Want to be a gig worker? Consider these realities before taking the plunge

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Gig economy is a significant trend emerging from the conversations about the future of work. Gig economy is a manner of work where people have temporary project-based jobs, and are paid separately for each one of them instead of working for a single employer. A gig worker is someone who participates in this model of working.

As someone who works as a gig worker and believes in the model, I want to shed some light on certain realities about the gig economy, for those considering the path.

A lot has already been written about the gig economy, but most of it is from the employer’s perspective and hardly anything from the potential employees' point of view. For employers, it's just as important to understand the mindset of the gig worker, to hire and manage them better.

At first glance, being a gig worker promises a life where your work helps you live with a sense of purpose. It seems like a perfect option for you, if you believe in doing the things you love and at your own time. Interacting with different people, companies, cultures and collaborating on various projects sans the office politics may even sound exciting. There will be times you think of yourself as an actor who gets to play many different parts and wear varying hats. The term gig economy has, in fact, been borrowed from the music industry.

While all these factors considered, may make the gig economy an interesting bet, the same tenets of this future of work concept leads to challenges. Here are a few:

What helps in productively at that point is being prepared for it, planning for it, and recognising what makes you comfortable personally. In fact, now when things get too busy, I schedule periods of free time for myself.

The fact of the matter is that to navigate and succeed in this work model, you cannot afford to be any of the above. You need to generate tremendous focus and clarity. The best way out of this is to see yourself as changing forms, like becoming water, ice or gas according to the outside requirements, but essentially remaining the same at the core. For this though, it's necessary to have a strong sense of who you really are, what your aspirations are, strengths, limitations, vision, and who you want to become.

The myth is that now you don’t need to deal with performance approvals and other non-core work-related processes if you are not married to one organisation. This is not true. I find myself on the Slack [chat-based employee productivity tool] channels of so many different companies across the world that sometimes it is hard to keep track.

As a gig worker, you are running a business (which is you) and all the frills attached to a business come with it. You are not going to be as free as you think you will. Your clients are your employers, and as a gig worker, the responsibility of all the areas of business like business development, marketing, managing client, contracts, finance, and so on, solely lies on you. Managing this takes time and upskilling – time away from work that you love doing and getting paid.

However, in spite of all the challenges, I would not like to give it up – at least not yet. To thrive, what you really need is courage and conviction, and lots of it. It's important not to lose sight of the fact that with all of the attractions of freelancing, struggles and challenges come in tow. Understanding them and being prepared will reduce their impact.

If employers understand this side of the gig workers and enable a work ethic which makes their life easier, it will be a win-win situation.