Juggling the Gig Economy Lifestyle and a Full-Time Job

Over the past few days, we’ve been recapping the recent Tweetchat we did in partnership with personal finance blog Wise Bread. The chat’s topic: the Gig Economy and how more and more people are using it to make extra money. The Gig Economy is all about using your passion as a source of income. So if you’re great with animals, your gig might be a dog-walking service. If you’re a talented performer, you might lend your voiceover talents to video projects. When it comes to the Gig Economy, the only rule is that you make money by doing something you love. There are two types of workers in the Gig Economy: those whose gigs supplement income from a full-time job, and those who make their money solely from their gigs.

We asked our Tweetchat participants whether their gigs were their sole source of income or if they were supplementing money made at another job.

Q7 – If you work full time, do you use the gig economy for side income?
#WBChat
#FiverrChat

— Wise Bread (@wisebread) January 22, 2015

Almost everyone who participated said their gig was in fact extra income in addition to the money they made at another full-time job.

Your first thought might be, “Other than the double paycheck, what’s the fun in having two jobs?” But since the Gig Economy is all about turning a hobby or passion into a way to make money, that second job often doesn’t feel like a job. Instead, it’s more like you’re getting paid to do what you love. So if you already have a full-time job and are thinking about joining the Gig Economy to make some extra money, think long and hard about what passion or talent you’d like to capitalize on. After all, this is something you’re going to be doing in your free time—nights, weekends, maybe even in the morning before you go to your full-time job—meaning you want it to be something that brings you joy, or at least something you think you’re good at.

As time goes on, you may find a way to make your gig your sole source of income. It might take years to have enough clients and contacts to get there, but once it does, you can experience the joy that comes from being your own (and only) boss.