How can you succeed in the gig economy?
To develop and maintain an enriching career in the gig economy, individuals need to add important psychological, emotional, social, and behavioral resources to their toolboxes. Here are some tips on which areas you should invest your time and energy into.
How to thrive in the gig economy with Professor Jerry Davis
Here are some specific capabilities that might help you TO succeed in your careers
Resilience
Long-lasting exposure to challenges of the gig work life may cause harm for some gig workers; however, you can adapt and effectively respond to frequent setbacks through these persistence and creative use of your resources.
Proactivity
Proactive behaviours are future-focused with the aim of improving self or context to reduce uncertainty. In the gig economy, individuals need to be able to anticipate their own future needs and possible setbacks so that they can address them in advance. Moreover, proactivity will help you to cope with a high level of responsibility that is needed if you want to realize your desired future.
Social Agility
As a gig worker, you need to build a network, including your professional communities, potential clients, supporters and employers. Two relational capabilities will help you for this aim: (1) building a social support network including ties from inside and outside the work realm that provides human connection and supports you in the face of stressors, and (2) cultivating relational agility that gives you the ability to form, maintain and dissolve work relationships productively.
Cognitive flexibility
As a gig worker, you need to have the ability to shift between tasks and goals and be able to manage new and novel happening. Moreover, you need the ability to switch your perspective from a pragmatic, detailed approach to an idealistic broad one. You also need to learn new skills or use your old skills in new contexts very fast. To put it in another way, your need to be cognitively flexible. This means you have to be able to switch between tasks quickly, and think of multiple different ways to address any issue that could arise.
Tolerance for Ambivalence
Gig work is emotional. The highs are very high and the lows are very low, and there is frequent oscillation between the two. In the gig economy, emotional management becomes critical. You should tune into your emotional state, as it is an important source of information, but you also need to develop practices to not allow it to derail your day.