By Kendal Furman, EIC of Academics
In today’s day and age, finding a student that doesn’t identify with being overworked, overwhelmed, and underslept appears to be a near-impossible task. Students experience a constant stream of deadlines, a seemingly never-ending list of commitments, pressure to excel both academically and professionally, as well as an oftentimes complicated network of personal relationships to attend to; It’s no wonder that one of the only things binding them together is a shared sense of exhaustion that never seems to dissipate. While there’s nothing wrong with a healthy amount of elbow grease, in recent years the American notion of a “hard day’s work” has been severely misconstrued, producing a generation of students who work themselves to the bone all in the name of “the grind.”
The “American Dream” isn’t solely responsible for the creation of this toxic work culture, nor is capitalism. The U.S.’ misguided educational system is also at fault, as it extrinsically motivates children to succeed (which should not be confused with learning) while instilling a deep sense of competition among them. Raised from a young age with the idea that their GPA or resumé categorizes and defines them, students have been taught to base their self-worth almost entirely on these external factors. This, in turn, creates a Darwinesque system that forces students to play into the “don’t stop until you drop” mindset or risk rendering themselves unmotivated and unintelligent.
This absence of flexibility to learn without fear of failure or stretching themselves thin forces students to derive satisfaction from the act of overworking themselves for an impossible grade, not from the accumulation of knowledge itself. As a result, students begin to base their worth on a lack of boundaries and over-exhaustion, using these indicators as a metric for determining how smart and successful someone is. This is the glamorization of the grind, and – irrespective of its lack of legitimacy and rationality – its negative effect on students’ well-being is catastrophic.
It’s not surprising that students with little work-life balance, high expectations, and lots of stress are, in general, unhappier than those with boundaries, flexibility, and less pressure. However, this toxic mentality’s ramifications stem far beyond this. Being overworked has been linked to the onset of depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, and burnout: Consequences that tend to manifest through feelings of cynicism, apathy, detachment, anger, and hopelessness. High stress levels also lead to less quality sleep, affecting one’s appetite, mood, and attention span. Furthermore, people experiencing burnout tend to exercise less, eat worse or more infrequently, and are more likely to turn to drugs or alcohol. There are even significant physical health effects, as people who lack a proper work-life balance have an increased chance of developing a stroke, diabetes, heart disease, or a heart attack. As a result of these issues, students who fall prey to grind culture end up actually being more unproductive and doing worse in school. To top it all off, social media apps like LinkedIn have worsened the repercussions of this vicious cycle by painting inaccurate and over-exaggerated pictures of people’s accomplishments, thus contributing to increased competition and worsening self-confidence among students.
These complications speak to the need for students, schools, and teachers alike to undergo a mindset shift in regard to work-life balance. At the end of the day, no grade or extracurricular should come at the expense of a student’s health, physical and mental well-being, or overall happiness. It’s time for students to shift their focus away from basing their and others’ worth on how overworked and fatigued they are. Instead, we should strive to achieve balance, basing our concept of success on the ability to have both good grades and a healthy, well-rounded life outside of school; Determining success holistically and in a way that prioritizes our needs and acknowledges our limitations.
There is no better time than now to start building lifelong habits that will encourage you to take care of yourself. Explore your passions to discover what helps you decompress and what brings you peace. Set boundaries in your life and stick to them. Be kind and patient with yourself when things don’t go as planned, and recognize that no one is perfect and there is no end point to this process. Rather, reframing this harmful mentality requires continuous mindfulness and a commitment to deconstructing the views that have been forced upon students their whole lives. However daunting and abiding this challenge may be, I can almost guarantee that your future self will thank you.
