Many people refer to our current economy as a \u201cgig economy,\u201d meaning that that they need to cobble together several jobs, or \u201cgigs\u201d which usually have no health or retirement benefits in order to make a living. This differs from the past when many or most people landed jobs with benefits, a set work week, and a predictable trajectory for promotion.\u00a0\u00a0Nowadays recent graduates, or people laid off from seemingly stable jobs, may struggle with how to make it in this new \u201cgig\u201d climate. As a one-woman show, I have only known shaping a life around gigging, so I thought I would share some tips on how to adapt to this lifestyle.<\/p>\n
One of the tools I have cultivated over time is the ability to shift gears. This can also help if you have a full-time job that requires long hours and then want to be able to shift gears into personal time. \u00a0Here are some simple steps to make it happen.<\/p>\n
1.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0Take three relaxed breaths. Picture yourself erasing a board with writing on it until it is empty. Then ask yourself, \u201cI\u2019m done with all that, what\u00a0shall I focus on now?\u201d<\/p>\n
2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ask yourself, \u201cWhat sort of energy does this new task require?\u201d \u00a0This is similar to how a car\u2019s engine needs to kick into a higher gear when climbing up a hill, or lower one when it\u2019s decelerating.<\/p>\n
3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Set the intention of the result you want by\u00a0focusing on the task at hand. Sometimes when I am on camera, for example, \u00a0I find myself wondering about what my daughter, Lily, is doing. \u00a0At such times, it helps when I create a win-win intention such as: \u00a0\u201cI am putting my entire focus here, and I know Lily is having great fun playing with her friends right now.\u201d Then I can focus fully on what I’m doing.<\/p>\n
4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Shift gears by giving a gentle shake and stretch to your whole body.\u00a0Then you will be\u00a0more prepared\u00a0for a change.<\/p>\n
These steps may help you to feel calmer and more focused. Then you are ready to shift gears.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Many people refer to our current economy as a \u201cgig economy,\u201d meaning that that they need to cobble together several jobs, or \u201cgigs\u201d which usually have no health or retirement benefits in order to make a living. This differs from the past when many or most people landed jobs with benefits, a set work week, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-514","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jenniferblaine.com\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/514","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jenniferblaine.com\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jenniferblaine.com\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jenniferblaine.com\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jenniferblaine.com\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=514"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/jenniferblaine.com\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/514\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jenniferblaine.com\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jenniferblaine.com\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jenniferblaine.com\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}