It’s no secret that America is obsessed with work and productivity. 

Many Americans love keeping busy and staying productive because it makes us feel valuable. 

Since we live in a capitalistic society, we operate under the notion that the labor of workers produces value. 

Therefore, we often feel disposable if we aren’t proving our worth through hard work. 

In America, wealth equals success. 

American society pressures citizens to avoid wasting time, to work more and to get more tasks accomplished. 

We idolize icons of productivity such as billionaires, celebrities and entrepreneurs and we are faced with an overwhelming amount of “motivational” content encouraging us to increase productivity at work to become more successful. 

Hustle culture pushes messages like “rise and grind” and “the grind never stops.”

It glamorizes workaholism; if wealth equals success, someone who dedicates their whole life to work is considered successful. 

We are told that if you work really hard, you can achieve anything. 

The “American Dream” suggests that anyone can rise to the top from nothing if they just work hard enough. 

The ideal system for this would be a meritocracy, which is a political system where economic goods and political power are based on an individual’s talent, effort and achievement instead of factors like heredity or wealth. 

Unfortunately, this is not the case in America. 

Systemic issues prevent certain people from rising to the top, no matter how hard they work. 

You can’t tell someone who works 70 hours a week just to get by that they aren’t working hard enough. 

America promotes a self-sacrificial perspective; you should work yourself to the bone. 

Don’t worry, you can sleep when you’re dead. 

According to the Economic Policy Institute, pay and productivity have diverged.  

In America, the gap between a worker’s productivity and a worker’s compensation has increased since 1979. 

Productivity has grown 3.5x as much as pay. 

So, although Americans are working more productively, the profits of that productivity are going primarily to people already at the top. 

Due to this, underpaid workers are obligated to work longer hours, get multiple jobs or start some type of side hustle. 

According to an Insider article, the average American employee puts in 260 more hours a year than the average British worker and 499 more hours than most French citizens. 

According to the Center for Economic and Policy Research, the U.S. is the only advanced economy that does not guarantee its workers any paid vacation time.  

Many roots of America’s productivity obsession date back to the early 1900s. 

Max Weber’s 1905 book, “The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism,” illustrates the belief that wasting time is the deadliest of sins someone could commit. 

If idleness is a sin, Christian America would surely put an insane value on hard work and productivity. 

Although many factors have influenced how America became so productivity-obsessed, the question to focus on isn’t “how did we get here?,” it’s “how can we get out of here?” 

We need to avoid setting unrealistic expectations for ourselves. 

We don’t exist just to work; we can’t reduce our lives to paychecks. 

It’s great to have a good work ethic, and many people feel a true sense of accomplishment after getting things done, but America’s obsession with work and productivity is toxic. 

Our self-worth shouldn’t be tied to the number of hours we have worked or the amount of money we have made, and we shouldn’t feel guilty for taking breaks or taking time off from work.

Getting work done can give us a sense of fulfillment, stability and normalcy, but overworking yourself can lead to serious consequences. 

If we don’t prioritize our quality of life over our jobs, we are doing a disservice to ourselves.