How to Measure Productivity as a Gig Worker

The gig economy is growing so quickly and changing the definition of “employee” so fast, that the government doesn’t know how many gig workers there actually are. Depending on how you classify them, there may be as many as 75 million Americans making their living as gig workers.

If the term is new to you, “gig economy” describes the relationship between employers and part-time and full-time independent contractors. Graphic design, writing, software development, and other creative, cognitively demanding tasks are prime candidates for this kind of employment. In exchange for giving up regular wages and a predictable schedule, gig workers are freer to spend or sell their time however they want to.

That means life in the gig economy provides certain freedoms and opportunities. But it also raises questions about how to stay productive and focused. These include:

• With all the potential distractions, what does a gig worker need to do in order to become (and stay) productive?
• How can a gig worker measure productivity?
• How can the worker connect with their employer over time about improving their work performance?
• What are the benefits to a gig worker of becoming more serious about productivity and maintaining close company ties?

This quick guide should get you thinking about your own answers to these questions.

Becoming Productive as a Gig Worker

Before you can measure productivity, you need to be sure you have an environment and a mindset that’s conducive to it. If you intend to make gig work a primary way that you earn an income, you need two things:

• The ability to balance freedom and downtime with productive routines.
• A home office or other place dedicated to getting work done.

When we say “routines,” we don’t mean doing literally the same thing every day. That defeats some of the purpose of gig work in the first place! Having a routine means being able to set aside other tasks and distractions and setting yourself up for success during your working hours. It also means finding a place in your home where you feel comfortable, alert and engaged.

Measuring Productivity So You Can Focus

There are several steps involved, and several techniques you can use, to better understand your current productivity levels and work toward improving them. This should get you started:

• Establish benchmarks for yourself: Whatever type of work you do, you can probably measure it in lines of code, words of prose or design projects approved. For each task you perform, take the time to find out what your productivity baseline is right now so you can measure how it changes over time. Are you improving your efficiency or “rate” over time? Are some tasks getting easier to accomplish in less time? This data is all useful for the gig worker.
• Set quantifiable, measurable goals for yourself: You define what “success” looks like for you. If you want to measure productivity, make sure you’re regularly setting goals and accounting for the concrete, practical steps to take to get there. If you’ve already set benchmarks, you can focus on defining success in terms of tasks, objectives and goals completed — not in terms of hours spent. Check in only periodically to see if your benchmarks are improving.
• Use your phone or an app: Smartphones and apps can be distracting, but they also offer tools that can help you focus and measure how productive you are throughout your day. Modern phones offer settings with the ability to limit the user’s time in certain apps or generate reports on how long other apps, like reference, productivity, and work-related apps, are in use. A spreadsheet app can help you track how much time you’re committing to different tasks and show over time how your earnings and productivity are related.
• Track your sleep: The “eight hours” rule varies from person to person, but the truth is that most working people don’t get enough sleep. Gig workers are especially likely to lose sleep by letting their professional and personal lives bend together. To become more productive during the day, flip the script and start finding out how long you spend in bed and investing in habits to help you achieve better sleep hygiene.
• Avoid multitasking: One of the reasons why workers in the gig economy have trouble taking an honest look at their productivity is that many of them multitask when they shouldn’t be. Science shows us that multitasking makes us less productive in the end. Plus, you’ll have a better sense of how much time your different tasks take, and how much to charge for your services, if you focus on one type of work at a time.

One way to measure productivity that we haven’t mentioned yet is the idea of checking in more regularly with your clients or your employer. As a gig worker, you might not be guaranteed the kind of structured employee assessments you might be used to. This too is a challenge and an opportunity.

It means part of the onus is on you if you want to improve your productivity and expand your marketable set of skills. You can draw up plans with your employer to engage in more frequent, less formal review sessions. You can both talk about what’s going well and what should change in the future. It’ll also give both parties a chance to get on the same page about what productivity looks like and what metrics should be tracked to measure improvement over time.

What Are the Benefits of Measuring Productivity?

There is a principle beauty of becoming a gig worker: the more productive you are, the likelier you are to earn more money. According to McKinsey, jobs requiring high cognitive skills and creativity will remain in high demand among employers for a long while to come, and these positions are especially well-suited to the culture of the gig economy and remote working.

There are several potential benefits of becoming more in tune with your work rhythms and mastering productivity. These include:

• Impressing your employer well enough that they hire you full-time.
• Taking on new and more challenging responsibilities that further your career.
• Being more productive in one professional area will free up time to find new clients, learn new skills and even get involved with local entrepreneurial or leadership groups.

Gig workers are their own bosses, but only up to a point. They still have clients — and for full-time contractors, clients can be more like employers. As a gig-based employee, it can be hard to feel like your efforts matter and are being appreciated.

But it’s more than possible to distinguish yourself by maintaining close ties even when it’s not necessarily expected, becoming mindful about how you spend your time, and learning how your productivity changes, or doesn’t, as you become more experienced.