These white-collar workers who take part-time jobs after work and do light physical labor have the courage to accept more possibilities

At some point, a wave of physical work such as waiters, cleaners, fitness coaches, and maintenance workers has emerged among white-collar workers.

There is also a discussion group called "Light Physical Work Exploration Alliance" on Douban, and the introduction reads: "In social inertia, the life of white-collar workers sitting in the office is more worth looking forward to than that of lawn and flower workers. However, there are more and more unhappy people in white-collar life. We read and study only for knowledge, not to achieve any great positions, but to have the courage to accept more possibilities."

However, compared to changing jobs, many people consider light physical labor as a part-time job to maintain flexibility and have more choices in the job market.

Why do you still want to engage in light physical labor after work? What can people gain from light physical labor? Can it become a long-term main business? We talked to three part-time white-collar workers and the following are their narratives:

Zhang Beibei

Main business: Product operation Part time: Fitness group class coach

Our company starts work at 10 o'clock, but I wake up around 7 o'clock. Because before starting work, I have to go to a part-time fitness group coach to take students on fat burning and shaping courses, scheduling 3-4 classes per week. After the 45 minute fitness course ended, I spent another half hour at work, just in time to clock in and start the day with morning exercises.

I had the idea of taking on a part-time job when I was laid off in my previous education and training job. During the period of unemployment, I was very anxious every day. My roommate woke up and went to work, leaving me alone at home. Where should life go? I want to adjust my lifestyle and start working out.

Zhang Beibei is at the gym

I have found that people do need to have some other skills, at least to have a little income after unemployment, to sustain themselves, and also to fill some time, so as not to be very anxious. Three or four months later, I found a new job but still persisted in exercising. Six months later, I decided to become a fitness coach and signed up for coaching training at my store. After passing the assessment, I started working part-time and have been coaching for over a year now. By the way, I can earn a little pocket money, and my monthly part-time income is also one or two thousand yuan.

If you are looking for some part-time jobs after work, it is recommended to start from your hobbies, such as various indoor and outdoor sports. So besides being a fitness group coach, I also work as a team leader for some outdoor activities, with a frequency of about once every three months.

I think labor is a way for people to make a living and one of the ways to gain a sense of value. These part-time jobs have nothing to do with my main job. After sitting in the office facing the computer for a whole day, the part-time job after work became a form of rest. When I worked overtime a lot before, I became more addicted to sports and wanted to gain the kind of control over my body after sweating profusely.

In fact, my main job often requires communication with people to form reports and data, but for me, this part-time job has a stronger sense of value because the coach is like being in the center of the stage, and everyone is watching me. Every class will have some positive feedback, such as students saying to me after class, "Teacher, your class was particularly enjoyable", "Thank you teacher", "I will choose your class again next time", and so on. There will also be more familiar students like "fans", because the store where the group teacher arranges classes is not fixed, and some students will follow me to the store they go to.

In contrast, I feel that the company's incentives are not enough. I have been working hard and feel that I have not received enough rewards. This feeling of disappointment is also alleviated through part-time work.

From the perspective of interpersonal relationships, part-time jobs are also far from the "real workplace". My main job is related to social software operation, so it is inevitable to consider how to operate communities and maintain customer relationships. There is no sales or course sales task in group teaching, so I simply attend classes and end them after class without worrying about how to build closer relationships with members.

I have also experienced office politics. In my previous work, there were many factional struggles. Even though you didn't want to participate in this matter, you were still divided into certain factions, which would take up a lot of energy, be meaningless, and affect your own work.

Of course, coaches are in the service industry, so there are definitely more than just positive reviews. Occasionally, there will be some negative reviews, and there will always be some people who don't like your classes. But I have been working part-time for a long time, and I have also opened up to this matter.

If I want to change to a busy job now and my income has increased to a certain extent, it may reduce the frequency of part-time jobs. At present, we have not considered turning part-time jobs into main businesses because we have not yet found a part-time job path that can surpass or be similar to the main business in terms of income.

Yi Zhi

Main job: programmer Part time: coffee shop clerk

On weekdays, I am a programmer in Shanghai, but on weekends, I work part-time as a clerk at a chain coffee shop, earning 24 yuan per hour. I work 8-16 hours a week at the coffee shop.

I am a passionate coffee enthusiast who drinks two cups every day - one cup of iced black coffee in the morning after aerobic exercise on an empty stomach, and another cup of coffee in the afternoon to refresh my mind. I also really want to try making my own coffee latte. Once, I accidentally saw information about Starbucks part-time jobs on social media and submitted my resume online, but I didn't receive a response. So over the weekend, I went directly to a nearby offline store to inquire. Although it was a bit awkward, it was worth it! Actually, I have always wanted to learn how to make coffee, but I am not sure if I love my house or not, so I want to give it a try.

In this part-time job, I feel a lot of joy. For example, I still remember the sense of achievement when I made my first cup of coffee myself: that day, I memorized a lot of recipes, was forced to learn a lot of knowledge, and even felt a bit dizzy, but very happy and fulfilled! And the healing feeling gained from this simple and repetitive labor while carefully cleaning the coffee machine and packing coffee.

Although making coffee itself is not difficult, there are many small details, such as steaming milk, cleaning the milk stick in a timely manner, and not placing a cloth on the table, but in a box, etc. Making coffee also tests a person's meticulousness, and mistakes are inevitable in a hurry.

Yi Zhi shares her feelings about part-time jobs on social media

After learning how to deal with delivery and Dim sum, the store manager began to teach me how to cash in. I feel like I have mastered it, but when I actually went to receive the first guest, after she finished all the requirements in a series, I started to panic - I needed to first find drinks in a wide variety of menus, then confirm cup shape, temperature, etc., and finally scan the membership code to confirm the payment method. Other partners could quickly complete the operation, and I still need to practice.

After my family found out that I was working part-time, they all thought that I was too energetic and a bit worried: was it too tiring? Will it be too hard? Actually, I think the biggest difficulty is getting up early for weekend morning shifts, but I don't feel tired at all. Anyway, office workers usually just lie down and play with their phones on weekends, so it's better to get in touch with society.

As is well known, programmers work in a small circle in the company and their colleagues are relatively stable. However, when they work part-time, they meet many people from various industries. For example, we often have contact with delivery guys, and they are all very good people.

Some guests are very enthusiastic. I once met an old lady who kept calling me "baby". While waiting for coffee, she looked at me with a regretful expression on her face and said, "Little girl, you work here. Isn't it a flower planted in cow dung?" I smiled and replied, "No, I work here happily." I think work is of no value, as long as I can find meaning.

I am in the service industry after all, and I may encounter customers who are a bit difficult to handle. Just a few days after starting my part-time job, I met a customer who was quite anxious. She wanted to get a coupon to save money and place an order, but at the same time, she was worried that a parked car would be fined for violating the parking rules. However, I was not very proficient in the operation and delayed for a long time. The customer's tone was not very good. When encountering such a situation, I quickly calmed the guest's emotions and had a good attitude, because she was currently in a psychologically tense and extreme situation. If she was angry, it would be better.

In my free time, I also observe the people and environment in the coffee shop, thinking about some inexplicable small problems. I found that we ask customers if they want to pack the cup holder and straw for each drink, and their response is usually "yes". There is a recommended mousse for big sips, and everyone still without exception wants the straw.

If I were to compare the biggest difference between my main job and part-time job, I believe that programmer work tends to be a rational and logical form of communication, while baristas need to engage in emotional communication with clients. For me, part-time jobs actually have more emotional connections with people. Light physical labor gives me a sense of healing and moments that are close to life, and it belongs to me.

Now, when my friends in the store see me coming to work, they warmly greet me and say, "Zhi Zhi, you have a shift today!" It makes me feel like I'm going home, it's very warm.

Because I am still a beginner, I am not currently working full-time in this industry. However, if I reach a level where I can support myself in coffee making skills in the future, or have a certain reputation in the industry, I may choose to develop as my main business and become a true barista!

Li Shuang

Main job: Human Resources Management Part time: Fast food restaurant waiter

I work as an HR in a small company in Jiangsu, working nine to five, with weekends off. I often feel that after work hours are too boring. In fact, the ideal situation would be to go home after work to read, study, and improve oneself. Later on, I found that people are really not as ambitious and disciplined. Most of the time, they spend it playing on their phones and watching short videos. I just thought about how to make use of my evening time.

Coincidentally, there was a colleague in the office who was also doing a part-time job after work. They recommended me to do it together, so I went directly to the fast food restaurant next to my home for part-time work. Go two or three times on weekdays evenings, from 6pm to 9pm for three hours.

I am used to sitting in the office on weekdays. When I first started working as a waiter, I had to stand and serve customers all the time. Communication, ordering, and passing dishes can be a bit difficult.

But fatigue comes in second place. The first thing I feel is novelty, because it's a completely different way of life. The second thing is to relax, because I don't use my brain too much. Working is already very brain burning, so I chose to work part-time at night that only requires physical energy and not brain.

And I can also gain a sense of achievement from simple work, such as doing well in a new field as a part-time employee and winning the sales crown in the store. We have a premium card in our store, which allows you to enjoy half the price of a daily staple, as well as discounts such as recharging and giving away pizza, scanning the QR code and giving away drinks and snacks.

So I greet every guest and ask if I need any help? Do you need to introduce the recent promotional activities? Some customers may feel that I don't come often, and it's not cost-effective to apply for a card. I will emphasize that it's okay not to come frequently. Even if you only spend today, you can immediately get a good deal.

I think the most important thing is sincerity. Starting from the customer's psychology, we recommend and introduce activities to them. If the customer is unwilling to listen, such as some customers who really reject the waiter's introduction of discounts, they may be afraid of being "tricked" and will rudely interrupt... Of course, I won't talk much, but most customers would like to know about recent promotional activities and will explain them in detail.

Unlike in the office, the atmosphere in a part-time store is much more harmonious. Perhaps due to the brief interaction, there were not many scenes of wits and bravery, and everyone chatted relatively easily, chatting about everything from place to place. And the other part-time workers in the store are all college students, calling me "sister". Seeing them walking around, I feel like I'm back in college, full of vitality.

And the office is like a small world. In the company, many "elderly people" may not receive as much reward as a fishing related household, and they may lack work motivation and just want to sneer and show off. I didn't tell other colleagues about my part-time job because they don't need to know too much about my personal situation. Just keep a distance and avoid trouble.

My family and friends are very supportive, thinking that it's okay for me to try another life and experience it, just be happy. Parents think the key is to experience, happiness is good, and their partners are also quite supportive because they don't go there every day, and there are also schedules to balance work and rest, after all, there is still a little dog to accompany at home!

However, working part-time at a fast food restaurant also has its drawbacks: low pay, repetitive and boring work, and appearing to others as having a "low social status"... In fact, compared to full-time manual workers, we still have more choices and also have a "way out".

I have resigned from my part-time job at a fast food restaurant for a total of about three months. However, I did not consider using waiters as my main job, and my physical labor skills were not high. I only used time to exchange money, and the value was still very low. Therefore, I focused on my main job later on, and recently changed jobs and received a salary increase.