Now we’ve covered the foundations, you’re no longer a beginner. By now, you should be in a routine and seeing some steady income. But wait – there is more to do! It’s time to learn a few techniques that will help you boost your income, a technique known as gig stacking.
Gig stacking involves combining multiple platforms to keep that income coming in instead of relying on long hours across one category or platform. It will help you find the best-paid work and reduce unproductive downtime when you’re waiting for more tasks to appear on your dashboard.
In this guide, we’ll explain gig stacking, how to combine apps, and how to avoid a sense of being overwhelmed or burnt out in the process.
Gig Stacking: What Does It Mean?
Gig stacking means using more than one gig platform at the same time of day or across a single working day. It’s about making the most of the time you spend earning money.
Gig stacking isn’t multitasking; it’s an intentional strategy to layer gigs so that you can switch between them and spend more of your hours on paid work rather than searching for gigs. It keeps your day productive and reduces gaps where you’re logging in and searching for work.
Here is an example to help you understand how this works.
Imagine you are working for Uber Eats, running deliveries in the evening. You may have some gaps between deliveries, such as when you are waiting for an order from a restaurant. In these gaps, you can log on to another app, like Swagbucks, and spend time completing a few paid surveys.
You can also use gig stacking to make gig work more achieveable. For example, task rabbit work often involves you being physically present, and most of the work needs to be done during the day. But you could use your evenings to try out some online gigs on Fiverr to boost your income. That can be quite useful if you only have half a day booked on Task Rabbit gig work but want to boost your income. So it’s not about working day at night but having the ability to juggle between things and move where the paid work is instead of waiting around for the paid work to come to you.
The Best Gig Stacking Combinations
Not all gig apps work well in combination. The trick to making it work is to find apps that don’t compete for your time or attention. If you can focus on the combinations that work, you’re more likely to succeed in gig stacking. Here are the combinations proven to work
Uber Eats and Swagbucks or UserTesting
Delivery apps often involve downtime while you are waiting for orders. These small gaps are perfect for micro-tasking in places like Swagbucks or UserTesting, which are easy to complete on your phone.
TaskRabbit and Fiverr
TaskRabbit gigs often need completing in the daytime as you’re often driving around to people’s houses to do odd jobs like helping with a house move or assembling furniture. Pair this with an online services app like Fiverr so that you have another option to earn money when you are at home and don’t have any hands-on gigs.
DoorDash and Clickworker
Clickworker is great for small, short tasks that you can do before the start of a DoorDash shift. It’s great for stacking jobs and boosting your income.
Upwork and Amazon Flex
Upwork is project-based work, and it can take a while to establish a reputation and begin to get highly paid-work. While you are working to do that, try boosting your income with delivery work for Amazon Flex.
Fiverr and Swagbucks
Fiverr also takes time to build a reputation, and you may also find yourself waiting for clients to send a message before you can complete a gig. During that space, head over to Swagbucks for some simple and quick online tasks.
Pro Tip
You’ll notice that these gig apps are high-contrast ones. Avoid pairing two similar, high-focus apps like Upwork and Fiverr, where you need lots of concentration and client commitment, or two delivery apps where you could find it hard to juggle your time. When you find yourself struggling to complete your work to a high quality, it could impact your earnings or client reviews. It’s also more likely to lead to burnout.
How to Avoid Overwhelm
Stacking gigs can be great, but always follow a plan and a purpose. If you don’t, it can quickly feel chaotic and leave you overwhelmed. Here are some tips to help you stay organized:
First, limit yourself to two or three apps when stacking, and ensure they don’t compete for your time and attention, not just when working on gigs but with other demands like client emails and notifications.
Block-book your time and use a calendar to keep you on track. Shutting two hours off in your diary for an app like Clickworker can help you avoid distractions.
Turn off unnecessary notifications to avoid too many distractions. Only keep alerts on for times when you need them.
Finally, keep track of your earnings. If one platform is draining your time and not bringing in the money you hoped, it might be time to look elsewhere.
Task List: Stacking Gigs Like a Pro
Are you ready to give gig stacking a chance? Here is a short task list to keep you on track.
- Choose two compatible gigs that suit your talents
- Block book your times in your calendar
- Track your earnings from each app
- Pause any underperforming apps
- Keep track of your hours and keep a watch for signs of burnout
- Set a financial goal for your stacked gig
If you have ticked those items off your task list, you’re ready for the next guide in our service, where we’ll show you how to build a reliable weekly gig schedule.