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Side hustles were once celebrated as empowering paths to extra income, creativity, and financial freedom. However, with the current culture that praises the virtue of working 24-hours, most individuals are currently completing a full-time job, a side business and personal engagements with near no actual rest. This constant hustle is creating a new kind of burnout: side hustle fatigue. Sleep deprivation, anxiety, chronic stress, and declining mental health are turning what began as an opportunity into a health crisis. In order to safeguard your health, it is all-important to sense when ambition goes beyond the bounds and to revise our attitude towards work, money and success. For more updates, visit our Work-Life Balance page.
The pressure of “rise and grind” culture
The rise and grind culture encourages the notion that all the free time must be monetised. The social media feeds also abound with stories of success, passive income tips, and productivity hacks, which leaves individuals feeling lazy when they are not working. This culture makes it the rule of thumb to get up at 5 in the morning, use the laptop at night, and spend weekends in the office trying to get up to date. Over time, this constant push erodes boundaries between work and life, leading to exhaustion, resentment, and side hustle fatigue.
How side hustle fatigue harms health
What seemed to be a short term sacrifice can easily turn out to be a long term health issue. Common signs include:
- Constant sleepiness.
- Migraines, joint pains or frequent sickness.
- Irritability, anxiety or depressed mood.
- Difficulty in concentration or not feeling attached to work.
- No longer finding pleasure in the primary occupation and the side hustle.
Ignoring these warning signs increases the risk of burnout, depression, and serious physical health issues linked to chronic stress.
Read more: Is Hustle Culture Dead? The Way Gen Z Is Redefining Work-Life Balance
Building a healthier approach to side hustles
You do not need side hustles to ruin your health. Sustainability approach will entail:
- Establishing limits of working days and hours per week.
- Defending non-negotiable rest, sleep and social time.
- Being frank about financial objectives and achievable deadlines.
- Saying no to too far projects.
- Presumptions of seasons of decelerating or halting of the side hustle.
It is necessary to redefine success to cover wellbeing, relationships, and health. Otherwise, the side hustle can be even more expensive than lucrative.
