An investigation into our "hustle and hurry" Culture

Olwyn's final year Project will focus on our modern obsession with "busyness". People are beginning to acknowledge that life (particularly in the Western world) has “sped up” to an unhealthy extent. She has completed extensive research on this topic and plans to investigate further how it has and will affect people.

Potential outcomes:

A small book with a strong focus on illustration, that analyses this issue. Ideally, this book would act as a “resource” to encourage people to question how they can “slow down”, leading to improved mental well-being.
An animation that examines and further emphasizes the themes in the book.

Below you will find a series of digital illustrations by Olwyn which have been inspired by her research thus far. At the end of this page, the introduction to her extensive research document can be read.

Introduction to Olwyn's Research document

Hustle....is it becoming a negative trigger word? If not to you…. perhaps more likely if you are a millennial?

I know I’ve heard it (...continuously at the moment) and have begun to wince. In this modern western society we seem to breath speed and hurry. We rarely stop... there’s so much to do! We glorify the busy! In fact we glorify the overworked, tired and stressed! We brag about the "all nighters" #thegrind. However a favourite author of mine, Jefferson Bethke, questions whether all we are doing is “hustling to the grave?!”.... And could it be true that hustle may not be a gift but actually a curse?

Through research, I’ve come to believe that today’s “expectations of busyness and striving” can be very closely linked to the alarming rise in anxiety.

The statistics can speak for themselves. Millennials and Generation Z have become known by the media as the anxiety generation. Over 1 in 6 people are likely to be diagnosed with an anxiety disorder at some stage in their lives. 50% of mental health conditions now occur by the age of 14 and 75% by the age of 24. Almost 5 times as many 1st years are entering university with mental health conditions compared to 10 yrs ago. Some studies have reported a 210% increase in anxiety among University students compared to 10 years ago. (Yes more diagnostics are taking place than ever before but the rise should still be unquestionably alarming).

Burn out has become HUGE. Ever head of the frog metaphor? How do you cook a living frog? Answer: You put it in cold water then very slowly bring up the heat...until without realising it, it’s boiled to death. A fun image.

We want answers! Researchers can’t definitively say why there is this huge increase in stress however they have pointed to 2 likely main contenders:

1) Social Media: Teens today are constantly connected…. It then shouldn’t be surprising that their world view and self esteem become tied to the response they receive online. Teens talk about comparing their “worst moments” to others “best” they see online. Who out of you puts up your pictures of the day you lost your job or had a breakup?

2) High expectations and pressure to succeed: More parents than ever are able to send their children to college. However once out of the place, their kids are faced with a job market that is so saturated that it has become harder to get a job than ever before. People have to over qualify…. What a world that must be to look up to as a kid?

….it could also be said then that both these issues rub off each other, making them increasingly worse.

Philosopher Dallas Willard said “We must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from our lives”

Hurry is like the issue behind many other issues. I know for me that I am never at my most loving or most peaceful when I am rushing. In fact, it’s probably when I treat people in my life the worst! We can only see things clearly when not rushing. Hurry has its time and place but it can’t be a mindset.

How can we steward our time best to live in the moment?