What kind of businesses do people have where they work from home and have such flexible schedules?

[LegoLovin]

I read all the time about people having their own businesses and working from home yet managing to go to the gym, do the school run, get a bit of housework done etc. I'm intrigued as to what kind of businesses people have that allow them such an amazing work/life balance whilst paying well too?

Environmental consultancy. DH works for a pharmaceutical company.

MLM, and rich husband. Or lying, and rich husband. Or influencer, and rich husband.

Psychologist. Go out to work two days a week - work from home the rest of the time as snd when I like as a lot of it is report writing.

Legal type work. Since Covid it's been waaay more flexible and I can do short yoga sessions and housework, I just skip lunch breaks and also start work earlier.

Operations director of a small company.

Job involves a fair bit of quiet, focused planning time. Then being available to fix problems and meet with people through the day. I'm very rarely needed immediately, and being available for a longer period (but not for the whole time of that period) helps too.

Very easy to manage a schedule of working 7.5h (or flexed hours) between 7-5.30, according to my other plans for the day.

Sometimes that's working 7-3 then I'm free to go, sometimes the hours are broken up between those times.

I'd say it's actually easier being senior and well paid because I'm expected to be able to sort myself out and plan responsibly - though I give exactly the same licence to my staff.

Civil service has been pretty good for this, I've found.

I’m self employed. I can go to the gym/pub/do housework or whatever… but if I don’t work during working hours, I have to catch up on it later. It’s flexible, but it’s not like I can work two hours and get paid for ten.

@TakeYourFinalPosition

I’m self employed. I can go to the gym/pub/do housework or whatever… but if I don’t work during working hours, I have to catch up on it later. It’s flexible, but it’s not like I can work two hours and get paid for ten.

This.

I will stop at about 3pm for when the kids get in, go to the shops and run the Hoover around. Also pop out with the dog at lunchtime. But I’ll sit back down at 7pm for another 2 to 3 hours.

I still have to do a full working day. It has its upsides but knowing you have to work again in the evening can suck sometimes, you never really like you clock off

DH and I run a software consultancy specialising in embedded systems. We have three remote sub-contractors. Very flexible for all of us - one of our people is in Pakistan so works to UK hours sometimes, the other two generally fit in with office hours. Not unheard of for any of them to pull all-nighters or weekends if needed.

We work 4 days a week - DH 7.5 hours/day, me 4 hours/day. If extra hours are needed we put them in, swings and roundabouts really.

Grateful that we can be flexible as it makes up for the times when you have to do the leg work.

@TakeYourFinalPosition

I’m self employed. I can go to the gym/pub/do housework or whatever… but if I don’t work during working hours, I have to catch up on it later. It’s flexible, but it’s not like I can work two hours and get paid for ten.

Same as me. I'm self employed - content marketing - and can work when I want to within reason but it still has to be done... and I get paid by the hour so if I'm in the gym I'm not getting paid (sadly!) But having the flexibility to set my schedule is a massive bonus. No paid holidays/sickness and the sometimes massive peaks and troughs in workload are the downsides

IT consulting, for my own company

Solicitor. I work a lot of hours and obviously have to make it to meetings, but outside of that I have a lot of flexibility. I might go to the gym in the day, do the school run and take the girls horse riding, but then I might work late into the evening or start very early in the morning.

I have a holiday let. On the days I have changeovers I work 10-2 so I can still do the school run for my primary age DC. I also have a baby and I take him with me. The other days are just admin and guest contact and laundry which I fit in around the kids, housework, school runs, swimming lessons, social life etc. I also do admin for DPs business. As he's also self employed we have a lot of flexibility.

Writer/PR/content

I have my own business admin company, helping small companies when they are growing but unable to employ full time support staff. They use me until they are in a position to expand headcount. I outsource the things I can't do to other mums like me who can only work flexibly. But I do make sure that we are all paid our worth!

Nothing where they have to answer the phone I assume.
I can quickly throw some washing on the line but I can't go out or do anything else when I'm logged on.

Facial asthetics

Highly degreed professional, senior enough in my career that I can earn a very nice living working an officially part-time schedule. I’m also trusted to control my own schedule and work-flow. While I have typical working hours for predictability and consistency with colleagues, I’m not beholden to that schedule.

Massage therapist. Only downside is I have to be prepared to fit people in in the evenings

Digital designer in a start up. Got super flexible hours, so I start very early in the morning to have my afternoons free from 4:30. Can also take a break to read for one hour at midday.

Director of a company that pretty much only works out of office hours.

Also volunteer for the council in a role that again apart from emergencies I can decide when to pick it up and put it down.

I work for a large global firm and quite often have very early calls with Asia or late ones with the US, so I manage my diary so that I can do most of the school runs and go for a run in my lunch hour and still get my work done. I really like the flexibility but not so keen on the occasional 4am start but you can’t have everything

I am an academic (and not in the UK, which might make a difference). I work long hours but writing and research are my passion, so it doesn't feel like work. My "contact" hours (teaching classes, meeting with students, meetings focused on the administration of my department or institution) are few, probably 12 hours a week, and none at all during the summer from June until September and for a month in winter The rest of the time is my own and so if I want to switch my hours around, work less one day, take a day off, I can. I stop every day once I collect my child from school, sometimes resuming work again once he is in bed. Each morning, I take my dog for a long walk in the countryside or go for a run before I make it to my desk.
Plus I have the freedom to set my own research topics and degree of research productivity (how much I publish and where, books or articles) so there is freedom there too. Again, I work at a private university overseas, so academics in the UK may not have quite the same kind of freedom. I am also currently on sabbatical, so have no external demands on my time until January 2023.

Self-employed in a variety of roles ie assessing and paid committee work. It's fairly flexible.

Senior Integration Manager.

I manage my own diary so work when suits me though I can work alot of hours and do travel round the country for my company (obviously not much travel). My job may mean I need to work a few hours on a Sunday but I could take Tuesday morning off.

If I am travelling to say, Scotland, for a Monday meeting, I could go the day before and stay over. Then take Friday, Saturday Sunday off.

As long as the work is done, and some weeks that will mean alot of hours, I am free to plan my week as I want.