Crowding won’t make you happy, says Yale psychologist Here’s what will

Keep your grinding. Hustle is harder. Sleep is for the rich.

You’ve heard the phrases touting the idea that success, fulfillment, and happiness are all achieved through a huge bank account. He says this couldn’t be further from the truth Lori Santosthe psychology professor behind Yale’s most popular course and host of the podcast “Happiness Lab“.

“A lot of us think I’m going to put my head down and avoid socializing, whether it’s at work or in my life, and I’m just going to get things done,” Santos tells CNBC Make. He. She. “This is completely wrong.”

do not miss: Hustle culture isn’t dead, it’s just got a new Gen Z brand: “People want time to live their lives.”

Working hard can increase stress, depression, and burnout, a Mayo Clinic blog post Notes. It can even have “adverse effects” on your occupational health — in other words, it’s harmful to your health and job performance — according to one study. 2019 Meta-Analysis Published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.

“We have intuition [that] I’ll make a million dollars, and I’ll be happy. “Then you rush, you get there and you’re not happy. You think, ‘I have to go further… Now I need $5 million to do this,'” Santos says. [be happy].’ This misconception of hustle culture ends up compounding itself.”

Hustle culture has been around for a while. Workaholism has been around longer: that’s the term Formulated in 1971 Written by psychologist Wayne E. Oates, aims to describe how work can become addictive.

Recently, social media influencers have pointed to Silicon Valley tech entrepreneurs as role models: If you optimize every moment of your day to maximize productivity, you can become rich just like them. Some go even further – if you don’t sacrifice sleep and relationships for work, you’ll never succeed.

However, people who get more quality sleep have greater life satisfaction than those who don’t. 2018 study Found published in the National Library of Medicine. The same applies to people who have strong social relationships with others. stanford medicine Reported in 2019.

“You need sleep, rest, and connection to others” to be happy, Santos says. “Those are the things that are going to be important.”

Santos says taking breaks in the workplace and communicating frequently with your family and friends can go a long way. Research backs it up here, too: “Social fitness” is the No. 1 key to a happy life, Mark Schultz and Robert Waldinger, directors of the Harvard Study of Adult Development, wrote in Make It in February.

“Social fitness requires evaluating our relationships and being honest with ourselves about where we devote our time and whether we care about the relationships that help us succeed,” Schulz and Waldinger wrote.

Hustle culture may already be starting to shift, according to a recent GoDaddy survey of 1,000 U.S. small business owners. 54% of participants defined the American Dream as “feeling happy in life,” which represents a move away from the traditional response of wealth.

“The American dream is changing, according to small business owners,” GoDaddy chief marketing officer Fara Howard told Make It in July. “Economic conditions have made homeownership less achievable, especially for members of Generation Z, while the pandemic and Great Resignation have prompted many to appreciate being their own boss and gaining more freedom, comfort and flexibility.”

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