How gig workers have adapted to working in isolation - Phys.org

How gig workers have adapted to working in
isolation

January 5 2023, by Brittany Lambert, Brianna Barker Caza, Erin Reid
and Susan Ashford

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

In the wake of the pandemic, it is clear that remote work is here to stay.
It seems every week there are more news stories about workers

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preferring to work remotely, or companies closing physical office spaces
.

This shift has employees and managers navigating new workplace
challenges, not least of which is mental health concerns from working in
isolation.

Now more than ever, there is much to be gained by learning from the
lived experiences of gig workers—anyone working independently on a
"gig-to-gig" basis. Many have experienced and experimented with
managing a form of radical agency, flexibility and autonomy in an
environment where working in isolation was a norm long before it
became a more global reality.

We are a team of management professors at Indiana University, the
University of North Carolina at Greensboro, McMaster University and
the University of Michigan. Drawing on our own research on gig work,
as well as that of others studying the gig economy, we can identify some
of the challenges of working in isolation, and offer some practical advice
on how to address them.

The emotional costs of isolated work

Gig work comes with some upsides, like being one's own boss or setting
one's own schedule. However, the isolation typical of gig work can also
take an emotional toll. Gig workers often feel lonely and anxious
because they lack easy access to relationships or membership in an
organization.

In preliminary research done for her dissertation, one of us, Brittany
Lambert, has found that this anxiety can rise to clinically significant
levels. In this research, 47 gig workers in highly skilled professions
provided a total of 1,287 responses to daily surveys about their work

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experiences and mental health. Initial findings revealed that on average,
they experienced heightened levels of anxiety for more than half of the
10-day study.

Some degree of worrying is healthy—it can even support productivity.
However, higher levels of persistent anxiety can also be disruptive. As
workers drain their resources and energy to manage both the chronic
anxiety stemming from their working conditions and the daily demands
of their job, they may be more likely to burn out.

Additionally, research into the isolation of gig work has shown that
working this way has implications for professional development. Gig
workers can often lack access to social resources that help traditional
workers do their jobs and advance their careers, like feedback, new
ideas, knowledge and even emotional support.

While these obstacles may still be fresh to newly remote employees,
many gig workers have learned to flourish in the face of these
challenges. In fact, Lambert's dissertation suggests that the autonomy in
this type of work—working by yourself and choosing how, when and
where to work—may be both anxiety provoking and anxiety reducing
(protective to mental health). So, how do gig workers equip themselves
to thrive in work environments that isolate them from their colleagues?
Research suggests some answers.

Cultivate community

One way to break the isolation of working alone is to intentionally craft a
support system.

Emerging research on gig workers' social lives suggests it is possible to
build a thriving social community even when work does not come with
built-in relationships. Instead, gig workers must be proactive and

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resourceful in pursuing and deepening these connections.

For instance, more and more gig work communities are popping up in
various cities, facilitated by online forums, writers associations and co-
working spaces. These groups can provide a sense of belonging to a
larger community.

Another way gig workers creatively cultivate relationships is by routinely
working in the same public place—a "third place" like a coffee shop.
Research findings suggest that gig workers fare better when they
proactively seek out and foster the meaningful relationships shown to
support thriving and managing difficult emotions, like anxiety, at work.

Break negative thought patterns

Rumination is a repetitive pattern of negative thinking in which people
fixate on their problems and shortcomings rather than remembering
achievements or thinking up potential solutions.

When isolated workers feel lonely and anxious, they are more likely to
ruminate. For example, the combination of gig work stressors, from
financial instability to chronic isolation, may promote ruminative
thought patterns such as, "I didn't finish this client work today—that
means I'm not good at my job or cut out to succeed in this type of work."
Breaking this cycle of unhelpful thinking can reduce anxiety and
increase engagement at work.

There are many evidence-based tools and practices that can help people
become aware of and engage with ruminative thoughts in more helpful
and effective ways. These include mindfulness techniques, journaling
and reflection, and many forms of psychotherapy.

A reflection exercise

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The next time you notice feeling down, anxious or stuck ruminating,
here is one simple exercise created by clinical psychologist Natasha
Hansen of Indiana University to shift those feelings and thoughts. Pause
and ask yourself the following four questions, writing down your
responses and reflecting on each one as you go:

       What was I just thinking?
       Is that thought true—what is the evidence for the thought, and is
       there any evidence against the thought?
       Is that thought helpful—does it move me in the direction of the
       things that are important to me?
       Is there something else I could tell myself that would be both
       more true and more effective in moving me in the direction of
       my goals?

Take another minute to reflect on what you wrote down in Step 4. How
does it make you feel? What does it prompt you to do in comparison
with the thought you wrote down in Step 1?

Doing this sort of exercise regularly can help isolated gig workers
manage their mental health. Much in the same way that athletes build
muscle memory when they train, the more workers of all kinds practice
catching and shifting unhelpful thought patterns, the more habitual
effective thinking becomes.

In sum, we believe that understanding where gig workers struggle and
what they do to effectively manage these challenges can help all of us as
we try to navigate a future of work where "going to work" often means
being alone.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative
Commons license. Read the original article.

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Provided by The Conversation

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                                   June 2023 from https://phys.org/news/2023-01-gig-workers-isolation.html

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