Morning Brew - 💻 Polyworking

Time-saving tools and products we’re really into rn.

• Reflect on what went right this year, and what you’d like to improve on next year, using the free YearCompass booklet.
• Capture the moments that matter to you all year long by pledging to record one second of video every day in 2022.
• Sidekick favorite brand Baronfig (previously featured in our holiday gift guide) recently dropped its uniquely designed 2022 planner.

What’s top-of-mind at the watercooler.

If the almost-two-years of pandemic work have made anything crystal clear, it’s that we’re all working…a lot. Between the side hustles, second jobs, and passion projects, a new work phrase, “polyworking,” has emerged in an attempt to accurately describe many people’s current workload. Defined simply as “holding multiple jobs at once,” polyworking isn’t a new concept by any means. A June 2021 Digiday piece took a closer look at the phrase’s background and the groups that are now popularizing the trend.

As Digiday writer Tony Case discovered, the phrase is usually associated with Millennials and Gen Z-ers, two generations that know a thing or two about overworking and burnout. While the reasons behind polyworking vary from participants wanting to follow their interests to people needing the extra money to pay bills, the community is clearly growing. A new social media network, also called Polywork, encourages members to share all of the work they do on their profiles, and also allows them to scroll through other profiles for a dose of  “polywork inspiration.”

But, as with all things, there’s a less glamorous side of polyworking that involves late nights, early mornings, and the potential for extreme burnout in the long run. This led Teen Vogue Economic Security Project Fellow Jacqui Germain to question whether polyworkers are participating for “fun” or out of necessity to make ends meet, especially in large, expensive cities. A few polyworkers whom Germain spoke to reported taking lower-paying jobs not aligned with their desired career paths or interests in order to have enough money to cover monthly expenses.

Overall, it seems as though both of these reasons for polywork—necessity and curiosity—can simultaneously be part of polyworkers’ decision-making. As we continue to move through career shifts caused by the pandemic, it seems as though the trend will only grow in popularity among younger working generations.

Your punch list for when you punch out.

Read: Reframing the way you think about your best days might help you have more of them, one writer found.

Watch: Prep your watch lists—the 2022 A24 calendar is already coming in hot with the announcement of a new sci-fi adventure film.

Eat: Step into Kitchn’s Cookie Time Machine for delicious cookie recipes from the 1920s onward. Spritz cookies, anyone?

Burning questions of our time.

As you start to make your 2022 resolutions, it’s likely that you’ll jot down a new hobby or two to try in your precious free time. But as some people become better and more experienced at their hobbies, the question of whether or not to monetize the hobby may come up. On one hand, as the polyworkers above would say, it’s nice to have extra income, but on the other, it may change your relationship to the hobby that you currently love. So, readers, are you for or against turning your hobby into your side hustle? Hit reply and let me know what you think!