“STOP SEEING BUSY-NESS AS A STATUS SYMBOL,” WARN EXPERTS

When Mr. Narayana Murthy, a prominent and inspiring figure in India, suggested that working 70 hours per week is essential for the country's success, it left us divided. Such influential leaders' words carry weight, particularly among those starting their careers. However, the question remains: can consistently putting in extra hours daily make one successful? Such statements advocating extensive work hours have led to the hustle culture in India. This notion has shaped this cultural trend in the country.

Rohini Rajeev, Senior Psychotherapist and Founder, The Able Mind agrees, “India's large and growing population creates intense competition for jobs and resources. Our culture values hard work and sacrifice, and we admire "busy-ness" as a status symbol. These factors contribute to a hustle culture that glorifies overwork and the pursuit of success at all costs. Some of our leaders hold the belief and have been quoted as saying that people need to work 70-80 hours a week for the individual and country to be successful. This is unhealthy as this shifts the focus from outcomes and goals to simply putting in extra hours. This also creates unrealistic expectations in terms of growth, performance assessments, and long-term career goals. Work-life balance is no longer a 9-5 job, but it isn’t a 70-hour work week either.” Deepti Chandy, Therapist and Chief Operating Officer, Anna Chandy & Associates adds, “A large percentage of our working population is young people. When one is young, one assumes that one can do a lot more, so one pushes oneself extra and forgets to take care of one's nutrition, take breaks, not overwork, regulate screen time, etc. This inability to regulate oneself ultimately catches up with you. The incidence of lifestyle issues among the youth, the number of cardiac arrests, people falling ill, or having a heart attack, is showing an upward trend. People are unable to accurately figure out how much stress their body is absorbing. It is important to remember we live in significantly very stressful times, and that in itself is adding to the stress and impacting our minds and bodies. So, it’s essential to take stock.”

Evident signs of work stress

Busy in the daily hustle of life, people often ignore the subtle indicators of overwork and stress. This oversight leads to a state of confusion and restlessness as they grapple with the consequences of pushing beyond their limits and neglecting their well-being. Anna shares that when we're stressed at work, stress can either lead us to be very, very lethargic - where we're procrastinating all the time or feeling immobile and unable to move our work towards closure or one can also become very, very hyperactive. So, you're doing multiple things but not able to accomplish anything significant. That can be manifested in behaviors like overeating. You can find yourself consuming sugars or caffeine. These are signs that you're trying external stimulants to combat stress.

“I think an example I can quote on stress and overworking is basically with startup culture. I think founders put an extra sort of burden on themselves to carry the team along in the last year with startups facing so much uncertainty. They've been overworking and things that haven't gone so well for them have impacted their health. So I know young people in their late 30s or early 40s who have had really strange illnesses all of a sudden or have just felt very demotivated to work, very lethargic because they've just been focusing only on work when something hasn't gone right there. They feel like their whole lives have no meaning and start questioning their very existence. While we get a lot of identity from our professional work lives, just focusing on that can negatively impact our minds and bodies.”

Rohini further adds, “The hustle culture can create a view that life is a zero-sum game where one person's gain is another person's loss as promoted. This can lead to a competitive mindset where people see others as threats to their own success. Instead of creating this culture, we need to teach employees to collaborate, work innovatively, build thought leadership, and invest in self-development. We also need to empower them and provide them with safe spaces to manage their emotions and share their views without retaliation.”

Workplace stress may manifest in a variety of observable symptoms that differ from person to person. The following are some common visible indications of work stress:

Frequent tiredness and fatigue,

Frequent, unexplained headaches or migraines,

Lapses in memory

Tension and soreness in the muscles, particularly in the neck and shoulders.

Stomach aches or symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)(bloating, discomfort, pain) and other gastrointestinal problems.

Irregular sleep leading to insomnia or even excessive sleep,

Irritability and mood swings,

Brain fog,

Inability to focus or take decisions which were usually second nature,

Rapid heartbeat, shallow breathing and sometimes even speech incoherence,

Lack of thought clarity,

Reduced tolerance and patience with others leading to anger outbursts and then strong feelings of guilt.

Can you manage stress? Yes, you can

Aanandita Vaghani, Founder and Mental Health Counselor, UnFix feels that the process of recovery in itself is often a paradox. When we feel the need to recover, we also feel a lack of energy to do something about it. To replenish our levels of motivation and energy, here are some stress management techniques we may use.

Short breaks during the day give our mind a chance to heal from consistent work demands and stress. The quality of the break is more important however, than the quantity. Professionals might consider checking their phones - but must know that this may lead to stimulation, when what they need is relaxation from their screens. Activities one might indulge in for micro breaks could vary from doing short desk meditations, taking a ten minute walk outdoors, taking time to enjoy a nutritious snack or reading a few pages from a book they enjoy. Microbreaks taken earlier in the workday are more sustainable and contribute to greater recovery.

Although we are conditioned to think that we are able to multitask- research shows the contrary. Think of it like tabs on a computer screen: when we are provided with too many work demands and try and attack all at once, we are likely to come crashing down. Rather than this, reduce or remove interruptions from your environment. This could include switching your phone to DND, having an assigned 45 minutes for each task, or even sitting away from chatty employees if that tends to get you distracted.

This may seem counterproductive- but ironically, when we lower our expectations, our work quality tends to improve. This is because high expectations make us feel anxious, and more likely to either put off work until the last minute, or stress excessively while completing it. If you catch yourself powering through the day, stop and tell yourself “I will not work my best, I will try to instead to what's just good enough” and observe how your story changes!

Rohini adds, “Keep a stress journal in which you record your thoughts, emotions, and stressful experiences. What distinguishes it is the emphasis on emotional release rather than documentation. Writing allows you to express your emotions, concerns, and anxieties, and it can be cathartic. Journaling for emotional release provides a therapeutic outlet, stops you from catastrophizing and acts as a powerful tool for self-reflection, making it a beneficial stress management technique for many people.”

It is also important to unwind at conscious intervals. “Once every few months, if you can take the time to do things that enjoy or go on a journey of self-discovery, or push yourself to do something you’ve never done before, the whole experience can be enjoyable and give you something to look forward to in between all the work and family responsibilities. This could be something you do alone or with friends, depending on what sails your boat. But do it for sure,” shares Rohini.

Last but not the least, find that non-judgmental space, where you have an opportunity to release pent up thoughts, discuss everyday fears and frustrations. Sometimes, listening to yourself as you share this with another, gives you the clarity you need and a genuine, non-judgemental ear can of course work miracles!

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2023-11-07T06:14:07Z dg43tfdfdgfd