A modern trend that is taking over every freelancer is hustling. The mantra is repeated by some of the most popular productivity “gurus.” The more hours you put in, the more outcome you will get. However, following this hours = improvement idea is dangerous for your health, creativity, and ultimately, photography.
Toxic Productivity
As someone who is fairly young, I believed in the idea that the more hours I put into one given thing, the more outcome I will get. That was my work ethic for pretty much everything from learning to being a photographer or writer. Starting the day at 5:30 in the gym and finishing off at 11 PM in the office was the dream lifestyle. Luckily, it never got to that point, as my natural laziness took care of my stability as a young freelancer. Beating myself up for wasting an hour watching Family Guy was part of the problem. Of course, how dare I watch Family Guy if I didn’t update my Facebook page bio or make a new killer business card that would impress everyone who got it?
Unfortunately, many photographers who are starting out fall into this trap of hustling. They watch motivational videos on YouTube with people explaining how they did it: shooting photos every day, 365 projects, working 17 hours a day to buy the best camera, having three side-jobs unrelated to the industry, and so on. The reason behind the hype around Hustle culture is that many believe that the amount of time spent on any given task translates into useful work done. That is simply not true.
Productive Work ≠ Useful Work
A silly example is on order: any fidget toy. The whole purpose of it is to press a rubber button, then flip the thing and press the button again. While keeping you busy, it does not result in any useful work done. It feels like an engine on idle: fuel is consumed, parts are moved, but the car is stationary.
Applied to photography, it is suggesting that not everything you do photography-related is useful in terms of helping you be a better photographer. A 365 photo project, where you take a photo every day is meaningless and wastes your time if you do it for the sake of doing it. Designing a new business card will not get you any more bookings if there is no one to hand it to. Working 17 hours a day to make the most creative website anyone has ever seen will end up harming you because no one likes a complicated website. I built my website in a few hours, and my logo took me only an hour to make with a fancy font in InDesign (I spent too long on finding the font). The takeaway should be asking yourself if the task you’re doing has any meaning to it at all. As a fashion photographer, I don’t take landscape pictures unless on a trip and for recreational purposes.
Hustle Culture Ruining People’s Health
A key danger of Hustle culture is being overworked. It has been proven by scientific studies that being overworked takes a toll on both your mental and physical health
Mental Health
Speaking from personal experience, hustle culture at one point led me to being unable to relax. The to-do list always had more items than I could get done, and at the end of the day, I would dread the photos I didn’t edit, articles that I didn’t write, phone calls I didn’t make. This ultimately led to being constantly irritated, closed to any emerging opportunities, and short-sightedness. There was a daily to-do list, but no yearly plan. On a grand scale, this means focusing on the details more than on the journey. What use is a perfectly functioning machine going in the wrong direction? Fortunately, it never got to the point of serious consequences. Lastly, poor mental health results in a lack of creativity: a true evil in creative industries.
Physical Health
The primary effects of overworking or hustling can leave you undernourished. Naturally, a healthy lunch that takes time to consume can feel like a waste of time when there are energy products readily available. The health effects of poor diets are well known. Another one is lack of sleep. Feeling guilty for not completing the “necessary” work, especially when it’s not enjoyable, leads to being sleep-deprived. Lastly, the work hard, play hard mantra puts unnecessary stress on your body. Working hard means poor diets and lack of sleep, while play hard entails unnecessarily high alcohol consumption and late-night meals. While I am not a health expert and can’t tell you every detail, I am speaking from personal experience with hustle culture.
What To Do About It?
Hustle culture is detrimental, possibly deadly, that is clear. Let me tell you how I got over the idea of working for the sake of working.
1. 80/20 Rule
It is probably overused, but it is true. When I analyzed my annual income, I noticed that around 20% of all jobs brought in 80% of the income. The same applies to gear: only 20% of what I own was used on 80% of the jobs. The general consensus is that 20% of input translates into 80% of output. Monitoring your daily tasks and their impact on your income and excitement will help you to find out which 20% to focus on.
2. Not Watching Motivational Videos
There are a lot of YouTube videos that will make you want to go and work 17 hours a day every day. I know for a fact that they give an endorphin boost and inspire you to work on anything, just to be someone who is “doing it while others sleep.” However, watching them is the most ridiculous way to waste time because you haven’t done anything beyond watching a video in your shorts for 20 minutes. Those 20 minutes could’ve been spent on learning something that will improve your work.
3. Realizing That Time Is the Most Valuable Asset. Full Stop.
The only thing that is non-renewable in your life is time. If doo-doo hits the fan and you lose your job, McDonald’s is always hiring, if you’re sick, your body can recover to some degree, and so on. the only thing you cant recover is time. Therefore, being cautious about where your time goes is crucial to becoming a more successful photographer.
The Only Thing That Matters
As photographers, we are selling our work, not personality, not the fancy website, nor anything else. The only thing that matters about you as a photographer is having great work. Being likable plays into that a little, but good work overshadows it. Although my website took me a few hours to make, the pictures in it took me weeks to produce. In order to produce them, I didn’t use a sub-par crew but instead sought out the best models, retouchers, and stylists I could get my hands on. Although I’ve spent a load of time on learning, taking meaningful photos, and so on, I did it while also giving myself breathing space. Being able to sell your work comes from producing good work, producing good work comes from having breathing space where you can get inspiration and come up with ideas. Don’t spend days at a Starbucks telling people you’re an artist, but give yourself breathing space between projects.
Closing Thoughts
Hustle culture is the most dangerous trend that is infecting freelancers, especially young ones. With its effects on everything from creativity to health, it must be combated with smart and meaningful work. I always ask myself if what I’m doing is fun, meaningful, exciting, or helping me improve in photography. While not always, I try to get at least three of these factors to align.