The average person will spend 90,000 hours at work over a lifetime - 1/3 of your life.

As Steve Jobs said:

Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work.

So why would we want to stick to one job title for years? A 'job for life' disappeared a long time ago. For many knowledge workers, having an exciting professional life is more important than money.

Enter Polywork: side hustles, freelancing, and project work - a growing trend. It adds variety, skills, contacts and collaboration. Portfolio careers can be hugely satisfying if you manage your time and energy well.

I've worked as a journalist, writer, editor, author, researcher, content marketer, copywriter, broadcaster, event planner, sales assistant, social media manager, PR manager, parent, mother, teacher, carer, UX Writer/Content Designer (the industry can't decide what to call it!) I hate labels!

And now we have the tech to support this lifestyle.

Polywork is a new kind of professional social network where people share what they do and get in touch with others to collaborate.

It fills the gap between Twitter and LinkedIn (looks like Twitter) with great UX, gamified (badges), informal, cheerful. Aimed at Millennials and GenZ but open to all. I love the concept and feel of it. Let's see if any real opportunities come through it.

The challenge is asking people to use yet another social network and duplicate what they're already doing on Twitter - a platform with 199 million daily active users. Twitter is already an informal professional networking site, with no need for badges and labels - it has hashtags.

Lots of angels behind Polywork, though, so one to watch.

As the founder, Peter Johnston, says:

The desire to live a multi-faceted professional life must be understood and supported by employers.

Or they will lose their best talent.