Jobs for Lazy People: 30 Easy Ways to Make a Living

These easy, low-stress jobs are ideal for people who are a bit on the lazy side – from video game testers to luxury house sitters!

Reviewed by Hayley Ramsey

Lazy office job worker with easy way to make money

Do you wake up in the morning wishing for a job outside the typical 9-to-5 world? One that requires minimal effort for a decent salary?

For some, this might seem a distant dream, but for others it’s a reality. The good news is that you can jump on the bandwagon, too, and get a high-paying, low-stress job that will allow you to slack off a little and enjoy a more relaxed lifestyle in the process.

To help you find the ultimate dream job, we’ve put together a list of the 30 most popular jobs for a lazybones like yourself!

1. Professional cuddler

Average rate: Up to $80 (£60) per day

For those of you that love a good cuddle, this profession has your name on it.

What better way to spend your day than embracing people that really need a good squeeze? Professional snugglers are paid to climb into a stranger’s bed (it’s all platonic – no funny business allowed) and give them a good ol’ cuddle. And the best part is that you get to stay in your PJs all day!

2. Fake businessperson

Average rate: $1,000 (£750) per week

If you fancy flying to China, throwing on a fancy suit and shaking the hands of important business people, you can do just that – and with an all-expenses paid trip, too! While not very ethical, it’s ideal if you’re looking for a high-paying side gig!

3. Hotel tester

Average rate: Up to $120 (£90) per day

Fancy staying in a luxurious hotel and testing out their facilities? If so, this low-stress job is right up your alley! All you’ll need to do is inspect each hotel with X-ray vision and write a detailed report at the end of your stay!

4. Video game tester

Average rate: Up to $14 (£11) per hour

This is, quite simply, the ultimate profession for gamers who want to stay at home and play video games for a living before they even reach the mainstream market. As your experience increases in the role, so can your wage.

5. Breath odour evaluator

Average rate: Up to $64,000 (£48,000) per year

If you have a good sense of smell and don’t mind getting up close and personal with people, you can earn big bucks by smelling participants’ breaths. Companies that manufacture mints, chewing gum, toothpaste and mouthwashes hire freelancers to smell mouth odour and let them know if their products are working.

6. Professional slacker

Average rate: Unknown

Did someone say a free holiday with no added responsibilities? That’s right: travel company TUI was looking for a so-called fakeation specialist not too long ago to basically laze around all day on the beach, read a book (of their choice) and get paid for it!

7. Professional binge watcher

Average rate: Unknown

We can’t think of anything better than getting paid to binge-watch TV shows all day and get paid for it! Netflix, the online streaming serviceresponsible for watching shows and movies, writing a short description for them and adding them to the appropriate category and genre.

8. Translator

Average rate: $22 (£17) per hour

If you’re fluent in a second language and fancy working from home, you can get a gig translating documents. As long as your grammar is up to par, you can get paid to sit in your PJs all day and translate the text you’re given into another language.

9. Beer taster

Average rate: $142 (£107) per day

If you love drinking beer (and who doesn’t?), you can actually get paid to get drunk for a living by sampling different brews and rating your overall experience.

10. Ostrich babysitter

Average rate: $20 (£15) per hour

If you prefer working with animals rather than with people, this job is right up your alley. You’ll earn good cash doing exactly what the job title suggests: watching over cute baby ostriches.

11. Chocolate taster

Average rate: $24,000 (£18,000) per year

If you’re a chocoholic, you’re in luck! Eating chocolate for a living is actually a real job. The best part is that the sugary treats are free, too!

12. Professional apologiser

Average rate: $60,000 (£45,000) per year

If you don’t mind saying sorry, you can do this for a living in Japan. Apologisers are hired for the sole reason to say sorry on behalf of someone else. Although it might be a bit ridiculous, you’ll get paid a lot for it!

13. Professional sports fan

Average rate: Unknown

Are you a sports fanatic that gets really invested in a game? If so, you can get paid to watch sports matches with other people to get them really into it so they can fully enjoy the experience.

14. Hair boiler

Average rate: $15 (£11) per hour

Curly wigs are made by professionals who boil hair to give it that curly look. If you’re unmotivated and don’t mind carrying out the same task on end, this part-time profession might be a great choice.

15. Chicken sexer

Average rate: $60,000 (£45,000) per year

If you don’t mind playing with chicks all day, you can get paid to identify the sex of baby chickens. This unique job is perfect for introverts who want an easy-going career.

16. Food critic

Average rate: $88,000 (£66,000) per year

Getting in the catering scene can be challenging, but once you’ve made it, you can get paid a lot of money to critique food and write reviews for a living.

17. Mime

Average rate: $28 (£21) per day

If you’re talented in performing, and not much a fan of talking, you can rack up the cash by working as a mime. All you need is a bit of face paint and a nautical top paired with suspenders!

18. Vlogger

Average rate: $7.6 (£5.7) per 1,000 views

Many lazy geniuses have jumped onto the YouTube bandwagon by making short, easy-to-watch videos and achieving huge returns in the process. Some good video editing skills will come in handy to ensure the content meets your audience’s needs.

19. Dog walker

Average rate: $31,000 (£23,200) per year

Getting paid to hang out with man’s best friend is probably the dream job of every dog lover out there. You’ll first need to do some groundwork to build a strong circle of clients, but you’ll soon be on the road to doggy success.

20. Furniture tester

Average rate: $36,600 (£27,400) per year

If you’re a couch potato, this is the perfect job for you! You literally get paid to sit around all day testing different furniture and giving your expert opinion on comfort levels, quality and price.

21. Luxury house sitter

Average rate: Up to $45 (£34) per day

Luxury house sitters get paid to house-sit for clients while they’re away on holiday. The best part is that you’ll usually be left with a fully stocked fridge, too!

22. TV/Movie extra

Average rate: $13.50 (£10) per day

Hanging out on the set of a big blockbuster or your favourite TV show sounds like a breeze. And who knows? It might just be the start of a very lucrative acting career!

23. Mystery shopper

Average rate: $125 (£94) per assignment

Are you quite opinionated and always judge store displays or customer service? If so, you can get paid to go undercover and rate different products or services. You just need to make sure you don’t get caught!

24. Food taster

Average rate: $30,000 (£22,500) per year

As a food taster, you’ll be hired to sample foods like ice cream, cakes and snacks, and evaluate them based on smell, taste and consistency. The downside? You only get to eat just a little bite.

25. Test subject

Average rate: Over $1,000 (£750) per test

If you have the time, you can take part in clinical trials where you act as a human guinea pig for pharmaceutical and cosmetic companies. You get paid to stay in a clinic and have different tests done so experts can test any side effects.

26. Professional mourner

Average rate: $35 (£26) per hour

Can you cry on demand? Can you elicit a perfect sense of emotion for a morose occasion? Do you think you can engage in public speaking? If so, perhaps a professional mourner is the right position for you, as your job will be to attend funerals and appear as though you’re grieving for the dead. Believe it or not, this dates back to the Ancient Egyptians, and the official job title is a moirologist!

27. Sleep study participant

Average rate: Up to $88,000 (£66,000) per year

Be it a university or a laboratory performing , experts need participants to sleep. Whether it is to improve a mattress or to gather data on sleep theories, a job that pays you to sleep is a dream career endeavour for individuals who have mastered the art of being lazy.

28. Line stand-in

Average rate: $25 (£19) per hour

If you can endure the torment of standing in a long lineup to obtain an autograph, purchase tickets or buy one of only 100 Nike sneakers that will ever be sold, then perhaps the job of a line stand-in is right for you. Just be sure you have something to read, because if you're unmotivated now, try waiting three hours in a queue.

29. Security guard

Average rate: $31,200 (£23,400) per year

The role of a security guard is not something out of an action movie. You are not going to be Steven Segal and tell a stranger, ‘I'm just a security guard’. The job, especially if you are working the night shift, is incredibly easy and is low stress without requiring too much effort.

30. Professional friend

Average rate: Up to $50 (£38) per hour

Let's be honest: many of us lack social skills. Or, at the very least, they were eradicated thanks to the pandemic. Unfortunately, whether it is a lack of social skills or time, it can be difficult finding a friend. This could be you! Clients can hire you to be their best friend for a day, a week or another set amount of time, and in the process, you can make someone feel a little less lonely.

Final thoughts

These jobs are definitely outside the box, but if you want to do something that’s fun, easy and that brings in the money, then why not follow one of these careers? If none of these pique your interest, there are plenty of things you can do to revive your passion in a career that suits you –and your laziness – perfectly.  

Which of these jobs takes your fancy? Let us know in the comments section below.

In collaboration with Pawns.app, an app where anyone can earn by completing surveys or sharing their internet connection.

This article is an updated version of an earlier article originally published on October 2015 and contains contributions from by Andrew Moran. Salary information is based on data compiled and published by PayScale and Glassdoor. Currency conversions are based on rates supplied by XE.com on 3 December 2021.