Here is what we know, and that is that those working and living in the gig economy will require much more when it comes to successfully navigating the market and the role (Ashford et al., 2018). Success in the gig economy is layered with uncertainty, and it is dependent on an array of variables such as the intrinsic motivation of the gig worker to self-initiate in areas such as marketing one’s self, engaging the public proactively, working confidently amidst issues, balancing life and personal issues, and more. This is all done while meeting the demands and needs of the urban economy for services being offered. The entrepreneurial spirit is, however, very alive in these practices, despite their challenges. So how should we nurture our professional life as a gig worker to ensure that we are positively engaging the experience? Here we will explore five primary components every gig worker needs to pay attention to if they want to thrive in today's work world.

Bricolage is about engaging and applying resources available, building from diverse materials, to handle issues or tackle goals, and is imperative for gig workers (Ashford et. al., 2007). Bricolage may occur when we assess and combine resources creatively for issues such as the sudden loss of a job or job resources, or interruptions in the day. Bricolage helps the gig worker build behaviorally adaptative skills by thinking creatively through sudden issues rather than falling back on formerly rehearsed alternatives and actions.

Bricolage requires proactivity. Harnessing proactive states of behavior in an anticipatory action-oriented way. This means proactivity harnessing a “self-starting” type of behavior that is not only present-focused but future-focused as well, to make the necessary modifications in “self” and one's resourcing that will help build resilience, self-efficacy, and create sustainable business practices to assist in preparing for unanticipated external shocks.

Proactivity in in fact is already present in gig workers because of the inherent nature of such environments that are built on autonomy, accountability, ambiguity, and discrepant events. These aforementioned conditions are present and foster proactivity most of the time, so adding bricolage practices to that palette will help gig workers become more prepared for a variety of situations.

Gig workers must come to embrace the idea of self-initiating or self-starting behaviors throughout their career and this applies to enhancing one’s development and competencies due to frequently changing marketplace conditions. Gig workers should not count on their employers for skills development since such connections are fleeting and unpredictable. Instead, those who engage in gig work must learn to embrace self-initiating behaviors where they take the reigns of development and learning “on the side,” which will also help foster multi-core competencies.

I mentioned earlier the challenges of “psychical" loneliness for gig workers given their autonomy in work, however, the conditions that foster loneliness in gig work are modifiable. We know that relationships shape individuals' perceptions of work. Gig workers, with a little planning and strategic efforts, can engage their “relational connectedness” by developing relational supports through crafting what is referred to as a relational network that ties both “inside work” to “outside work.” Such efforts help grow one's human connectedness and also help mitigate the loneliness and stress of the role.

For some, gig work may align with a natural predisposition towards introverted tendencies, but there is still an important aspect to fostering a support network. This may mean for those who chose gig work based on the desire to work alone, to work on developing one’s relational agility further. These would be skills relative to cultivating relationships quickly, forming new relationships, and maintaining current ones. Our professional acumen takes on a more purposeful and renewed focus when we learn to utilize relationships more productively, and in this case, perhaps more so for their "seasonal" natures (Petriglieri, 2011).

Surface acting, where one controls or inhibits emotions to manage impressions, may be something of a necessity in the short term for gig workers to engage their jobs productively (Diefendorff et. al., 2003). But it is also a “superficial” way to regulate emotional affect, and most often leads to suppression of emotions, alongside a feeling of cognitive dissonance. For gig workers, it is and will be imperative that they work towards a form of “deeper acting” thinking which is the more innate opportunity one has to regulate emotions by truly attenuating to one’s feelings and emotional states (Diefendorff et. al., 2003).

For example, a gig worker may smile and look a certain way on the "outside" but may be hurting on the inside, suppressing emotional content and ultimately creating internal health issues. Deeper acting is not a “fake it until you make it” attitude, but rather, a self-initiated reflective awareness such as acknowledging things like, “I feel sad, so then, what actionable steps can I take to modify this feeling state?” This could mean that gig workers build the necessary resourcing for down-regulating stress such as "practiced" methods using focused breathing, mindfulness approaches, or periodic therapy check-ins, to assist. There are many ways to steward in deep acting if we take "actionable" steps and account for the potential that one day, we may feel the "burdens" that may come with the role.