The long-standing hustle culture is slowly fading, making room for sleep to emerge as a new productivity goal. This article explores the harms of sleep deprivation, how hustle culture normalised sacrificing rest and the recent shift towards prioritising sleep.
Whether you're a student, a working professional or managing a family, when life gets busy with work and other commitments, sleep often becomes the first thing we sacrifice. Over the past few years, hustle culture has been glorified through films, books, social media, and even everyday conversations. Staying up late and burning the midnight oil can somehow seem like proof of productivity. But is that really true? And even if it is, how much are we actually gaining by sacrificing our sleep?
The effects of sleep deprivation go far beyond morning grogginess. According to neuroscientist and sleep researcher Dr Matthew Walker, compromising on sleep can have consequences that may not be immediately noticeable but can affect us in the long run. In his interview with The Diary of a CEO, he highlights that sleep is a fundamental biological necessity rather than a luxury and has a crucial role in the brain, immune system and overall health.
He explains that consistently getting less sleep can impair cognitive performance, affecting our ability to think, concentrate and function effectively. Prolonged sleep disruption can also increase the risk of physical health problems such as cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes and impaired immune function.
Hustle culture has repeatedly been portrayed through cinema and other media platforms by showing ambitious characters working late into the night and presenting sleeplessness as part of the journey towards success. Similarly, in real life, students and working professionals often wear their lack of sleep as a badge of dedication.
And if you are a remote worker, your working hours can easily become merged with your personal life. Hustle culture has blurred the line between productivity and exhaustion, making the ability to keep going without rest seem like something to be proud of rather than a sign that the body needs recovery.
In recent years, we've come to witness a shift in people's mindset and their habits. With growing awareness of healthy living and mindfulness, sleep has become a non-negotiable aspect of our daily lives. Even highly successful individuals have spoken openly about making sleep a priority. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, for instance, has said that he prioritises eight hours of sleep because it helps him think better, gives him more energy and improves his mood.
“For me, I need eight hours of sleep. I think better, I have more energy, my mood is better,” Jeff Bezos said during a 2018 conversation with David Rubenstein at the Economic Club of Washington, D.C.
His approach challenges the long-standing belief that we need to constantly sacrifice rest for productivity. This shift is also changing the way we define productivity. Getting enough sleep is gradually becoming less of a compromise and more of an investment in long-term performance and well-being.
The shift towards prioritising sleep is gradually influencing the way people approach work, study and everyday life. While an occasional late night or an all-nighter may be unavoidable during exams, deadlines or other demanding situations, turning sleep deprivation into a routine can take a toll on both productivity and well-being.
The goal, therefore, is not to eliminate late nights but to stop treating them as a measure of ambition or success. As people begin to recognise the value of rest and recovery, sleep is no longer being viewed simply as time away from work. In a society that once celebrated how long you could keep going, the new measure of productivity may simply be knowing when to rest.
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