Is nonstop hustle really the key to success? In this post, I reflect on how over-grinding affected my creativity—and what I’m doing instead.

First of all, this is my first blog, and I'm writing it to reconnect with my creative self—something I recently realized I had left behind in the marathon of becoming more "productive" and "efficient."

While introspecting and observing the people around me, I noticed that many of us keep grinding on our work without bothering to pay attention to anything else. It might sound impressive on the surface, but based on what I’ve seen in myself and others, I believe it actually leads to mental dullness.

Repeating the same routine every day and keeping your head down on a single task for the whole day may seem like hard work—but in reality, it doesn't require much thinking. It’s a kind of mental autopilot. You wake up, open your task, assignment, book, or laptop, and just start working without any thought. It may feel like you're being productive, but our brains aren’t wired to do just one thing all day, every day.

Think about our ancestors—they had to cook, hunt, travel, build, and even play. That’s how the human brain evolved: by engaging in different types of activities.

Today, it’s possible to spend the entire day grinding only because most things are automated and services are available at our fingertips. But ironically, this increased efficiency can reduce our creativity and productivity if it doesn’t align with our natural tendencies.

On the other hand, I’ve also seen people who constantly engage in different activities. They spend large parts of their day playing, chatting, writing, and exploring—and yet, they perform exceptionally well in academics. More importantly, they seem happy and rarely feel tired.

Joining a 60-hour course and trying to finish it in two weeks may look impressive on paper. But taking two months to complete it—enjoying the process, learning with curiosity, and not feeling pressured—is far more sustainable (and enjoyable). 😊

That’s actually one of the reasons why I started writing this blog—to bring back the joy in learning and creating without the pressure of “grinding” all the time.

How do you balance work and creativity? Let me know in the comments.