Hustle Culture: This Time It's Mandatory

3 tiny ways to create compounding sanity in the workplace

Author

Jen Phillips
July 08, 2025

Hi, It's Jen.

I’m not going to sugarcoat it. I’m cooked today. My energy? Low. My mindset? Meh. My efficacy? Mid.

Sounds like a fun read, right? But in thinking it through…I realized that being real with you when I’m like this is probably much more helpful than “pushing through” and “muscling past”. So here goes everything.

In today's issue:

  • Why James Clear is great

  • How a MEH day is, in fact, an opportunity

  • Your vote counts

Read time: 6 minutes

Default

"By the way, did you see the Wall Street Journal article? Work-Life Balance is over."

I was on a call with an (amazing) upcoming podcast guest. I hadn’t seen the article. But I knew I’d read it, and I had a pretty strong feeling I’d hate what I read.

I did read it. I did hate what I read. When you’re feeling resilient, I encourage you to give the article, excellently written by Lindsay Ellis, a read.

The tl;dr: Employers are brazenly saying the quiet part out loud in job postings and during applicant screening, testing the limits of what they can demand. Software company Rilla went so far as to say “Please don’t join” unless you want to work 70 hours weekly, in the office.

There are examples from Google, Shopify, McKinsey, and Solace Health, too. All disheartening. All in line with what I’m seeing and hearing from friends, partners, and clients.

Hustle Culture is on the rise, and this time it’s mandatory.

Quick favor: If this resonates, forward it to one more leader. Making the workplace a healthier place is going to take all of us.

Ambition

I read James Clear’s incredible newsletter “cover to cover”. What I like about it? It’s simplicity. I spend a lot of my time learning. Dense text. Weighty stuff. Most of it - if I’m honest - can get a little depressing at times.

James Clear’s … well … clarity is a gift. Today in my inbox, this quote from him:

❝

“Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become.”

James Clear

It hit me. Hard. I’m voting for a better future. 

One I believe in. One that’s supported by data, context, and research.

  • Even with all the uncertainty in the market.

  • Even with the utter nonsense of companies now brazenly making the 70-hour workweek a hiring requirement.

  • Even with the (accelerating) unknown/unknown of how AI will actually impact our work and change the future of work.

I’m voting for us.

Because I know it will take all of us working together to make sensible, good for humans, great for business change happen.

Because I know we need to get active right now to architect the change we want to experience in our ways of working.

Before it’s architected for us.

And I know you will feel better and lead better if you believe we can do it.

But until you believe, I am here for you. Some days are rougher than others. Some days I feel MEH. MID. Down. Unsure. Unclear. Some days I feel scared.

But I believe in the actions I’m taking and know they’re votes for the person I aspire to become.

And that is my ambition for you, too.

GO | DO

This week, a former IBM VP said to me, “You don’t get it, we’re expected to work with 24/7 availability”.

Believe me. I do get it.

Because I lived it.

But I’m 1000% certain that if I’d made the relentless pursuit of healthy ways of working a weekly priority, I could have been 1% better every week at a minimum.

And that, done consistently, over time…it’s a start.

For this week’s GO | DO, choose only 1 of the research-backed options for healthier work to prioritize until next Tuesday.

Pick the one that helps YOU with what’s hardest for you right now.

It’s not selfish. It’s strategic.

Set and share one work boundary publicly.

Harvard Business School research shows psychological safety can reduce burnout by up to 76%.

Say "I won't check email after 7 pm" or "I take lunch breaks." Make it normal. 

Vote to become the leader who gives others permission to be human.

Take a 2-minute pause before responding to “urgent” requests.

Research from Stanford shows that perceived emergencies are rarely in line with their actual urgency.

Count to 120. Ask: "Is this actually urgent or just loud?"

Vote to become the leader who operates with intention, not reactivity.

End meetings 5 (or 10) minutes early.

Microsoft's Human Factors Lab found that shifting to 25-minute meetings instead of 30, and 50 instead of 60, reduced stress by 11% and significantly lowered decision fatigue.

And who doesn’t need lower stress rn? Start this week.

Vote to become the leader who models sustainable, stress-relieving practices.

Get In There

  • Read (when you’re ready) “Think Work-Life Balance Is Overrated? You’re Hired!” from Lindsay Ellis at The Wall Street Journal to see where the way of working pendulum is swinging right now.

  • Listen for Leader Inspiration: Harvard Business Review's IdeaCast podcast "Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace” with Amy Edmondson, professor at Harvard Business School, sharing tactics on how leaders can get active in opening the door to a more candid workplace.

  • What I’m Reading NOW “Chief In Tech” from Anna Radulovski, Founder of the WomenTech Network. This is real-world stories from women leaders on navigating tech, mentorship, sponsorship, allyship, and negotiation.

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P.S. I’m hosting research meetings over the next three weeks to gather feedback on healthy work, healthy leadership, and burnout. These important conversations will inform the content, services, and products of The New Ambition.

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