Even though nonstressful jobs are incredibly hard to come by, they do exist. That's why, for Stress Awareness Month, we asked the BuzzFeed Community, "What kind of low-stress job do you have and how did you get it?" Here's what they had to say:
1. "I work for a specialty retailer that sells storage and organization products — as well as custom closets — in its customer service call center. I design custom spaces over the phone, and all of my customers are a pleasure to work with. I get to flex my creative muscles, embrace my obsessiveness, and help make a real impact in people’s day-to-day lives. The company has incredible benefits, my managers are kind and caring, and the culture is more about relationships (both among the team and with customers) than about numbers."
2. "I was a computer science and psychology major in college, and I worked in both fields. I just gave it up and became a tasting-room manager for a wine vineyard in California. I teach people about wine and LOVE what I do. No stress, and everyone comes in happy and cheerful. I really lucked out. And the pay is equivalent hourly to what I made in my prior jobs, and I work fewer hours. It's a win-win! As I said, I got very lucky — I just answered an ad in the local newspaper."
3. "I’m an estate planning attorney for a financial advisory company, and I’m making more money and working fewer hours than I ever have before. The key is that I left private practice and work for a company that values employees’ time and health. I don’t have to worry about billable hours, I have an assistant that handles most emails, and if I don’t have meetings, I’m just catching up on paperwork. Most weeks, I leave early on Friday and don’t have to take 'sick time' for short doctor, dentist, or other appointments."
4. "I work from home doing data entry for a law firm. Sometimes it’s stressful when it gets busy, but most days I do about five hours of work, then take time throughout the day to do chores, take a shower, hang out with my cats, etc. My roommate and I both do this, and I will never go back to working outside the house if I can help it. I’m lucky to have been able to get referred by my roommate to get into the industry, but I didn’t have any prior experience or knowledge in the field. I was a restaurant manager before this, and that was way more stressful and awful for my mental health. My work isn’t very satisfying, but it’s easy, and being at home is beyond worth it being a little bored sometimes."
—Anonymous, 21, Colorado
5. "I am a massage therapist. This is the most relaxing job I’ve ever had. Sometimes sessions are so relaxing that I am also falling asleep while massaging."
6. "I am a polysomnographer, aka a sleep technician. I am a medical worker who performs sleep studies on people to help diagnose them with any sleep disorders they may have. Basically, I stick a bunch of electrodes on patients' bodies and watch their respiration, heart rate, and brainwaves on a computer all night while they sleep. The most stressful part of my job is the overnight shiftwork lifestyle. Sleep medicine is a growing field, and diagnosing and treating sleep disorders, especially sleep apnea, can drastically improve a person's overall health. I am a quiet, independent person, and this quiet, independent job is perfect for me — AND it helps make people's lives better!"
7. "I’m in sales...sorta. I work for a company that sets up homes with no-cost solar panels (for the homes that qualify). So it saves families 30%–40% a month on their electric bill, plus they don’t have to pay for the panels. And they get me to help them with whatever they need after. There’s no catch. I go door-to-door to homes that look like they may qualify (e.g., the roof is in good shape, a newer electrical panel) and explain the program. I work whenever I want for as long as I want. People in some of our sister offices make seven figures a year doing this, and I make six figures doing it (I don’t work quite as much as they do). I have no high-pressure manager demanding numbers, I get to vibe alone or work with others, and most importantly, I get to sleep in every day!"
8. "I work in communications for the local government. It was a 30%-plus pay increase from my last job at a nonprofit for one-third the work. I occasionally miss the flexibility of nonprofits, but I never have evening or weekend hours, I have a reasonable workload, I get to take lunch breaks instead of eating at my desk while continuing to work, and I have really good benefits. I get ongoing professional development for free. Recently, I did a workshop on studio TV production (like camera operation, lighting, sound mixing), which is something I have wanted to learn about forever. I have a bachelor's and a master's, but neither is in a related field."
9. "I'm a pharmacist assistant. I've worked at a fast-paced and a slow-paced pharmacy, and honestly, either way, it's pretty chill. You enter prescriptions in a program that auto-translates the short-form directions, you count pills by fives, and once the pharmacist double-checks everything, you give them to the customer. That's it. You can't take the job home with you (that's called drug dealing LOL), and the bulk of the responsibility is on the pharmacist, not you. There are certificate programs but I didn't bother, and I was trained on the job (right place, right time, I guess)."
10. "I work at a nonprofit organization. We have multiple departments and I run the office. All the other departments are constantly busy with paperwork and parents, but up front, I just do whatever needs to be done and pretty much spend most of my days reading BuzzFeed articles or online shopping. I don't make much, but I can't even think about going to another job, especially since I save 50% in child care; very beneficial for a single parent."
—Sam, 30, Iowa
11. "I worked at various ad agencies and was making six figures by the age of 26, which was great, but I was literally working my life away. I finally decided to transition over to consulting (still in the ad world, just 'advising' instead of 'making'), and I make a quarter million a year and work 35–40 hours a week. Basically, I'm working half the hours I was before when I was on the agency side. Best decision I’ve ever made."
12. "I’m a nurse case manager with foster kids. I basically serve as an informed consenter for kids who don’t have parents, and I love it. I get to help kids get better, work partially from home — no nights, weekends, or holidays — and make $90,000 a year, with a pension."
13. "I've been working as a janitor at a university for the last six months now. It takes about two to three hours to do my tasks, and I'm chilling the rest of the day. Supervisors leave you alone as long as your stuff is done, and don't ever overload you with work. You get your area and keep it clean. It's great — the lowest-stress job I've had, with state benefits."
14. "I'm a speech-language pathologist. We work with people with communication needs, from lisps to stutters to aphasia. We also work with people who have Down syndrome, who are autistic (to provide support navigating social communication), who are trans (to help them find the voice that feels most authentically theirs), or who have a strong accent in a second language that they would like to reduce. If there's something about communication you want help with, an SLP will support you!"
15. "Even the most 'demanding' job can be easy if you like what you do! I work in finance, and I find entering invoices in a database and balancing budgets calming. At the end of the day, I have tangible results and I don't have to multitask, deal with difficult people, or do extra tasks outside of my job description. People tend to leave me alone so that they don't interrupt my flow, which is great, since I'm an introvert, and everyone (at least at my job) listens to what I have to say because they don't want to have to dig into the numbers themselves. I know this isn't the case everywhere, and I'm grateful for my luck."
16. "I own and run a specialist shop for licensed rock and heavy metal band T-shirts and accessories. To my knowledge, I have one of the largest band T-shirt ranges in a physical shop in the UK. I literally get to listen to my favorite music, chat with fellow rock fans, and be silly on social media (@sharkysbandmerch) all day. I joke that I grew up to be Wayne from Wayne's World. I worked many minimum wage retail jobs, which sucked, although I am actually a good salesperson when I want to be — it turns out the trick is to sell stuff you yourself would want to buy. Who knew? I created my shop for people like me, and it's hard to be stressed in an environment you'd actually want to visit if you didn't work there."
17. "I’m an internet salesperson. I basically answer phones and respond to online requests for more information. I get an hourly wage and a bonus for making appointments for customers to come into the store. But I never have to meet a customer face-to-face or have the pressure to make sales. My coworkers on the sales floor like me and work with me because I give them business. And I never, ever have to take the job home with me or even think about it outside of work. My work is valued by results, not how I spend every minute of the workday."
18. "I work on specialty accounts for a utility company. It's 100% work-from-home, I barely have to deal with people, I have great benefits, the job is secure because we're unionized and in an essential industry, I get every second Friday off, my coworkers are awesome (we have a hilarious group chat), and to top it off, my manager is understanding, funny, and gracious. Thank you, union and luck, for me getting this manager. It took a few years of hell in a call center to get the seniority to get to this position — but it's paying off."
—Rita
19. "I’m a PCA (personal care assistant)! I don’t get paid the most, BUT I get to go to work every day and help older people or people who have disabilities with everyday things such as getting dressed, doing the dishes, going to the store, or simply even taking a sip of soda. What I do depends on the day, but I’m never sweating to get stuff done. And I NEVER hear from the company I work for unless my hours are about to get shut off. (They have to come to make sure my client is actually in need of help every six months.) And did I mention that it’s completely flexible if you’ve got a good client? I work for my aunt, and I can get to work anytime as long as I'm there by 10 a.m."
20. "I recently left a high-paying, high-stress job for something better suited to my skills and personality. I’m now a prospect researcher in a fundraising office. I look people (prospects) up for gift officers (who oversee fundraising for organizations) and provide them with a short bio and profile so the gift officer has a better understanding of who the person is and what their philanthropic interests are before they meet. It’s low stress because there’s not much carryover from year to year, as with my last job. There’s a definite start and end to every profile request. It sounds boring to other people, but I think it’s really fun. I get paid to go down rabbit holes and seek information — I love information!"
"I get to find out all sorts of interesting things about different types of people. Also, I can do most of my job remotely, so I’m rarely disrupted and no longer have to commute 45–60 minutes. The people on the team are really patient and kind, too.
"It varies between institutions, but my title is prospect research analyst. Also, fundraising offices have different names across industries. In some places, they are the Office of Development, but in others, they can be the Office of Advancement, or just plain 'fundraising' or 'annual giving.' Anything that has to do with raising money for an organization’s mission. In universities, they can also be a team within an alumni relations or donor relations department/office. Use search terms like 'donor,' 'prospect,' 'alumni,' 'development,' 'gift,' 'giving,' 'philanthropy,' 'annual,' and 'advancement,' along with the word 'research.'”
21. "I work as a lifeguard while getting my college degree, and it's the most relaxed job I've ever had. This can be different, depending on the pool you work at, but I took the opening shift, where it's all people who are getting a morning swim before their day starts, or older women coming in to do some water aerobics classes. My boss lets me do homework on the clock as long as nothing else needs my attention, and I do my rotations on time. The only stressful times are when we have swim-lesson registrations and I'm fielding a million phone calls all morning."
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.