It’s National Lazy Day! Try These 5 Super Chill Ways to Make Money
Stay in your pajamas and put fresh batteries in the remote: It’s National Lazy Day.
For real. Aug. 10. It’s a thing.
Although it sounds about as legit as National Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day (Jan. 28) or National Cheese Curd Day (Oct. 15), we’re going with it.
While we’re all here on the couch, enjoying some s’mores — that’s right, Aug. 10 is also National S’Mores Day — let’s talk about making money.
That doesn’t sound very lazy, you’re thinking. But wait! We’re one step ahead of you. Here are five of the laziest ways we’ve found to make money.
Now get moving! (Actually, don’t!)
1. Browsing the Internet
What could be easier, right?
It’s no surprise that most people use Google to search the web, but Microsoft’s Bing comes in second place. To get more users on board, the company pays people to search with Bing through the Microsoft Rewards program.
Bing users enrolled in the program earn five points per search, and the points can be redeemed for gift cards, movies or games, or donated to charities.
Another more lucrative way to earn cash as you browse is through side gigs that test the effectiveness of social media ads and search engines.
Lionbridge and Appen are among the most popular places to land this type of part-time work, which can be done 100% remotely. Pay is typically around $12 an hour, to boot.
2. Listening to Podcasts
We’re in the golden age of podcasts. This engaging storytelling can be implemented into our everyday routines, including the routine of getting out of bed at noon and going straight to the couch.
It’s actually possible to earn a little money listening to podcasts.
Podcoin is an app that rewards its listeners one Podcoin per 10 minutes. Listeners can choose from a huge catalog of podcasts (more than 500,000) and start earning. Daily streaks can double the amount of Podcoins earned, and users can then trade those Podcoins for electronics or gift cards.
Alone, this method isn’t very fruitful, but for podcast addicts, it’s a seamless way to get something in return for dedicated listening. Other than all that knowledge, obviously.
3. Listening to Music
You like music, right? But even you get befuddled by what the artists are actually saying sometimes, right?
So you Google the lyrics and boom, the mystery is solved.
But who are the people solving all those mysteries? Lyric transcriptionists — people whose job it is to listen to the latest songs and transcribe the lyrics.
Genius (formerly Rap Genius) is one of the largest websites to hire lyric transcriptionists, dubbed Lyrics Associates, as a remote part-time job. Another option is WeLocalize, a transcription company that pays freelancers $4 per song.
4. Sleeping
Lazy Day celebrants, rejoice! You, yes you, can earn money while you’re sleeping.
Large mattress companies conduct market research and pay people to test their products. Recurring opportunities are available through Mattress Firm during the summer, as the company hires “Snoozeterns” — interns who have snooze-related responsibilities 30 hours a week at the company’s headquarters in Houston, Texas.
Sleep studies are another way to turn your Zs into Gs. In our sleep study guide, contributor Jillian Shea documented how she got paid $12,000 for 11 days of snoring.
To find sleep studies nationwide, use the federal government’s Clinical Trials database.
Forewarning about sleep studies: While you can earn quite a lot of money, the studies involve some — let’s say invasive — procedures involving thermometers in places the average person doesn’t want thermometers to go.
5. Watching TV
Ah, the motherlode of lazy activities: watching TV.
Sometimes, the act of sitting down and turning your brain off for an hour or so is reward enough. But somebody paying you to watch the tube? Jackpot.
HowToWatch hires people to watch 100 hours of TV for $2,000. It requires some intense focus and note-taking, but hey, it’s money. For watching TV.
To snag this dream job, apply during an open application period. If you’re accepted, you’ll have about a month to binge on 100 hours of TV and keep a scorecard that tracks buffer speeds, load times and picture quality.
If that sounds like too much for you, the app Swagbucks also pays you to watch videos and TV from your smartphone. For each task completed, you’ll earn points, aka Swagbucks, which you can cash out for gift cards between $5 and $25.
Molly Moorhead is a senior editor at The Penny Hoarder.
