Employees share how to secure work-from-home jobs that only require 3 hours of work per day: 'Have subject matter expertise.'

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Emmy Pratt • Writer and Editor
Feb 9, 2026 8:00 PM EST

These are coveted positions that are not easy to come by.

If you asked the general public whether they would like a work-from-home job with a light workload and a high salary, almost everyone would say yes. Jobs with these exact qualities are hard to come by, and when they do, they often only have two out of three of those qualities. A lot of people have a light workload and a high salary, but they have to dance for their dinner and be a fun dude to hang out with at the office. I have friends who work remotely as IT professionals and can watch TV all day, but they aren't bringing in the big bucks. There's always a catch to every job, and few people get to dictate how much they work, where they work, and how much they get paid. 

The only surefire way to get autonomy over your working conditions is to have a skillset so valuable that companies are willing to hire you on your terms. If you want to spend most of the day sitting on the couch and eating chips, you need to prove that a company having you on standby is worth your salary because of how much value you create for the hours you are actually working. Most companies are not going to pay someone with no expertise to do basically nothing. If you want to have a chill job down the line, you need to do some un-chill work today.

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  • Man wearing headphones sitting at the table in front of his laptop and smiling while having video call with colleagues
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • One worker wanted to know how to get a job that only requires a couple of hours of work per day, and the people of the internet were more than willing to give him advice. Whether he will take that advice or not is anyone's guess.

  • How do I get one of those work from home jobs where people have lots of free time?

    I frequently see people say that they work from home and only do about 10 to 20 hours of work a week or get it done in 3 hours or less.
    via u/Throwaway-2020s
  • They then talk about how they go take naps, browse the web, binge shows or movies, play video games, some even go to the gym or do errands while working from home and I am envious of people with these kinds of remote jobs.
    via u/Throwaway-2020s
  • I want to know how do I find these kinds of WFH positions and what industry or roles are these most common in?
    via u/Throwaway-2020s
  • chirpingbirdie It's nonsense like this that gives work from home a bad name. People who do what you are describing above usually get caught and let go. Also, those same people are the reason why this come back to office nonsense is happening because the perception is no one is doing anything from home.
    via u/chirpingbirdie
  • Throwaway-2020s Original Poster's Reply But if the work is getting done and turned in the company should not care. Companies should care more about results, not ass in seats. Many people had just as much downtime in office jobs as they did working from home.
    via u/Throwaway-2020s
  • Three men sitting while using laptops and watching man beside whiteboard
    via Austin Distel

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • starry_cosmos The people who are doing those jobs have subject matter expertise and are being paid not for how many nails they hammer, but for being on standby to either design a better hammer, explain how the hammer should be used, knowing what hammer to use, or to come up with creative applications for hammers outside of their intended use.
    via u/starry_cosmos
  • Tattered_Reason I WFH and while its not quite what you describe I do have plenty of time to do stuff around the house etc. We have a great professional culture and if I need to go and do something out of the house I just post on teams "I need to go do a thing, will be back later" and get a thumbs up from my boss. So long as we are available for meetings, answer questions in a reasonable time, and get our work done they don't sweat the details of when we log on/off or exactly how many hours we ar
    via u/Tattered_Reason
  • Shot_Construction455 I WFH and would also like one of those jobs because I work every damn bit of the 40 hours they pay me for. I can see my kitchen from my laptop and don't always have time to walk there to get food.
    via u/Shot_Construction455
  • dsdvbguutres Be a subject matter expert, and you will get to dictate the terms of your employment.
    via u/dsdvbguutres
  • Imma_Tired_Dad WFH here, they make sure to overbook your day to ensure you spend the entire time glued to your seat.
    via u/Imma_Tired_Dad
  • Good-Wind2927 I got into my remote role by basically clinging to a friend and pushing him to explain how he did it, and that only happened after about eight years of knowing each other and going through a lot of different jobs. Even now, I usually work around 7-8 hours a day and I'm not making amazing money or living some ideal setup. To stay afloat, I regularly send my resume out to recruitment firms the way that developer described, and sometimes side gigs show up weeks later. I also set up a
    via u/Good-Wind2927
  • Intothewasteland Idk how you get those but I work %100 remote but work 40 in winter and 45-50 spring to fall due to allowed overtime. I clock in and out when I want. Those jobs you are referring to might be really hard to get or go to school and work your way up.
    via u/Intothewasteland
  • Heisenburger19 Work in a technical role, know your shit and turn down promotions. I can slack off half the day or I could take a 15% promotion for twice the work. Easy choice. If I wanted more money I would just get a second job
    via u/Heisenburger19
  • A man standing in a restaurant holding a cup of coffee
    via Ben Moreland

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

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