Work without days off: Influencers normalize routine – 07/22/2023 – Market

Edmar Colin, 29, worked as a telemarketer for 11 years. Two years ago, he became an actor, comedian and influencer. He even makes extra income as a designer. He himself edits his videos, photos and promotes them. Edmar’s multiple professions result in a journey with no time to end.

“In telemarketing, I had at least one day off and time to end, but I was still accelerated. However, in the artistic career, I work all the time, every day, because I need to exercise my creativity. If I don’t work, I don’t produce and I don’t pay my bills”, says Edmar.

Self-employed people, with special emphasis on content producers and app drivers, tend to work every day of the week. Some go as far as 70 hours a week.

In general, this movement has advanced as work models become more flexible in some professions and informality increases. The CLT (Consolidation of Labor Laws) prohibits working hours that extend throughout the week, guaranteeing at least a weekly rest period of 24 uninterrupted hours.

Lilian Cidreira, 37, a specialist in careers and a professor at ESPM, emphasizes that care must be taken. “The brain is like a computer. If you buy a great notebook and keep it on for a long time, it will start to break down. It may even take longer, but even if it is the best computer in the world, due to the lack of pause, the performance will decrease”, he says.

“Brazilians have a very strong characteristic of being concerned about productivity. If we have the idea that it is necessary to be productive, and that this means working all the time, people naturally exaggerate, linked to a guilt they feel when they don’t work. Productivity is not volume, but smart work.”

AUTONOMOUS HAVE MORE FLEXIBILITY AND LESS SECURITY

Marcus Vinicius Cordeiro, 63, labor lawyer and president of the Commission on Collective Labor Law and Trade Union Law at the IAB (Brazilian Lawyers Institute), points to the lack of social security for the self-employed.

“Precarious, they do not have coverage in case of unforeseen events such as illness. If they stop working, they do not earn. The State has to take care of this, you cannot wait for Uber or iFood, which do not claim to be employers, but work facilitators, to take the initiative.”

“The 2017 labor reform reduced workers’ rights and brought legal uncertainty to contractors, favoring informality” says Cordeiro. The specialist, however, cited greater freedom in work management as a positive point. “Not having a point, boss supervision and that hierarchical control that exists in jobs governed by the CLT.”

The lawyer’s speech about greater flexibility meets the vision of app driver Emerson Luiz Bramusse, 39. “I’m here not to have a bond. I like freedom, not having hours or a boss charging me. Do what I want with the money that comes to me, without discounts.”

Bramusse has a malleable journey. It works 12 hours a day on weekdays and reduces the load to up to six hours on weekends. “If I have nothing to do, it doesn’t make sense for me to stop. That way I don’t have to ‘take the lead’ when I go back to work on Monday”, he says.

When asked if he has ever felt symptoms related to overwork, he replies that he is “very calm” about it. “I’ve already worked for 12 years as a computer technician. My car is like my old office desk. Today, I’m much happier than when I was in front of the computer.”

HOW IS THE WORK ROUTINE FOR CONTENT PRODUCERS

Entrepreneurs, freelancers and influential celebrities on the internet have the aggravating factor that their cell phones are their workspace. “Content creators don’t have fixed hours. As soon as I wake up, I look for possible guidelines. I look at my feed and go back to check. It involves research, recording content, editing,” says Ivan Baron, 25, an influencer who works on Instagram and Twitter in favor of the anti-capacity cause. “The algorithm asks us to have content every day. However, I also need to focus on quality.”

Baron works at least eight hours a day and doesn’t hide the mental pressure. “In addition to producing, it has to be something that attracts and holds the audience. It’s no use just having pink hair to attract attention. It’s a psychological pressure to produce every day. Those who don’t take care of themselves can have mental problems.” He says he manages to enjoy moments of rest and leisure by attending parties and night clubs.

The influencer became better known after going up the ramp of the Planalto Palace along with other representatives during the inauguration of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), on January 1st. “The inauguration was a big turning point. A lot of new people started to follow. The recognition didn’t increase the workload, but the responsibility.”

Pepita, or Priscila Nogueira, 33, maintains a daily and double journey: being an artist and mother of Lucca, one year and seven months old. “There are times when I wonder if I’m going to make it. My makeup artist comes here every day. After recording the content, I’m going to take care of my son. I sleep little and work a lot”, says the influencer, singer and presenter.

“I’m allowing myself to sleep more to perform more, especially after I became a mother. However, I spend a lot of time recording and makeup”, she says. Between the routine of physical exercises and taking care of her son, she records, rehearses texts and performances for shows and holds meetings. “I sleep about three and a half hours a night. I received an invitation to parade in samba schools (in SP and RJ), so I’m going to sleep two hours.”

“I have a schedule and with it I can organize myself. I use one day of the week just to record jobs [conteúdos para marcas]. It’s a daily struggle for me to be a transvestite. I don’t have the luxury of saying I’m tired — I don’t know if the opportunity will come up again,” says Pepita.

Organization and planning are key to better time management by influencers, says Lilian Cidreira, from ESPM. “There are more and less programmable parts of the work. The influencer manages to leave a good part of the content scheduled. Just like in a company, it is possible to organize. The excess of work exists not because of the demand, but because of the lack of planning”, she defends.

HOW TO TAKE CARE OF MENTAL HEALTH

Edmar, Baron and Pepita reported that they suffer or have already suffered from symptoms related to physical and emotional exhaustion resulting from work.

To preserve mental health and prevent illnesses resulting from an exhausting journey, the ESPM professor recommends breaks for rest and leisure, in addition to 6 to 8 hours of sleep. “Sounds obvious [falar sobre dormir], but it is for a chemical matter. The release of important substances and hormones for the brain happens at that moment”, says Cidreira.

Another expert tip is meditation, which can improve concentration. “If you meditate for one to two minutes daily, you will reap the benefits and stay focused during your workday,” she says. She also recommends the practice of physical activity, the consumption of natural foods and reading.

“Reading books and reports requires focus, it calms you down, it leaves the ambience of social networks and electronics, it expands your repertoire to build what you want. Naturally you concentrate”, he points out.

According to a WHO study (World Health Organization), 750,000 people die each year as a result of overwork. Research, done in 2021, points out that working more than 55 hours a week raises the risk of stroke by 35 %. Long journeys also increase the chance of ischemic heart disease by 17% (when the blood flow through the organ is compromised).