just a natural phase of work.

Due to perfectionism and irritability, the person is aggressive towards one’s body, personal limits, opportunities, and others who stand in the way of results. Toxic people find it difficult to take care of those around them, and for them the goal is always distant, unrealistic, and inadequate.

Is toxic productivity a consequence of student A syndrome?

It is similar to the perfect student syndrome. When a person cannot accept himself and the surrounding reality, there is a need to constantly improve something, and through this to feel its strength. There are people who cannot engage in abstract activities for which there is no tangible result – they need evidence that an improvement has occurred and that they can do something. It’s like on a treadmill: you have to run constantly to avoid falling.

Due to unbearable feelings of worthlessness, anxiety, and shame, we try to be the best version of ourselves at all costs.

In real life, “treadmill” can be projects, creativity, spiritual practices, sports, money – the main thing is to get a “medal” for your work. It can also benefit productivity. The difficulty is that achievements won’t feel enough anyway.

How to deal with “toxic productivity” and help yourself?

A person lives in a constant sense of race for success: the more time you have, the better. In the end, there comes a feeling that you have done everything you can, that the stated goals have been achieved, but there is no relief. Then depression can begin: the person finds himself in a stalemate and does not understand where to go next.

Tackling “toxic productivity” can only exacerbate the problem because the person is already at constant war with himself.

Just accepting yourself and your feelings helps, but that doesn’t mean you should indulge in your destructiveness.

It’s important to stop rewarding yourself and show self-compassion for this race: “Yes, it’s hard for myself and the world around me, I’ve found a way to deal with it but it doesn’t work and it hurts. ”

The same goes for helping another person facing this problem. It is worth treating him with understanding.

Many employers use such people for selfish purposes. A good boss will not encourage overtime – he must monitor compliance with the regime and help his employees separate work from personal life.

Modern culture has gone from simple-minded narcissism and boasting of wealth to poison: “Look how good I am.”

This is a more subtle, veiled version of narcissism. Now, many celebrities give interviews about how they went from malnutrition to a healthy lifestyle and achieved perfect shape. Courses that promise to heal you and turn your life into a fairy tale are sold on social networks. Coaches do the same thing – they teach how to achieve goals, but they do not try to understand why a person constantly wants to change himself and why a feeling of dissatisfaction with himself swallows him from the inside.