Are You Brainwashed by the Cult of Busy-ness?

Last night my partner and I were watching a documentary called Ministry of Evil: The Twisted Cult of Tony Alamo. Like many cult leaders, the Alamos enforced a punishing schedule of "volunteer" work and group activities to wear people down and keep them from thinking. I began to wonder: are overworked people being brainwashed by their employers, the government, or some other shadowy entity?

I did some further research, and this is what I found:

• Brainwashing and mind control are controversial topics. Brainwashing is not widely accepted in mainstream science.

• When people talk about brainwashing, they often mean manipulation techniques like isolation, engulfment, coercion, conditioning, and peer pressure.

• No, we’re not being brainwashed by a single, evil entity like the Illuminati, the CIA, or even Bill Gates. But marketers and employers use techniques like conditioning, peer pressure, and fearmongering to get people to work more and spend more.

This message finds a receptive audience in many Americans. Max Weber wrote about how the protestant work ethic equates hard work with righteousness, and the 20th century saw the rise of the consumer, getting busier and busier to accumulate more labor-saving devices. This lean-in ethos is amplified by colleagues, families, and our own self-talk.

Here are some ways the ethic of overwork seeps out of the collective consciousness and steals our lives:

Conditioning: Follow the Comfortable Script

"But being overwhelmed is normal! We're all stressed!"

College is an important all-encompassing experience for many young people. I had a lot of important epiphanies in college and, by the end, I completely identified with academia and thought I would spend my life there. Over a decade of conditioning meant I was bound to be more uncomfortable leaving than staying, even if staying was hurting me. Most of us begin to be conditioned to be passive followers in a larger organization as early as kindergarten or preschool. People often perceive their boss in a parental role, and if they grew up in a dysfunctional family, an overly demanding or all-consuming job can feel normal or even comfortable.

Peer Pressure: The Cult of Consumerism

Have I "made it" yet?

What is “enough” for you? For example, my partner and I were super excited when be bought a small manufactured home. However, a couple of friends that were upper-class seemed surprised and a little judgmental. They had no practical knowledge about the manufactured home industry and considered them not to be “real homes”. Needless to say, we stopped hanging out with them after that. However, that shows how being born into or accustomed to a certain lifestyle can be a trap, making us entitled, less resourceful and blind to other ways of living(especially ones less focused on excessive spending).

There are some material luxuries that I truly enjoy: my garden, my bathtub, and my bed, for example. Expensive haircuts and jewelry are not important to me (but they might be for you!). You can intentionally decide what “success” means to you. What nice things or experiences do you derive pleasure from? What do you buy because you feel like you have to, or because your family has always done so? The next time an advertiser, friend, or parent tries to convince you that you need something, stop and consider: is it worth your life energy?

Fear Mongering: What If a Change Ruins Your Life?

"Are you SURE you can find a better job? What if you end up living in a dumpster?"

Fear might give you that extra oomph to run away from predators, but existing while stuck in your reptilian fight or flight mode does not help you think better. To make wise decisions about your future, you need to dial down the stress and think about your skills, opportunities, and life desires. Although our comfort zone of familiar spaces, people, and routine feels safe and familiar, that doesn’t mean that anything new or different is going to be worse. If you truly look at your situation and realize that you are ready to make the jump, just understand that quitting your job isn't irresponsible or impulsive, especially if you’re unhappy and exhausted.

Questions to escape the trap of overwork

Why am I working so much?

Many over-workers are aware that overwork is bad for their health and counterproductive to efficiency. Yet they can't seem to give anything up. Can we brainwash ourselves? Well, according to Sarah Green Carmichael in the Harvard Business Review, sort of:

We log too many hours because of a mix of inner drivers, like ambition, machismo, greed, anxiety, guilt, enjoyment, pride, the pull of short-term rewards, a desire to prove we’re important, or an overdeveloped sense of duty.

Overworking can also enable us to avoid the areas of our life that aren't going so well. Green Carmichael goes on to say:

In fact, multiple researchers have actually found that work is less stressful than our home lives. For some, work can be a haven, a place to feel confident and in control.

If you are escaping to work, it might be time to seek out a therapist. Toxic relationships are common, but they’re not healthy or inescapable. It’s not selfish to look after your personal relationships; it’s essential.

How much work is too much?

Tracking who is working, and how much, is difficult. Is 40 hours a week the "right" amount? It probably varies by person and career. But if you feel exhausted all the time, know that, according to Harvard, you are . . .

less likely to perform well. Neurons do not fire optimally, muscles are not rested, and the body’s organ systems are not synchronized. Lapses in focus from sleep deprivation can even result in accidents or injury.

A 2021 WHO study found that 745,000 people a year die from overwork. People who worked more than 55 hours a week faced a 35% higher risk of a stroke and a 17% higher risk of dying from heart disease than those who worked more typical hours. If you look at the maps in the study, you will see that people in poor countries are more likely to work a punishing number of hours, probably because it’s necessary for their survival. Is it necessary for yours?

Who is your work benefiting?

Of course, our society needs warehouse workers, nurses, and teachers, but we also need to accept the human limits of these workers. There is a reason people are burning out: many companies devalue frontline workers, seek ways to avoid labor laws, and lobby to underfund or privatize public services in the name of "efficiency" and "productivity."

Erich Rauch points out that productivity increased so much during the second half of the 20th century that "a worker should be able to earn the same standard of living as a 1950 worker in only 11 hours per week." So who's benefiting from all this increased productivity? The New York Times notes:

By the start of 2021, the richest 1% of Americans held 32% of the nation's wealth, its highest level since these records began in 1989.

How can you share your talents and earn a living without burning out?

How can you slow down and ensure your energy is benefiting the people you want it to benefit—maybe yourself, your family, or causes you care about? There's no one right answer, but here are some places to start.

Eliminate digital noise that's not improving your life.

Even if social media and digital marketing isn't mind control, it can still harm you and waste your time. I don't think in terms of "bad" technology and "good" technology. My partner loves to de-stress with videogames, while I find them overstimulating. She avoids all personal social media use, while I'm still on GoodReads. The key is to be honest with yourself about how much time you're spending in front of screens and if it's improving your life and your mood.

Take that saved-up vacation time or time when you'd be watching TV to reflect on your values and make a plan. To escape the "cult" of busy-ness, take a retreat. Relax to think clearly. Instead of your coworkers and boss, spend time with your family and friends. Think about what you most value in your life—It's okay, and actually healthy, if that's changed over time. Our values tend to change as we grow, and the most important things is to stop and figure out what those values are and how we can align our lives with them.

Approach your boss to see if you can agree on a healthy work week.

If you work in retail or doing physical labor, this may involve asking your boss for a more predictable schedule or an adjustment to your hours. If you’re an office worker, this might involve de-prioritizing work projects/tasks that don't matter or asking to work remotely. Whatever you need, it doesn’t hurt to ask for it before deciding to jump ship.

Find new work on your own terms.

If your employer refuses to cooperate, or if you feel like your entire industry is caught in the ethos of overwork, maybe you can do better. There are other options! Investigate what it takes to break into a more sustainable industry or start your own business. You can start small by giving your current job only the work they’re paying for(meaning, doing what you were hired for, not extra stuff that’s thrown at you) and putting your extra energy into a side gig or a new skill. Find your path to freedom. Use your accumulated resources, connections, and knowledge to craft a sustainable work life balance for yourself.