The Grind

About a month ago I left my full time job and I have been making my living as an Uber Driver Parter. Like nearly every way to earn enough to pay the bills, it is a grind. On those days when it's slow and you have time to think, it's not great. On the flip side, when you are doing back to back to back trips, the time flies by.

There are some upsides to driving an Uber.

I'm working for myself. I have had a few amazing bosses in my life. They have all retired so I can't go back to them. I've had quite a few bosses that make me lose faith in humanity. Not having a boss means I don't have to endure poor leadership and bad decisions.

I work when I want, as much or as little as I want. If I want more money, I simply drive more trips. If I have to be somewhere or want to do something, I don't turn on the app. It means I don't have scheduling conflicts with my job. You do have to have the discipline to put in the time to make the money you want to make and nobody is going to tell you to keep working or get started. Thankfully, I don't need that in my life. I get up, get cleaned up and dressed. then I drive.

Most of the costs of my car and my phone come out of my pre-tax income instead of my post-tax income. These are costs to my sole proprietorship and lead to some savings from the tax man.

However, the best part of the Uber gig is I have some really interesting conversations. Not everyone talks but some of those who do are really interesting. There was a woman I picked up from a TV studio who was just on live TV, she was going to work, and had her luggage with her to catch a flight to Paris after work. There was the guy who re-screens windows, and is trying to move his business but has so much work in town that every other week he rents a van, comes back and sleeps in the van while he does a bunch of jobs. These are just two examples but there is a couple of good conversations everyday. 

I'm not going to drive with Uber forever but it's a pretty good in-between-mid-life-crisis gig. I personally find it super low stress, even if the hours can be long to make the money I want to make. I feel like I have a lot of control over my life, more than I've had in a very long time and it allows me to be picky in my next step, which is what I need these days.