Blank stare. Tossed hair. And a longing to be elsewhere.
If you’re up for it, let’s play a game of “Guess Who?” It’s simple. Just try and guess who I’m looking at right now.
Hangry, irritable, and unable to focus.
Is a picture of someone forming in your mind? Here are a few more descriptors: Piles of dirty laundry, protein bar wrappers in the trash, and a cup of coffee that’s been warmed up one too many times.
If you guessed a prisoner, an executive, or a working parent, you’re close, but not quite there yet. If you guessed yourself, you’re closer, but that probably means one of two things—you’re either sleep deprived or a doer.
Recently, one of the largest online marketplaces for freelancers ran an ad campaign in New York subways plastering up headshots of doers and excerpts from their interviews. They called this campaign, “The Year of Do,” with the catchy tag line, “In Doers We Trust.”
Here’s the excerpt from the ad I’m looking at, “You eat a coffee for lunch. You follow through on your follow through. Sleep deprivation is your drug of choice. You might be a doer.”
Apparently doing has become a badge of honor. A status symbol. And the way to define ourselves.
Freedom and flexibility
When traveling, one of my favorite things to do is talk to my Uber driver. I’ve been driven around by college students, graduate students, cyber security analysts, insurance agents, retired veterans, full-time moms, an HOA president, and a guy in finance who had just lost his job because his CEO and CFO went to prison.
Although they all have different reasons for driving, a common theme I’ve heard over and over again is a desire for freedom and flexibility—regardless of age, ethnicity, and whether they were doing it part-time or full-time. Since freedom and flexibility are hallmarks of the gig economy, this makes complete sense.
One of my favorite conversations was with a fifty-something full-time mother, who for the first time in 30 years was earning a paycheck outside of the home. Since she could drive whenever she wanted to, Uber was a perfect fit for her to earn “spending money.” So several nights a week from 9 pm to 1 am—since by that time everything has settled down at home—she gets in her car, opens up the app, and starts her side hustle.
I remember this other conversation I had with Melissa, a single mom who, after putting in a full day as a cleaner, would drive for Uber in the evenings and weekends to support her three teenagers. Her dream is to start her own cleaning company one day, but in the meantime, driving an extra 20 hours a week does the trick to pay for those “dang expensive pizza pockets,” in her words.
I could go on and on and tell you about the number of dads I met who were driving for Uber, as a side hustle, to pay for extra expenses. Others who were driving to save up for their children’s college tuition. And still others who would rather earn some extra spending cash than relax with their family on the weekend.
I’ve even met individuals who see their side hustle as the new credit card. Instead of going into debt to go on vacation, they just gig a few hours a week to save up. This is the new normal.
Let’s get back to the “Guess Who?” game. It’d be one thing if the lady on this poster looked happy, but she doesn’t. Sure, by doing more—or gigging—she might have earned some extra cash, but was it worth it?
She looks miserable, scattered, anxious, dehydrated, and emotionless.
If this is the end result of doing, I don’t want it. It doesn’t look like much of a status symbol to me. In doers, I don’t want to trust.
To learn more about the gig economy and why freedom and flexibility is the core lie of our age, pick up a copy of my new book, You Are What You Do: And Six Other Lies about Work, Life, and Love.