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Most folks just need to work, one way or another. It's something that often takes up much of our time and energy, day after day. However, every once and a while, we run across those stories of jobs where one doesn't actually do much, where you sit in a chair and collect a paycheck.
Someone asked “People with jobs where you don't "do anything" or "not much", what is it and what do you do?” and netizens described what their workday looked like. We also got in touch with the person who posted the question in the first place. So get comfortable as you scroll through, upvote your favorites and be sure to share your thoughts in the comments below.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
I once had a job where I was 'monitoring systems,' which basically meant staring at a screen for 8 hours to make sure nothing went wrong. 95% of the time, absolutely nothing happened so I built a computer program to do the job for me while I work remotely with another job, getting paid 2x.
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#2
I work on a helpdesk at a hospital. Very low calls. Make almost 50 dollars an hour. 8 or 10 calls, most only last a couple of minutes. Remote work which makes it a good gig.
#3
I drive around my county for 9 hours a day looking for road signs that need fixed and then fix the ones that do.
Michael Largey 1 week ago
A nine-hour day where your attention must be focused all the time seems like real work to me.
Bored Panda got in touch with the netizen who created the question and they were kind enough to provide some more details. “The reason I asked this question is because I was contemplating moving jobs. I started thinking, how can I get a step further in life, without spending more of my time and energy than now.”
“First I thought of working completely remote, this already stops the waste of time of traveling to and from work. Next I started thinking more and more about working smarter and not harder and I got interested in what kind of jobs are out there where people have to work, but don't have to do much at their work. I formulated that in a question that I knew would trigger people to read it and voila 1.8 million views on the post right now.”
#4
Honestly, I work as a night shift security guard at an office building. My main job is just to sit at the desk, watch cameras, and occasionally walk around. Most nights, nothing happens, so I just read, watch videos, or think about life while getting paid to be there. Not much action, but it has its peaceful moments.
Beak Hookage 2 weeks ago
My parents explored an abandoned mental hospital once, where they bumped into the security guard. He told them he had to go in there every night to sign off on a piece of paper indicating that he'd been in, and always did it *very fast*.
#5
Electrical engineer. I get paid for what I know, not for what I do.
Matthew Currie 1 week ago
Of course one can also look at it as you having done the hard work earlier. I'm reminded of an old joke in which a historic locomotive is brought out for a parade. It malfunctions, and only one old guy remembers running it. He goes up to it with a little hammer and hits a spot, and it starts up again. Then presents a large bill for the services. When asked why such a high bill, he replies "It's a buck for the hammering, the rest is for knowing where to hit."
#6
After teaching in public school for ten years I now tutor privately for just one family (I am paid a full time salary including health benefits). It's a godsend of a job and I'm so so grateful everyday.
Boop the Snoot. Pound the Paw. 1 week ago
I don't think it's really about the pay. It's about the pay you get for trying to teach un-parented kids... and then deal with the crazy+entitled non-parenting parents. The pay would probably be fine if you just had to teach the material to kids who at least pretended to pay attention.
We were also curious to hear their thoughts on why the post got so many comments. “I think what made it popular is because it triggers people into wanting to know more. I am also a marketeer by heart, so I kinda figured out how to ask the right questions to get some interest and I'm pretty sure I can make another semi-viral/viral post like that again if I give it some thought and time. I have more posts that I made which I genuinely was interested in and it gained traction.”
#7
I had a job as a night receptionist at a motel, and all I did was watch Netflix and check in like three people. Easiest money ever.
#8
I’m a pilot, a second officer at a legacy carrier. My entire job is to sit in cruise and watch the autopilot fly the plane.
I work 9 days a month and make 6 figures.
#9
I work as an EMT on a construction site. I’m basically a “school nurse” for the guys there. I hand out ibuprofen for their hangovers, and clean up cuts. I have to do 2-3 rounds on the site per shift but other than that I’m in my office just hanging out…..doing not much. I make $27 an hour for this.
Beak Hookage 2 weeks ago
There are some jobs where most of the time you aren't all that needed... but when you're needed, you're REALLY needed.
“The one that stood out to me was 'I work on a helpdesk at a hospital . Very low calls. Make almost 50 dollars an hour. 8 or 10 calls, most only last a couple of minutes. Remote work which makes it a good gig' Not because it is an extraordinary job, but because there's nearly no work there AND gets paid a ton. Let's say this person works for 8 hours a night, that's $400 for a night where you only make 8-10 five to ten minute calls (and that's more than what they really are I assume). That's crazy to me! Good for that person though.”
#10
My brother sails barges up and down the Rhine in Germany, earns extremely good money. It depends what you think 'not much' is. Obviously he has to pay attention, but there's a lot of sitting in a chair and just sailing, pretty chill if you ask me, no deadlines or figuring out things, just playing loud music, taking in the scenery. You have to get a lot of qualifications to do it, but starting out on the barges as a deck hand is a good start, the salary isn't too bad, a little below average as a deck hand but you can work your way up very fast.
The absolute best part of his job is he works 2 weeks on the barge and then gets 2 weeks off, then 2 weeks on again, over and over, whilst still getting paid a full salary, since he is paid for all the hours he is on the ship, even when he is asleep. He has built a great life with this job, it pays well, is not stressful and he has long chunks of time off to relax and go on holidays.
Edit: I felt I should add some downsides, as although I view the job as amazing, it's not for everyone. The cons I can think of are
1) You are on the barge for 2 weeks at a time with your colleagues, if you don't get on with them, you won't like it.
2) Whilst aboard the barge you are expected to 'help out' although you have a lot of down time/sleep time. If something is needed urgently, you need to be there. Sometimes this means you may be needed to offload cargo at 3am in the morning after docking for example.
3) Being away from family/friends for 2 weeks at a time isn't for everyone, if you have a partner, they may miss you when they come home to an empty house every day for 2 weeks, you need someone who is understanding and doesn't mind this.
4) If you live far away from the docks there are long commute times. Even if you live close to the depature dock, typically, at the end of your 2 weeks you will be hundreds of miles away from where you left, usually him and his crew will drive a car and take it in turns to drive back.
Sven Horlemann 1 week ago
As a German who visits the Rhine regularily, I was wondering about that.
#11
Subject matter expert in a domain where my company might want to branch in but isn't yet. Still, they want to keep the option open, so they pay me to exist, basically.
#12
I work in admin at a warehouse. We basically enter sales orders and send them to the warehouse workers. It takes barely any time and I'm bored 95% of the time. I'd rather be busy tbh.
keyboardtek 1 week ago (edited)
Being bored is the worst kind of job! Give me something challenging. I had a music electronics equipment repairs shop. I would get thrilled when a really messed up odd piece of gear came in.
They left us with some parting thoughts. “I think reddit is a great place to ask questions like this, but if you start asking opinions and what not take the answers with a grain of salt. Reddit forms a niche group of people that are very one sided as they're, most of the time, divided in a subreddit and voice a singular opinion.”
#13
I worked in telecommunications for over 30 years. One of my "jobs" was supposed to be part of a new start up group (and I honestly don't even remember what we were supposed to do). However, the manager that was running this new start up group never got us any office space, or desks, or chairs, or computers, or anything else. He did nothing. But I and two others were required to report to this guy every morning. Which we did. And he had nothing for us to do. So, he told us to go sit in the break room of another work group.
Well, the other work group took notice of us lounging around reading and playing cards all day and they started to complain. So, we got kicked out of their break room. Our "boss" told us to just get lost and report back to him after lunch. So that's what we did.
I still had the key to an otherwise unused store room from my previous position in the same building in which I had a desk and chair and soon brought in a television and my laptop for entertainment. I'm not sure what the other two people in our group were doing, but they were banging on the regular so I guess they found someplace to sneak off to.
This went on for eight months. Everyday we'd show up, say hi to the boss, disappear until after lunch, say hi again, and then go home. All of us had long commutes, and begged to be allowed to "work" from home, but our boss steadfastly refused since at any moment his boss might come and ask where his workers were and what they were up to. Mind you, this never happened.
So, during this time I did a lot of reading, taught myself to play the guitar and banjo, and took many naps.
#14
Drank tea and checked packaging lines every 2 hours during the night. Worked in QC in a tea factory.
#15
Security at a museum. I basically help with kids getting separated from parents or give basically first aid if they hurt themselves. Other than that it's making sure there aren't leaks or other potential risks to the artifacts.
#16
I watch students take exams in college making sure they don’t cheat. My title is an invigilator it’s a few hours of just sitting there really.
Pandemonium 1 week ago
During my time in the UK I learned that what we Yanks call a proctor they call an invigilator. It sounds a lot more fun. I'd rather be invigilated than proctored.
#17
I worked at a guarded bike park at night from 10 to 6, usually 1 or 2 people came to collect or bring their bicycle. I used to play videogames or watch series all night.
#18
I work college admissions. We have a busy period every few weeks, but in between, my work is mostly finished by lunch.
#19
Maintenance man for a highschool leaves me with only a couple windows of time to do stuff and the work load is light. Sit on my a*s for 4-6 hours a day. But genuinely I struggle with the down time. I end up consuming way too much internet. Have to push myself to make the down time productive. Got the job by being journeyman level in 3 trades. Started at $25 with a PERS pension and full benefits. I could make way more sticking to a trade but I like the government work.
#20
I own 3 companies and don’t really do anything but guide the people who run them for me. I’m at work quite a bit, but I probably legitimately work like 4-5 hours a week.
It’s honestly very boring but I had to work so hard to get here that I’m sort of just balancing the scales.
#21
I manage a cell phone store, 75k plus commission and some days I'm busy but plenty of days I just chill and watch YouTube (probably a 3/5 lazy to busy ratio through the week). Mostly I show old people how to delete an app or set up a new phone line for someone.
Coming from construction I make a little less with 100% less damage to my body and I absolutely love it. Two years in never looking back!
#22
I’m an EMS pilot…. I sometimes go days without getting a flight. Lots of reading and watching way too much TV.
#23
I've been a casino dealer for 15 years across three properties.
I am now in management.
I literally stand around 8 hours a day, talking to the day time regulars, cheer up the dealers, and do almost mentally/physically nothing other than touch a few tablets during the day.
For 32$ an hour, yearly bonuses/raises, I really can't complain .
#24
I’m a crane operator on a frac location in the oilfield. I’m on location 12 hour a night 5PM-5AM. Out of that 12 hours, I spend probably 10 in my truck playing video games or on my phone. Last year I made 209k. I feel like I’m robbing them.
R.A. Haley 1 week ago
Worth it if you don't drop anything, or overload the crane and tip it over.
#25
Watched YouTube videos, watched Netflix and Prime. I had my Kindle so I also read books. I'd go on walks and get my steps in, usually 14K at work.
I worked in a theme park fixing things that never broke. I worked a ten hour shift and only have an hour, sometimes two of work each night.
#26
I used to work for a major defense contractor in CA. My job title was aviation electrician (prior military). But when I started, I realized the job site was barely starting and there was very little work. I got moved around a lot. But every time I would end up behind a computer (because I had basic computer skills and no one else did)
I was in charge of making sure an excel sheet was up to date with the parts we had. Or later on, tools.
I would show up, do ATAF (check tools) , and then sit on a computer for the rest of the day. I would google and self learn random things. Literally googling and absorbing anything I wanted.
I got paid $42-44 and they let me call out whenever any time as long as my stuff was up to date.
Easiest job I have ever had. Was making 60k a year because I would call out so much but if I didn’t I would be at 80k
Only left because I started working on my engineering degree.
#27
I’m an EMT with a private ambulance company. I’ve done the stressful 911 side of the job so I switched it up work in the events division. Lots of events like sport games and concerts need EMTs on site where you mostly deal with drunks. But what mostly do these days are work the load ins and load outs of big events. Like when they set up/break down stages. I sit in empty stadiums waiting for things to happen. I might give a band aid or ice pack here and there, and there’s always the rare medical situations. But most of the time, I get paid to watch YouTube and play video games. The downside is that one shift can be 16 hours long.
#28
I had a job in health, working within the mining sector. I was paid near $200k on a 2/2 roster, and for those 2 weeks I was at work, did almost 30 minutes work a day, inclusive of travelling to site. The rest of the day I sat by the pool back in camp.
#29
I used to do data entry at a digital publisher. I figured out how to automate the formatting in excel using macros and it made these day-long jobs into 8-10 minute tasks. I sat on that info for weeks before I got bored and told my manager. She had me teach my teammates in an effort to boost our team’s output but everyone thought they were too confusing and not worth the effort to learn so they tasked me with developing new tools with the tech teams to make the automation more intuitive. We did that but no one used them still, saying that they had a good system going and trying to make changes to it would result in more errors and less productivity, so they took those tasks away from me and I just went back to fooling around all day.
#30
I work nights on a psych ward as an orderly. On ideal nights I scroll the internet and do nothing.
What do you think ?
Green Tree 1 week ago
A lot of these are night jobs. I've been on nights for a decade and honestly I cannot believe more people are not hip to the benefits. I get paid a lot of money, have very little oversight and total job security and appreciation. They know nobody wants this shift so they throw many at me to keep me happy. I wouldn't want to be nights in a hospital or as a cop but if you can get into an office type thing on nights it's a remarkably sweet gig.
Scott Rackley 1 week ago
I'm a night owl. Did 30 years of day shift as a tool designer/toolmaker/teacher, made bank (no kids). Took a job somewhere else for less money, far far far less work and night shift. I'm the gray haired guy that you go to to fix your tool/gage/fixture that seems to know everything. Some weeks I might fix two things and instruct someone how to use another. No one in the plant is over me or watching me, it's very peaceful and the operators think I'm a magician, like I could weld spider webs and measure stuff with my finger tips.
Load More Replies...
kath morgan 1 week ago
Most days at my work are wall to wall physical activity and hundreds of micro decisions. … I don’t get paid enough.
Green Tree 1 week ago
A lot of these are night jobs. I've been on nights for a decade and honestly I cannot believe more people are not hip to the benefits. I get paid a lot of money, have very little oversight and total job security and appreciation. They know nobody wants this shift so they throw many at me to keep me happy. I wouldn't want to be nights in a hospital or as a cop but if you can get into an office type thing on nights it's a remarkably sweet gig.
Scott Rackley 1 week ago
I'm a night owl. Did 30 years of day shift as a tool designer/toolmaker/teacher, made bank (no kids). Took a job somewhere else for less money, far far far less work and night shift. I'm the gray haired guy that you go to to fix your tool/gage/fixture that seems to know everything. Some weeks I might fix two things and instruct someone how to use another. No one in the plant is over me or watching me, it's very peaceful and the operators think I'm a magician, like I could weld spider webs and measure stuff with my finger tips.
Load More Replies... kath morgan 1 week ago
Most days at my work are wall to wall physical activity and hundreds of micro decisions. … I don’t get paid enough.
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