Gig economy: Moonlighting at record high despite risks to mental, physical, emotional, social health

“Even with the DoorDash work, I was barely paying the bills,” he said.

Losing his job and then his roommate forced him back into his mother’s house. But he hoped the new job he started in March as an HVAC technician would change his life for the better.

If he performs well and passes his three-month training period, he could make $60,000 to $100,000 annually — and eventually quit DoorDash. But not yet, he said, even though it was adding stress to his life.

“I need to start saving money so I can move into my place,” he said.

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Moonlighting can increase the risk of stress, insomnia, fatigue, exhaustion, anxiety, depression, social dysfunction, work-related accidents, and diseases such as stroke, obesity, diabetes, heart disease, acute infection, high blood pressure, according to the Surgeon General, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and many peer-viewed health studies.

Working long hours hampers the rest and recovery time needed for healthy body functioning, said Chris Cunningham, a psychology professor and director of the Healthy and Optimal Work Lab at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

“Most people can balance job demands … for seven to 10 hours, after which they get depleted,” he said.

Stress and lack of rest make it difficult for the body to turn off its fight or flight response, according to Chelsea LeNoble, a University of Central Florida psychology professor. This can lower higher-order cognitive functions such as reasoning, problem-solving, and decision-making.

People can replenish their energy by getting adequate sleep, detaching from work, having social connections, and developing interests and hobbies unrelated to work, said Cunningham.

Louis Raphael Conde learned that the hard way. The 22-year-old literally and figurately got tired of working two part-time jobs after his family immigrated from Haiti to Port St. Lucie in 2022.

As a prep cook for a catering company and a Creole interpreter for medical patients, he had to ride his bike or take a Tri-Rail train to get around West Palm Beach, where he lived at the time. He made between $300 and $800 a month to supplement his family’s income, including that of his father still in Haiti.

“My younger brother and I are just trying to help around as much as we can ourselves and figure out what we want to do in our lives,” Conde said.

In March, he was living with his mother in Port St. Lucie and working only one full-time job at Publix. Having found more peace and financial independence, he had no plans to move out or work over 40 hours a week again.

“I would have no personal life if I did that,” he said.

Multiple jobs can diminish quality of life

A social post from Elmo brings more attention to mental health

The beloved Sesame Street character Elmo asked how people are doing, and then things got real.

For Dotsey, a personal life of traveling, going to the beach, getting her nails done and buying steaks for dinner are distant memories. She longs to go to Universal Studios and Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales, Florida, again.

“We haven’t done that in so long. I don’t leave my house because I don’t want to spend any money,” she said. “I don’t have a life.

“I do stress out,” she said, but she said she tries to live by the motto: “I’ll figure it out.”

So for now, she’ll be working the summer school lunch shift and living on cereal, chicken, Ramen noodles and a pizza special of two slices for $10. “I don’t even get a drink anymore,” she said.

Instead of dwelling on the negative emotions from her financial situation and lack of work-life balance, she said she tries to focus on being grateful for her family, her home and her health.

“All I can do is breathe and sit underneath my oak tree,” she said. “I would just love to be able to not wonder when the next shoe’s going to drop. I would just love to be able to not think of bills.”

Palm Beach Post reporter Kimberly Miller contributed to this report.