What exactly is 'hustle culture'? We asked career and leadership coach Phoebe Gavin to define the term. "I define hustle culture as [a] grind at all costs, pouring everything that you can and everything that you have into growing professionally," she tells us. "Whether that's growing in a job or growing in your own company that you might be running."

Some of you might think: "What's wrong with wanting to focus on your career? Professional success is a very important aspect of a happy life." Well, too much of this hustle mentality can have negative effects on our well-being. Phoebe Gavin says that the negative effect of hustle culture is that it comes with a high cost.

"If you are pouring everything that you have into your professional life, whether that is your job or your company, then everything else has to give to make room for your professional efforts. It takes up all of your time, and [it] takes time and effort and energy away from your relationships," Gavin explains.

"It can sometimes have a negative impact on your mental or physical health. It can disconnect you from your community. It can disconnect you from causes that you may care about or be invested in. And sometimes, it can be very misaligned with your personal values."

Sometimes, people might pour all their energy into their work because they feel like they have to. If there's no genuine enjoyment and fulfillment out of it, you might start experiencing anxiety.

"The cognitive dissonance that builds up over time can start to cause some identity harm," Gavin tells Bored Panda. She says you might feel as if you are living the wrong life or living a life that's not right for you. "And that cost can be really challenging to pay," Gavin warns.

The career coach thinks that hustle culture negatively affects those who work, not because they enjoy it but because they feel they have to do it. "They feel as if that is the only way that they can achieve their goals," Gavin explains. "And in those situations, they give up a lot of other aspects of their lives to make that happen. And that can be really toxic."

But are we all equal in the eyes of hustle culture? Some people have observed that those who urge others to work more and attribute their success to hustling might be coming from a place of privilege. Remember the infamous Kim Kardashian comment, "It seems like nobody wants to work these days," and the backlash that followed?

In response, actress and activist Jameela Jamil made a poignant observation on X (Twitter). "I think if you grew up in Beverly Hills with super successful parents in what was simply a smaller mansion… nobody needs to hear your thoughts on success/work ethic."

Phoebe Gavin agrees that participating in hustle culture is a privilege. She says there are three conditions necessary for those who want to take part in hustle culture. The first is to have the time and energy to do that. This is especially true in the context of families.

"Systematically, that is more likely to be an arrangement between a man who is hustling and a woman who is making up for all of the other gaps in his life so that he can dump everything into his career," Gavin observes.

One person can "pick up the slack because they are not investing in the other areas of their lives," Gavin says. They can take care of the kids and do all the chores and errands so the hustler can pour everything into their career. "That person is making a huge sacrifice so that the hustler can enjoy the privilege of the freedom to dump everything into their career," Gavin says.

"There are some folks who choose that dynamic. There are some folks who end up in that dynamic by accident. There are some folks who end up in that dynamic and one or more of the individuals involved are not happy about it."

The second condition for being a hustler is to have the resources, Gavin says. She observes that hustlers might need to come from a background where they have the finances to do that.

If they have neither a stable financial background nor support from a partner, then they "just feel the harms of hustle culture without really being able to enjoy as much of the benefits," the career coach observes. 

Those who come from working-class backgrounds have fewer chances to experience the positive effects of hustle culture, as well. "Hustling just by itself is not necessarily going to be the thing that makes you successful," Gavin observes.

The last important thing in order to make work the priority in your life is knowledge. "Often, the thing that makes you successful is being able to build a strong reputation [and] having a really strong network," Gavin says. "Education is key, not necessarily formal education, but having access to the kind of information that will help you be successful."

So, how can one cultivate a good work-life balance and not become obsessed with work? Gavin says it depends on what work-life balance means to you. She advises people to stop thinking they can only have either/or. She suggests looking at the definition of 'work-life balance' as a spectrum. 

On the one end of the spectrum are those who want to separate work and personal life completely. On the other – people who want those things integrated. These people might want to come in and out of work throughout the day, but they don't separate their 'work friends' from their 'real-life friends.' They're not against people at work knowing details about their personal life.

"And then there are lots and lots and lots of places in the middle," Gavin explains. "If you assume that there is one definition, and you strive for that definition, you are unlikely to achieve work-life balance for you because your definition might be different."

If you're struggling to determine what arrangement is best for you, Gavin has some advice. "Plot out a perfect day or a perfect week where everything goes right."

Don't try to achieve that perfect day or week because that's probably unachievable. But it will show you what your priorities are and how you would prefer to organize your time and your energy.

Gavin's second piece of advice – set clear but flexible priorities. "If your focus on a particular day is work, then you are probably going to have to sacrifice a little bit on health, family, or hobbies. If a day is more focused on family, then you might have to sacrifice work and those other two. And that's okay as long as your priorities are being honored."

"You're not going to be able to accomplish everything in one day. You're not going to be able to accomplish everything in one week. But if your priorities are clear, then you know what to work toward. And if you're flexible, both with yourself and with the people around you about how those are organized from a day to day/week to week basis, then it's going to be a lot easier for you to achieve that balance."

The career coach's last piece of advice is to check in on these priorities regularly. She even recommends putting it on your calendar. "If you are in a romantic relationship, it's great to talk with your partner about what is working and what is not working."

"We have many decades of work in front of us. Most of us are going to work for 30, 40, maybe even 50 years. And so we want to make sure that when we get to the end of that period, we feel good about how we spent the time, not just professionally but also personally."