Hop to it. Task Rabbit, a San Francisco company

By Karina Rook

I run errands for people for money. I am a TaskRabbit.

TaskRabbit is an online service for freelancers who bid on completing tasks for people. Many of these tasks are in your local area, but some are virtual tasks too, with clients anywhere in the world.

Anyone can post tasks, and the community can flag inappropriate tasks for removal. I haven’t seen anything dangerous or risque, but there are a lot of lazy people out there, or maybe they’re just too busy? Here are some of my favorites:

• Babysit my puppy all day (why did you get a puppy?)
• Revive our lame website (OK, fair call, love the honesty)
• Write me a letter of recommendation, signed by a doctor (no integrity, what a cheater)
• Help my girlfriend get a job (what does she think about this?)
• Let me borrow your kitten for an hour (please explain…)

Amazing to see human nature at work with people feeling uninhibited, confessing they need help with tasks. A lot of tasks are for cleaning or handyman jobs around the home, plenty are for assembling IKEA furniture, and some have a life coach aspect to them where people need help getting motivated.

To date I have done shopping for people, helped to tidy and organise their homes, pulled together care packages for sick friends, and plenty of virtual tasks like giving feedback on eBooks, iPhone apps and some documentation help. It gives me something to do during the day (I hate being idle) and I like the interaction and feedback I get. People rate me and give me nice reviews. I feel appreciated.