Jose Romero
editor-in-chief

The way society romanticizes a 100-hour workweek is crazy, right?

One hundred hours of non-stop, rigorously draining activity. One week only has 168 hours in it which means the majority of the week has gone toward doing work instead of taking time for yourself. A time that could’ve been spent with a favorite hobby or just relaxing.
It’s far too often that the perception of the new generation is “lazy” because they don’t aspire to work until their eyes fall out of their sockets. It’s a damaging mentality to believe self-worth is tied to the number of hours put into work. I’ve mainly experienced it from men who think it’s the only way you can truly reach pure masculinity. As if being a man has a strict set of guidelines.

I grew up in an environment with a lot of toxic masculinity, meaning pretty much every adult I knew had that work till you die mentality. It’s unfortunate how prominent it is in Hispanic culture. Creative endeavors or time off are seen as a waste and could be better spent working. I don’t think there’s anything to criticize about somebody just wanting to lay on the couch for a day to destress.

There are two sides of a coin to this argument, though.

Some are required to work that much to support themselves or their family, which is understandable. Unfortunately, people are put into that predicament in the first place, but that’s just how things are. Maybe if the minimum wage was a living wage then people wouldn’t have to work three jobs just to support a family.

Something I’ve seen lately on social media are posts talking about grinding, not sleeping and waking up at 5 a.m. to be successful. What people fail to mention is how unhealthy it is to just work without resting.

Without getting a sufficient amount of sleep, your immune system can be affected, meaning you’re more prone to illness, according to Healthline. It’s up to personal philosophies to determine whether or not sickness is worth it, but that becomes self-harm at some point.

I don’t mean to shame anybody that genuinely enjoys their job. It’s a great thing to enjoy your work. Just remember to set limits.

However, it’s difficult to set a limit when the only thing keeping a person from work is a two-step walk.