5 Jobs for When You Need Flexibility

Sometimes it’s nice to have stability in life. Many people crave a nice 8-to-5, Monday-to-Friday job, and they fight hard to keep it. You, on the other hand, might be in the opposite situation. Rather than having set hours, you need a job where your hours are flexible and you have the freedom to set them yourself. You might be in school, trying to finish a degree, you might be parenting and need to work from home, or you might just crave a schedule you can set yourself. Whatever your preferences and needs, you could consider one of these jobs for flexibility. Each one allows you to set your own hours and choose what shifts you’ll work.

Landlord

Owning one or two rental properties allows you to earn a stable income on a flexible schedule. As a landlord, you do need to be available for emergency situations, but you can set your own hours and have an assistant take over when you’re out of town. After the initial investment of purchasing a building, you can rely on landlord software to find the right tenants, lessen your work responsibilities, and have an easier time working those flexible hours.

Rideshare Driver

Uber drivers make between 8 and 29 dollars an hour, after fees, depending on where they’re located. If you live in a less lucrative area, you might want to skip the Uber option, but if you live in a major city, you’ll still make a good hourly wage, and you can work whenever you want to. Most Uber drivers make the most on the weekends and late at night, when partiers need a safe ride home.

Freelancer

If you have a job history of, and any provable skills as a writer, graphic designer, IT professional, web designer, accountant, and more, you can make a living freelancing your skills to businesses around the world. If you get connected to a site like Upwork or Toptal you can find jobs in your specific field and apply for them, and if you get a few regular jobs you could shift your income over to freelancing only. Freelancers can usually work whatever hours they’d like, whether that’s all on the weekend, 8-to-5 Monday through Friday or at 3 o’clock in the morning.

Substitute Teacher

Substitute teaching is great for anyone who wants to work a flexible schedule and still keep their weekends free. As a substitute teacher, you’ll be on call for any elementary, middle school, or high school who hired you to be on their roster. When you get a call, you’ll show up the next morning (sometimes that same morning) to teach whatever lesson the teacher left for you. The requirements for substitute teaching vary from organization to organization, and they range from holding a bachelor’s in teaching, a bachelor’s in any field, or even a high school diploma.

Pet Sitter
While you probably won’t make an enormous income pet-sitting, it’s a great way to make a flexible income, since you choose what jobs you accept. To truly invest in a pet sitting business, you might want to get insurance and work on getting stellar references. You could advertise your services on Rover or PetSitter.com or advertise independently. Pet-sitting tends to involve week-long or weekend jobs where you stay at an owner’s home and care for their animal.

Adam Hansen
 

Adam is a part time journalist, entrepreneur, investor and father.