There is a lot going on in the world right now, so perhaps a few more thoughts on the gig economy aren't the most vital thing to talk about, but I thought I would add my two cents in.
I am currently a gig economy worker. I am an online English as a Second Language teacher. I open my schedule to reservations, and people can make appointment for classes in 15, 30 and 60 minute increments. Week to week, the times that students reserve differ. I want my schedule to be as full as possible, but not totally full---because eight hours, sitting in a chair, without a meal or bathroom break is pretty untenable. And my headset starts to itch my ears. And depending on the state of the world economy and regional holidays, class demand fluctuates. Today, for example, I opened up my reservation slots from noon to 8 PM, and students reserved four and a half hours of that. So during my day, I had three one hour long breaks, and one thirty minute breaks.
I don't get paid for these times, but I also don't have to work during them. I can stretch my legs. Eat a meal. See what is up on the intarwebs. But in general, thirty minutes, and even an hour, is (as the title says) too little time to do anything productive, but too much time to twiddle my thumbs and hit reload on a few internet sites. Obviously, there are a few productive things to do during a one hour break, or even a thirty minute break. I can take out recycling. Do some dishes. Make a quick meal. Return an e-Mail. But I can't sit down and fill out my 1040SE. I can't dive into a study of the phenomenology of Edmund Husserl. I can't even really go to my room and relax because I will be looking at that clock ticking forward, and reminding myself I will need to put on my game face for another class, soon. Even if that class is only 15 minutes long. I can't even really get into the groove of trying to uncurse the Paladin Shield, because I don't want to lose track of time. So I move around my apartment, eat some cookies, and return back to the computer, fidgeting to see what is going on on the internet. And so I while away the days. Obviously, this is not an earth-shaking crisis. Feeling antsy while puttering around my apartment during a thirty minute break probably feels like a good problem to have for people working in manufacturing and retail service. But this is something to consider as the "Gig economy" grows--- what is the difference between someone's hourly pay and their daily pay? Stated rates of pay, even if they are quite high, don't reflect the real commitment that people have to make, because they have time where they are not at work---but really can't freely use their personal time.
At a certain point, the gig economy is probably going to be more tightly regulated, and people who are nominally "independent contractors" will have their real working conditions looked at. If someone is working two or three hours in a 6 or 8 hour span, what is their real rate of pay? And underlying that is the fact that psychologically and practically, if someone has stretches of time throughout the day where they are "not working", those bits and pieces of time are often too little time to do anything, too much to do nothing.
And, in 17 minutes, I have my last half hour class of the day. Better bring my computer back to the living room and switch my brain into work mode.