Work to live, don’t live to work.
Over 20 years ago, a coworker who had been working for longer than I had been alive at the time shared that motto with me.
I understood it then. But now I truly feel it.
When I was younger, I worked hard and cared not one bit about my mental or physical health.
Back-breaking work. Mind-breaking work. It didn’t matter; I did it.
As gig workers, we don’t have the luxury of getting paid time off, which means if we need a mental health day, we don’t get paid for it.
With that in mind, how can delivery drivers protect their wallet and their mental health?
1. Don’t Take Orders That Cause Anxiety
Waiting long periods of time for an order that might be ready soon doesn’t make sense.
First, if you aren’t driving, you aren’t making money. So all that waiting time is unpaid time.
Second, your anxiety is likely going up because you’re waiting and not making money.
To solve this, don’t take orders from places that you know will take a long time.
In my area, that’s Sonic and Popeyes. It does not matter how much those orders are; I don’t take them. I have never had an order from them that didn’t take 20 to 30 minutes to get.
Another way to make sure you are safe, secure, and not getting orders that cause anxiety is to not drive during times that cause anxiety.
Rush hour traffic is the worst time to drive. Even if orders are coming in, it will take far too long to get to a restaurant and then to the customer’s home.
You’re also more likely to get orders a little bit later anyway, as people don’t order till they get home, and everyone is in your way on the road.
Related Article: How to Reduce Stress While Driving as a Rideshare Driver
2. Take Frequent Breaks
Whether you’re working between jobs, on your way home, or on your 7th 12-hour day in a row, you need to take breaks.
If you had a regular 9 to 5 job, you would not work every single hour of that day. You would have 15-minute breaks, bathroom breaks, smoke breaks, and lunch breaks.
As gig workers, most of the time, we take a “break,” which is when we go into a restaurant, and the order is almost ready or go to the bathroom before we get the order.
Taking breaks is more than just taking care of physical needs like sleep, food, and water. It’s to help you get some time to relax, calm down, assess the day, take a nap, or do anything else that helps.
Most jobs would schedule your break.
You may not choose to have a break at a normal time because that’s when most people are placing orders, but pick a time that gets very few orders and plan for a break.
In my area, at 2 PM, the lunch orders stop, and it isn’t until around four that the dinner orders start again. So, if I drive all day, I will take a break during that time.
Don’t take that time to get a few decent orders or relax while waiting for requests. Completely shut off the apps and your brain to help your mental health. Read a book, call a friend, watch TV, play a video game, or do anything that isn’t taxing on your mental health.
In addition to scheduling breaks throughout the day and week, you should take entire days off, and you need to plan vacations.
Budget for them by putting money aside each week so that on weeks you are on vacation, you can still “get paid.”
Taking time off may not seem like the best idea for making money, but improving your mental health will allow you to be able to work better, harder, and longer when you return, as long as you don’t burn yourself out again when you get back.
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3. Keep Your Car Cleaned and Maintained
There are few things more stressful for a gig worker than a broken-down car.
Not only have you lost your means of transportation, you’ve lost your means to make money.
The first step to maintaining your car is keeping it clean. If your car is regularly vacuumed and washed, especially by you, you’re more likely to notice things going wrong early.
Keeping up with regular maintenance like oil changes can make a huge impact on keeping the car in good shape, as well as keeping your gas mileage high.
Taking the time to make sure you have your car in good health will ensure that your mental health is good.
4. Take Care of Your Physical Health
Drinking water, getting sun, and exercising are the simplest things you can do to maintain and even improve your physical health.
When you’re physically healthy, your mental health improves as well.
It will give you more energy to do the things you love or energy to work. You’ll sleep better, which in itself will improve your physical health.
Just like you won’t get six-pack abs the first time you do crunches, your mental health will not improve from doing one thing one time. You need to continue doing things slowly, every day, to improve your mental health.
And it’s an ongoing thing; your mental health will continue to need to be maintained, and some days will be harder than others.
However, If you do all you can by avoiding orders and times that worsen your mental health and anxiety, taking frequent breaks and vacations, and caring for your physical health, then you will be working to live and not living to work.
Related Article: Maintaining Work-Life Balance As A Rideshare Driver
