Most of us, even the really lazy ones, have admitted to ourselves that working a steady job is the only way to make ends meet. In a poor economy, some of us may even have to pick up an extra job or two to pay the bills. If you’re looking for a way to earn some extra cash — or are considering a total career change — consider your lazy bones personality and try to pick something less stressful. Working a long, hard day is the American way, but don’t you want to stand out? This list of the 100 best jobs for lazy people includes a lot of industries and jobs in which there are many hard working individuals, but flexible hours, lax dress codes, and extra vacation time make them perfect for smart but lazy people. If you get tired before you finish the whole list, just bookmark it and come back after your nap. Try to find your niche and remember that it’s all in good fun.
Education
Teaching kids, adults or animals is a huge responsibility, but jobs in education also come with a lot of perks. Read this list to find out which ones.
- Tutor: Tutors often have very flexible schedules and get to work with a range of clients. Plus, you get to set your own rates and the rules for each session.
- Substitute teacher: Substitutes already have a lesson plan to follow when they walk in the door, and unless they’re long-term subs, they usually don’t have to worry about schoolwork after hours. Plus, they don’t work regular teacher hours, and they have the summers off!
- Teacher: While we recognize that teachers may have one of the hardest jobs in the world, they are rewarded with summer vacations and extended holiday vacations.
- Dolphin trainer: You may have to spend a lot of time in the water, but dolphin trainers don’t have to sit in an office all day. Plus, training animals usually means lots of repetition, a lazy brain’s best friend.
- Dance instructor for weddings: Limit your class sizes to one couple at a time to minimize stress. You’ll probably only be focusing on one or two dances, and playing third wheel means that you get to zone out the lovebirds.
- Work study: College students can take advantage of work study jobs that let them do their homework at work, skip hours if they need to study and avoid long commutes away from campus.
- Library worker: Running a library takes a lot of organization and dedication, but if you’re an assistant sitting at a desk waiting to check people out, you may find that you also get to be plenty lazy.
- Admissions counselor: Admissions counselors at colleges (especially ones that aren’t super exclusive) may have relaxed hours during the summertime and school holidays. They may even get discounts or a free ride on their children’s tuition if they are eligible.
- School secretary: Besides dealing with frustrated parents and teachers, school secretaries don’t always have to stay late or take work home with them, like teachers or administrators do. Plus, they get a lot of vacation and relaxed hours during the summer months and holidays.
- College professor: If you’ve got a Ph.D. and are teaching an entry-level class in your field, it probably doesn’t take a whole lot of time to whip up a lesson plan or lecture outline for your class. College professors who’ve been with the same university for a long time may also get to have a say in their class hours and take a sabbatical for research trips.
- Security at an elementary school: Security personnel at elementary schools may have to watch out for trespassers and perverts, but we bet it’s not too challenging to pull fighting fourth graders off of each other.
- Security at a super prep school: Many of the students at prestigious prep schools are relatively well-behaved, at least on the surface. Depending on the smoking and drug problems behind closed doors, you may luck out and find that walking the halls is easy enough.
- Museum tour guide: Museum tour guides are often volunteers, but you get to follow the same route each day, and if a certain tour group is annoying or obnoxious, you get to trade them for a new one in less than an hour.
- Crossing guard: Crossing guards at schools may have to take on extra jobs, but if it’s your only gig, you really only have to be out and about in the early morning and early afternoon.
- Alumni event coordinator: Sign up to plan alumni events at your alma mater, and you’ll probably only be needed a few times a year to send out e-mails, book a venue, and hire a real party planner to do the rest.
Retail
Working in retail can sometimes be a big headache, but these jobs are easier on your tired feet and relaxed wardrobe.
- Florist assistant: Florist assistants may be expected to haul around large bags of mulch or run delivery errands around town, but the stress factor is relatively low.
- Bookstore employee: Working at a small bookstore probably means that you won’t see a lot of traffic in your store day in and day out, especially if you only work during the week. It’s also a quiet atmosphere that’s perfect for sitting down and drinking coffee. Leave the financial headaches to the store owner.
- Pet shop assistant: Helping people pick out pets, cleaning up cages and holding adorable puppies and kittens isn’t stressful when you compare it to brain surgery.
- Stockroom person: Stockroom employees at clothing stores and other retail outlets don’t always have to be in the front of the store, dealing with nasty customers. A relaxed dress code and being able to listen to your iPod can also make up for the heavy lifting.
- Gift shop employee: Small gift shops, even if they’re successful, don’t get a lot of hustle and bustle all year round, ever day of the week. You’ll probably find yourself with extra time to read a book or stare off into space in between helping out customers at the register.
- Medical marijuana store employee: Working in a marijuana store in California probably means you’ll get a lot of easy going customers who don’t expect you to jump to attention every time someone walks in the door.
- Movie rental assistant: Movie rental stores require their employees to wear a store shirt, but they’re usually pretty lax about letting their staff have extra piercings or tattoos. And what’s so bad about talking about your favorite movies all shift?
Business and Services
These jobs prove that it’s possible to participate in the business world and service industry without having to exert yourself too much.
- Online comic book writer: If you’re a natural artist who loves creating comics for the Internet, you won’t mind sitting at your desk and playing around with your computer. It’s also a gig that can easily be done from home.
- Freelancer: Though it takes constant discipline to meet deadlines and find gigs, freelancers get to set their own hours and rates, and don’t always have to worry about a dress code.
- Contractor: Contractors may have similar schedules as freelancers, depending on their industry; however, contract jobs offer more stability for a set period of time, before letting contractors free to find their own projects.
- Apartment employee: Working in the office at an apartment is especially great if you live at the complex. You’ll probably get a discounted rate on your rent, and you can walk just a few steps to work in the morning.
- Blogger: Pick up an extra job as a blogger, and you’ll get to manage your own content, designs, and hours.
- Consultant: Establishing yourself as a reliable resources is the hard part, but once you’ve done that, your clients will come to you.
- Data entry: Data entry may be a boring job, but you can find a gig with minimal responsibility that lets you sit quietly behind a computer all day.
- Manicurist: Most clients expect their manicurists to be chatty with them and the other staff, so if you love gossip and girl talk, start filing away.
- Jewelry polisher: Get hired to polish jewelry at a jewelry store. You might get lucky and get to perch on a stool in the back where it’s quiet and more nap-friendly.
- Intern: Sometimes you may have to work really hard and do the grunt work, but you can get away with part time gigs and don’t have a lot of responsibility.
- Masseuse on a cruise: Passengers on a cruise are relaxation and vacation-oriented, so you will probably be pretty busy; however, you get to kick back, enjoy the scenery and may even get discounts on food and drinks after hours.
- Chicken (or other creature) waving and handing out flyers: It seems embarrassing, but it’s not like anyone can recognize you buried inside the chicken suit. You’ll be on your feet all day, but at least you don’t have to deal with the pesky customers inside.
- Celebrity blogger: Work from home, sleep in and sneak into celebrity parties to take pictures for your readers.
- Secret Shopper: Become a secret shopper or mystery shopper, and you get to wander around the mall, write up basic reports and get reimbursed (or paid ahead of time) for your purchases.
- Proofreader: Experienced proofreaders know exactly what they’re looking for, so they can quickly scan designs and content for mistakes. You may even be able to find proofreading work from home.
Entertainment
The entertainment industry is full of part-time jobs, gigs that let you work at night, and lots of fun projects that may not even seem like work.
- DJ: DJs with a good reputation don’t have to look as hard for gigs, and they often get to eat and/or drink for free while they hang out in their own booth.
- Part of a circus act: You may have to work on your juggling or pirouette skills, but running away and joining the circus has become synonymous with escaping responsibility.
- Radio host: Depending on your hours, you may get to sleep in, and you can wear pretty much whatever you want while you small talk with your colleagues and travel out of the deal.
- Professional hostess: Yes, you can actually be a hostess for hire! If you love having parties, sending out invitations and coming up with new cocktail ideas, consider this as a job.
- Clown: If you’re feeling sad, be a sad clown. If you’re bored, be a bored clown. As long as you’ve got the makeup and costume, anything goes.
- Play a corpse: TV shows like CSI, Law and Order, Cold Case, and others need actors to play corpses. All you do is lie there and be still!
Community
Lazy people aren’t always devoid of community spirit. Check out these positions for volunteer jobs, sponsorships and more.
- Baby sitter: Getting a good baby sitting job is all in the strategy. You can baby sit infants during nighttime hours so that you can watch TV, take your charges to the movies during the summertime, and encourage them to make up a game, play, or show and tell session, letting you sit on the couch while you “ooh” and “ahh.”
- Volunteer: Who says lazy people don’t volunteer? Volunteering positions don’t earn you money, but there’s minimal responsibility and you only have to show up when you feel like it.
- Club sponsor: Being a club sponsor at a school or university means that you get to feel good about your community spirit while you set up meetings, set up club rules, chaperone field trips, and give the kids the chance to shine.
- Candy striper: Candy stripers are seldom paid, but that means no one can get really mad at you if you slack off. Even if you work to make a good impression, all it takes is a warm smile and a batch of homemade cookies.
- Contract or volunteer fundraiser: Though fundraising managers are often seen running around and frantically setting up parties or meetings, once the event is over, you’re through!
- Youth pastor: Youth pastors, depending on their position, have flexible hours and get to plan parties, networking events, volunteer efforts, and trips.
Food and Drink
From bartenders to bus boys to beer testers, these tasty jobs let you hang out in busy, party-oriented places and try new products for free.
- Waiter: Waiting tables can be a nightmare job or a pretty good gig, depending on how you look at it. If all your friends are heading to corporate jobs at 7a.m., and you can roll out of bed at noon for your shift, take smoke breaks, and flirt with customers, being a waiter isn’t such a bad idea.
- Personal chef: If you’re lucky enough to score a job as a personal chef, you can work a schedule out with your employer, negotiate your own salary, get to play in someone else’s kitchen and experiment with tasty new treats, without having to pay for them.
- Ice cream taster: If you love ice cream, this could be your dream job. You get paid to make real decisions about how ice cream products taste.
- Barista: Working at a coffee shop often means that you can have tattoos, different colored hair, wear comfortable shoes, and talk about cool music or literature. As long as you don’t get the super early shift, this could be a great job for you.
- Bartender: Good bartenders are busy, but they make great tips and get to experience fun nightlife. Bartenders may also be encouraged to wear fun, more casual clothing and can have a relaxed attitude towards customers.
- Bus boy: Bus boys often get free or discounted meals if they eat at the beginning or end of their shift, and they don’t have to deal with finicky customers.
- Chocolate taster: This job is a little more complicated than it sounds, but if you’re a chocoholic, then sampling chocolaty sweets for your grocery store will be a fun reason to get up each morning.
- Beer tester: Beer people are pretty laid back, and beer testers get to sample new flavors and products all the time.
- Wine taster: Get your palate ready and your buzz on and start searching for paid wine tasting jobs.
Seasonal
When you’re in desperate need of cash over a vacation but don’t want to ruin your holidays with work, consider these seasonal jobs for lazy bones.
- Animal breeder: Animal breeders need to research family trees and meet new contacts all year long, but the real breeding and birthing season is shorter.
- Summer tennis instructor: Get a job with a camp, resort or country club to work part-time as a tennis instructor. If you’re already a good player, you can just show up and enjoy getting paid for doing what you love.
- Camp counselor: Camp counselors are all about fun. You may have to discipline a kid every once in a while, but you also get to play outside, eat for free, and maybe even get weekends off.
- Lifeguard: While lifeguards have to be constantly watchful when they’re on duty, they also get to work on their tan, check out hotties in the pool or the beach, and just relax.
Sports
Sports fans don’t have to work up a sweat to get a job in the athletic industry. From ticket sellers to bat boys, these jobs have lots of perks.
- Ticket taker: Stand (or sit) at the stadium gates to take everyone’s ticket. You may have to smile occasionally or hand out a program, but you might get a free seat to the game.
- Ticket seller: Ticket sellers have a bit more responsibility than ticket takers, since they have to deal with money. But you get to sit in a booth and don’t have to deal with individual customers for more than a minute or two.
- T-shirt thrower at a game: Ride around on or push around a t-shirt projection machine to give the crowd a thrill at half time or the 7th inning stretch. Yep, that’s about it.
- Water boy: You can get down on the field by being a team’s water boy. All you have to do is make sure there’s enough water or Gatorade, and you get to sit down with the team the rest of the time.
- Bat boy: Bat boys are similar to water boys, but the position is traditionally filled by actual boys, not grown ups. You may be able to bully your way in, however, to score yourself this lazy man’s job.
- Kid’s sports coach: Set up practice times and have the kids run laps while you flirt with everyone’s mom.
Health and Medical
You traditionally have to be a very ambitious person to get a medical-related job, but this list proves otherwise.
- Sell your platelets: Selling your platelets isn’t an actual job, but it can earn you some extra cash if you’re in a bind.
- Sleep study: Participate in a sleep study like this one, and you can earn a few hundred bucks just for snoozing.
- Nurse for a private practice doctor: There is no way we are going to argue that nursing is a profession for lazy people, because we know it’s not. But working for a private practice doctor has its perks. You can negotiate your schedule a little more easily and may even get to control the office radio.
- Dentist: Dentists can make the big bucks because they’re smart, driven, and take care of lazy people who don’t look after their teeth. Dentists who work for themselves can also take longer lunches and have shorter work weeks if they can afford it.
- Sell a kidney: Selling your kidney is a little controversial, but you can earn decent money without having to work too hard for it.
- Sell your plasma: Sell your plasma a couple times a week to earn extra money.
- Sperm donor: Sperm donors aren’t really donors, because you can make good money from your efforts. If you qualify, you can make up to a couple hundred bucks each time.
- Medical study: Sleep studies aren’t the only kinds of medical studies that pay good money. You can find clinical trials for almost any kind of disease or condition.
Arts, Design
From painters to casting directors to mimes, artistically minded lazy bones will find jobs here.
- Stylist: Big-time stylists jet all over the world and work all day and night to make a photo shoot just right. But if you’re looking for something more low key, you can start a small business that lets you style or shop for friends for special events.
- Makeup artist: Freelance makeup artists get to set their own hours. It may also be a good solution for those interested in theater but don’t have enough drive to act and show up to rehearsals everyday.
- Actor: Actors only have to show up to rehearsals everyday if they’re actually working. Out-of-work actors have extra time to find part-time jobs and sleep in.
- Casting director: A casting director could be a great job for someone who loves to judge others. You may have to see thousands of actors before you pick extras or supporting roles, but you get to pass judgment on each one as you sit on your butt.
- Painter: We’re talking about the stereotypical, albeit outdated profile of a painter here: morose, sleepy, and slow.
- Shoe designer: You may have a hard time making ends meet, at least at first, but you’ll get to work for yourself and won’t have to waste time and money shopping for other people’s creations.
- Fashion closet assistant: Magazines need assistants and interns to sit in the fashion closet and sort shoes, dresses, accessories and other items.
- Sound effects person: Where what you want to work and play around with blocks of wood, dry pasta, musical instruments, digital tools and more.
- Novelist’s assistant: Work for an unmotivated novelist as his or her assistant, and you may find yourself with a lot of extra free time.
- Work as a Disney character: If you can’t get a real gig at Disney World, dress up for kids’ birthday parties. The costume is already picked out for you, and everyone will be happy if you just smile and pose for pictures.
- Mime: No one can get mad at your choosing to be quiet if you’re a mime. Do your own thing, manage your own schedule and wardrobe, and ignore everyone around you.
Computers and Tech
Techies and designers can use their love of computers to freelance as web workers or give computer support.
- Video game designer: First you’ll need to brainstorm. Play will all your favorite games to get inspiration.
- Computer tech: You can work in an office or just freelance your services to friends and neighbors to eliminate unnecessary stress and commute times.
- IT support: Work from home as a telecommuting IT supporter. You can work for a specific company or for yourself, and no one will know if you’re also playing on the Internet in your pajamas.
- Open source anything: Start an open source project and let someone else finish it.
- Web designer: Web workers often work for themselves and get to play around with new fonts, colors, software, scripts and more while they network with other designers and developers.
- Video game tester: Play video games, make money. Enough said.
- Software designer for small company: Play around with new computer programs and chock up your wasted time to research.
Independent Gigs and Personal Assistants
From gold diggers to socialites to personal shoppers, these jobs round out our list of the top 100.
- Personal shopper: Though your clients may be demanding or rude, you’ll get to leave them behind for a day of retail therapy. Unless you run your own organized agency or business, you won’t even have to go to the office.
- Socialite: Socialites don’t have to work, unless they want to “design” their own clothing line or handbag line, or donate their time to charity.
- Anything you’re naturally good at: Pick something that you’re naturally good at, and you won’t have to work too hard to get good results.
- Gold digger (the bimbo kind): Marrying a rich guy isn’t really considered work, if you’ve got the obvious goods.
- Gold digger (the 49ers kind): Search for gold the old fashioned way: while you sit on your bum under the sun with a sifting pan.
