And: where to look for such jobs? What would be the process to find them with any chance of success?
I hope the question in the title is general enough that more people might find it useful, I’m sure I can’t be the only one. I’m going to include some extra details specific to myself below, but you can just ignore them if you want to.
- I have no education beyond high school and no useful skills, although I do have a couple of years worth of work experience at this point. I don’t really have the will to learn anything new for the purpose of getting a job any more.
- I have been unbelievably lucky in that the circumstances allow me to live on minimum wage in humane conditions, and beyond the basic expenses I have nothing to spend money on anyway. So it doesn’t matter to me how much I get paid.
- I spend all of my free time on things like reading, drawing, writing, thinking, occasionally learning something new. If I could spend even just a couple of work hours every day with a pen and paper and an Internet connection, it would make me a bit happier.
Drawbridge operator. I think at least. Around here there are drawbridges that I have never seen actually open. But there is a little booth for someone to sit in all day.
I’m sure it requires a little training, but then you just sit there all day.
If you were a secretary, you could probably have some spare time during work hours to do what you like too!
I don’t know how physically able you are but you might be a good fit for helping survey crews and researchers.
This is just one example but there’s often science work that needs physical bodes. Like there was a non profit institute I worked for that did shellfish surveys every summer for the local industry. They paid 10 bucks an hour 20 years ago and they always advertised at the collrge but also dodn’t need degrees because they always hired undergrads.
It’s worth exploring if its possible or an option and usually feels better than most menial jobs lime in retail.
Prep cook at a small restaurant. Tell them you only want to work part-time and they’ll make it happen.
Then just put on your headphones and chop vegetables and meats for a few hours. Lowest stress position in a kitchen. And you usually have your own separate kitchen area and nobody will bother you.
I think most jobs like this would give you plenty of free time as they’re almost universally part time jobs where you only work 3-4 hours per shift so that they don’t have to pay you benefits.
Security guard. The guards at my job sit in the guard shack (air conditioned micro-building) and monitor cameras, ocasionally doing a door check where they walkthrough the buildings verifying entry points, and oversee visitor badge distribution and sign-in/out sheet.
They might have other duties that I’m not aware of.
I worked security for a brief eternity.
I think you’ve nailed it. Watch, patrol, repeat.
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Custodial work for a government or school district, consistent hours and benefits, can even give you time to just sit around and do whatever you want if you are efficient, also usually union.
Yeah, if you aren’t scared of dirty things, its an easy and even relaxing job. Although a lot of them are at night when no ones around. Which makes it chill.
Clean offices. Vacuum, empty garbage, clean bathrooms , clean lunchroom. Done. I did this for a while and I never even felt the need to wear gloves. Just washed with hot water and soap after.
I wouldn’t do it at a gas station. No way am I cleaning those toilets.
i seen janitors at colleges, and thier jobs seems chill, and htey get alot of benefits. i think they pay better than school districts.
Look at the trades. Can be fun and lucrative with the right crew.
Pizza delivery is a good one, most of the time the places will be hiring for the dinner rush, so you’ll work a few hours and then just go home for your free time. In your car, you can listen to whatever you want, so your reading could become audiobooks!
It’s considered one of the most dangerous jobs you can have though
Depends highly on the area, for sure. I delivered in a suburb, it was pretty chill.
If you are interested in cars and live in a state that requires vehicle inspections, you could do that. My son did a two day class to get licensed. Then he easily walked into jobs.
Like the emissions tests?
Yeah. I think the class cost about $100 and two days. His first job was $15/hr plus $1 per car. Over the last 7 years he’s worked in several shops and now makes about $30/hr as a tech/unlicensed mechanic.
Wow thats sounds like a good job to do and always in need.
Yeah, for the first 5 years he was never out of a job for more than one day. There’s a lot of turnover in the industry, which is good and bad. By your second or third job, you’ll know people at a half dozen shops and a quick text that you’re available can have you working immediately. Now he’s become picky (no weekends, etc.) so it takes longer to find something. Also, he’s trying to sustain himself on mobile/shadetree mechanic work and amp building/repair instead of having a boss.
I would always suggest joining the IBEW and becoming an electrician. You can start with no experience and get trained up over a few years for a career that will pay at or near 6 figures.
All while providing health insurance and retirement.
Night watchman if nights are OK. I’m not in touch with how available such jobs are these days, but I had a gig once for a couple of months when I first got out of college, decades ago. Was great to get some reading and thinking done.
I work in 911 dispatch, exact qualifications and work conditions will vary from place, but often you don’t need much more than a high school diploma/GED, basic computer literacy, and acceptable typing skills, and of course the ability to keep a cool head and deal with emergencies.
Technically, I work slightly more hours than a regular 40 hour week, but I have more days off overall, and especially on night shift you can often count on having a decent amount of downtime where you can work on pretty much whatever personal stuff you want between calls as long as you can put it down when the phone rings.
And the pay is going to be better than minimum wage, not that you’re gonna be making a killing, but you’ll also have access to pretty great benefits and job security.
It can be stressful and not everyone is cut out for it, but if you are I think it’s a pretty great gig, I’ve been doing it for 8 years now. There is a lot of turnover from people either getting burned out or just using it as a resume builder to move to other public safety sorts of jobs, but that means that basically every dispatch center in the country is almost constantly hiring.
In the UK you can expect to have 0 downtime. It’s likely calls will be queud on the board constantly day and night. You’re also expected to help people with CPR and child birth. It’s an incredibly stressful job.
Have you also trued doing commissions for art? Or writing some books off your interests and publishing them? Just a thought.
Otherwise an employment office helps you find work too! Oh and StarBucks while kinda oof with only minimum 20 hours it’s actually pretty chill, just apply to a slow location if you dont mind having little to no tips
Don’t know how set on minimum wage you are but you can find warehouse forklift work that is 4 days a week but 10 hrs a day. They mostly hire immigrants who aren’t afraid of the hours or the work but they’ll train anyone from nothing.
I used to do college on the weekends at first, and two of my coworkers actually completed their degrees that way. I ended up just using the time to have a social life nobody my age was enjoying. It’s not a bad racket, certain companies will try to fuck you though so just stay away from big box stores
alot of warehouses, the managers will monitor your metrics like a hawk.
I never struggled with those personally, kind of gamified it and used them to hone my body. But true, a lot of people do stress about those
