I love words, so when I read new phrases, I often will delve deeper into them. Recently I saw the terms “optimization culture” and “serious hobbying” which took me down a rabbit hole into cultural definitions in today’s world. “Optimization Culture” is an aspect of the Hustle Culture mindset, which is opposite of a Leisure Culture mindset. This is almost a cultural “war zone” and made me realize I’m living a Leisure Culture lifestyle with a Hustle Culture mindset.
Even with mindfulness and slow living trends, the Hustle Culture is very much alive. It is also the one I lived in all of my career and is embedded in my mindset. The optimization framework within that culture means everything in life (professional tasks, what we eat, how we sleep, our exercise routines, our leisure time, how we run errands) needs to be “optimized” to be “the best.” It emphasizes the relentless pursuit of constant self-refinement to improve efficiency and maximize productivity, often using “hacks” to achieve ideal outcomes or “curating” for the ideal state. How many articles do you read that give these optimization tips and hacks?
The Hustle Culture presents overworking as a positive attribute, even glorifying it with busy-ness a badge of honor. One should feel guilty for wasting time; Hustle Culture frames rest and leisure pursuits as unproductive. But, living with the Hustle Culture mindset often leads to discontentment, burnout, and stress.
In the Hustle Cultural mindset, a “serious hobby” is a “side hustle,” and should be monetized, otherwise it’s a waste of time! One should transform a personal interest into marketable content or turn every skill or passion into a branded opportunity. This must-monetize-it belief is heavily fueled by the gig economy, the rise of social media influencers, and the need for extra income in an increasingly uncertain economy. When I heard the term “serious hobbying”, thinking it was about hobby monetization was my immediate reaction!
“Serious hobbying” in a Leisure Culture mindset however is the deep, long-term engagement in an activity pursued for pleasure and self-fulfillment rather than profit. It requires serious effort to gain specialized skills, knowledge, and mastery/expertise in the hobby.
A Lesisure Culture mindset values intrinsic satisfaction and self-care, a sustainable lifestyle that prioritizes well-being, personal growth, and meaning beyond the job. Instead of viewing leisure, hobbies, and free time as wasteful, this mindset sees them as vital and meaningful parts of a well-lived life.
A Retirement Lifestyle is often the definition of Leisure Culture! In retirement, there tends to be active engagement in restorative activities, like hiking/walking, creative hobbies, or socializing with friends. Retirees often explore finding meaning (personal growth) after the job/career is over and spend time on well-being with a focus on longevity, not productivity.
Looking at these two different culture lifestyles and mindsets, I realized that I (and many others around me) still have a strong internal belief that the Hustle Culture is the “right thing”. It has come out when we all complain about the local building department not putting in overtime to deal with the backlog of building permits. It has come out when I complain about the younger generation taking time away to “play” versus working to get the job done. And, my automatic assumption that a “serious hobby” was associated with monetization of said hobby. And I even often get asked about selling my own craft projects.
But my retirement transition in fact shifted me from living in the Hustle Culture to living in the Leisure Culture! And I’m realizing that living a Leisure Culture lifestyle with a Hustle Culture mindset leads to cognitive dissonance, feelings of guilt, and often resentment! I need to work on shifting my mindset to match my lifestyle reality.
Shifting from a productivity-focused hustle mentality to one that values leisure can be a challenge. After so many years focused on productivity and achievement, how do I stop glorifying overwork, stop measuring worth by productivity, and stop feeling guilty for days spent in leisure activities? It’s not actions, because I am already living the Leisure Culture! It’s mindset.
- Articulate the joy in the leisure activities. Decline tasks, activities and social invitations that do not bring joy.
- Recognize that I am not doing anything as a serious hobby, in either mindset. I am not monetizing my hobbies. My hobbies do not (and might never) have a level of professionalism/mastery. And that is OK! For me it is about engagement, not mastery.
- Reiterate “rest and relaxation are not signs of laziness but an essential part of a sustainable and healthy lifestyle” when I start to make judgment about people taking time away from the job or not working overtime. (This is going to be challenging as that time away might mean time delays on the house build!)
- Recognize that rest as a necessity for maintaining well-being and enhancing creativity. Dedicate one day a week as a “Do Nothing” day to intentionally rest with no agenda. And celebrate when I stick to it.
Awareness is always the first step in making a change. Becoming aware that I am living a Leisure Culture lifestyle with a Hustle Culture mindset is hopefully the first stage of encouraging the mindset shift!
Do you have more of a Hustle Culture mindset or a Leisure Culture mindset?
Picture Credit; Pixabay – just colorfulness for my current brain swirl overthinking!
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Very interesting, Pat. I am definitely transitioning to a leisure culture mindset, but as I was reading this blog, I realized that the hustle culture still creeps in more often than I like to admit. One example: even when I’m hiking purely for pleasure, I catch myself thinking about how hard my body is working and whether this counts as “exercise.”
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Christie, I chuckled as when I do my cardio drumming, which I definitely do for the pleasure, I still check to see how many calories I burned to check if I worked hard enough. Gosh that Hustle Culture is so deeply embedded!
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HaHa – I thought Florida would be the best place to find some Leisure culture. Love the idea of moving from Hustle Culture to Leisure Culture.
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Oh Florida is definitely a Leisure Culture! It’s my Hustle Culture mindset that makes it a challenge. There is definitely “Florida Time” for getting anything done…and so frustrating when you want it done yesterday!
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I agree with Leanne’s comment. I also like these words by Thich Nhat Hanh : HAVE A LAZY DAY – Try to spend a day doing nothing; we call that a lazy day. Although for many of us who are used to running around from this to that, a lazy day is actually very hard work! It’s not so easy to just be. If you can be happy, relaxed, and smiling when you’re not doing something, you’re quite strong. Doing nothing brings about quality of being which is very important. So doing nothing is actually something. Please write that down and display it in your home: Doing nothing is something.
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Yvonne, I really like “have a lazy day.” I think I can do a lazy day before a do-nothing day. You are so right, it is amazingly difficult to do nothing all day. I don’t think I know how to do it! I will pick up a book (book club must read), do a crossword (brain stimulation), take a nap (makes the time pass), or (unfortunately) scroll on FaceBook! It’s a fascinating idea that “doing nothing is something.”
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I recently read a BusinessWeek article about people of the Hustle Culture combined with the obsession about their bodies being super fit for longevity purposes. The people mentioned struck me as being rather unhinged! There was no joy in their life. No eating for pleasure. Seems to me they were missing out on life in the quest to prolong it. Ugh!
I love being productive, but in a leisurely way! Deadlines are few and far between and remuneration is not the point at all.
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I chuckled at the “productive in a leisurely way”. A bit of an oxymoron, but I get it. I found that when I did a summer project (to distract myself from the house issues), I made deadlines for myself and pushed my productivity. Not leisurely at all. I have a ways to go to drop my Hustle Culture mindset, for sure.
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Even after 6 years of retirement, I often default to “hustle culture” : I bundle my errands to be more efficient, am routinely curating/revising my habits and routines to be “the best” and feeling vaguely guilty when I spend hours going down a rabbit hole chasing a niche interest when I “should” be adulting and making progress of my long list of house projects. Thanks for making me stop and think about that. There’s really no rules any more other than the ones I impose on myself.
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Chris, OMG… I also bundle errands and feel guilty when I slide down the rabbit hole on an idea. Such great examples of once again, living with that Hustle Culture mindset! And who really cares if I’m down the rabbit hole? It’s bringing me joy. I’m going to remember that next time I’m down one. 🙂
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Hi Pat, I have always believed that when ‘serious hobbies’ become monetized, they are no longer hobbies, but rather work. Even when we control production, there is an expectation to please someone other than ourselves. Hustle culture is ingrained from birth in the US. It’s all about competition, getting ahead, and first one in, last one out. It’s no wonder we carry that mentality with us into retirement. Now, we even make doing retirement right a competition.
Thank you for this smartly-written, enlightening post. Cheers to ‘do nothing days.’
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Suzanne, It’s been said that awareness is the first step to making a change. So this awareness that my mindset was still embedded in the Hustle Culture was an aha moment. I’m not sure I’m quite ready for complete do-nothing says, but I’m certainly allowing myself to enjoy my leisure activities with no guilt of being non-productive!
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When I first retired I didn’t know what to do with myself. I always worked two jobs, now I had none! I got a teaching job one day a week.
After one semester I quit. I resented that one day I had to work! That was a huge shift for me. I’m happy I no longer need to work and I definitely love retirement.
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WordPress continues to drive me nuts whenever I try to leave a comment. It was:
At 92, I am still in productivity mode. But not at the expense of leisure!I give thanks every day to be able still to write — something I’d rather do than eat — and then go for a long long walk. While I aspire never to retire, I admire your thoughtful way of moving toward conscious retirement of your choice.
Peace & gratitude –
Fran
Fran Moreland Johns 1450 Post Street #704; San Francisco, CA 94109 Landline: 415-351-1336; Mobile: 415-361-6020 http://www.franjohns.net http://www.franjohns.net/; Substack @ franmorelandjohns
>
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Hi Pat, it’s taken me several years of retirement to move from using productivity as the measure of my worth. I used to be so proud of how hard I worked, and how many balls I had in the air. Now I’m much better at just “being” rather than constantly “doing”. That being said, I do expect that those in the workforce should be working to capacity and not putting in a bare minimum – if everyone works hard when they should, then they get to enjoy some of that well deserved rest and recreation when it’s their turn to retire. They may disagree and want the lifestyle when they’re young, but I think the world needs people to pull their weight before they put up their feet. 🙂
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Leanne, I do think more of the younger generation is more likely to have the Leisure Culture mindset than when we were their age, and it is frustrating to me, especially when it’s impacting me!
I’m impressed at your ability to just be! I’m still stuck in the “doing” too much. Recognizing that it’s still my work-life mindset might help me to shift a bit… I can hope!
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