134. Lazy Girl Jobs
What is it and should you get one?
“Lazy Girl Jobs” are trending and Sammie and I could not resist sharing our thoughts. We had a ton of fun recording this episode from our very millennial point of view.
#LazyGirlJobs is a term coined by Gabrielle Judge in the video below:
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The ideal lazy-girl job is one that can be done from home, comes with a chill boss, ends at 5 p.m. sharp and earns between $60,000 and $80,000 a year—enough to afford the basic comforts of young-adult life, yet not enough to feel compelled to work overtime. Veterans of such jobs say roles such as “digital marketing associate,” “customer-success manager” and “office administrator” are good bets for achieving the lazy-girl lifestyle1.
Personally, the lazy girl job examples here circle pretty close to my own career in sales. Many sales people I knew transitioned into customer service or account management roles to move away from the quota caring burden of a sales role. Those roles can still have a lot of demands, especially with customers, but often times they can be constrained to 9am-5pm (often a legal constraint).
Sammie and I dive deeper though and pull out the positive takeaways from the ideas behind “Lazy Girl Jobs” and also share where we think the trend has missed.
A big positive is that it encourages women and all people to feel comfortable enforcing boundaries at work. Gabrielle encourages people to leave toxic work environments, bad managers and workdays that are filled with more obligations than can be filled in a 40 hour week. I am all about work life balance and detaching yourself from your work identity if it’s something you don’t value, so I can get behind this.
Something Sammie and I agree is missing is putting in measures for financial security. A Lazy Girl Job is one that can often be automated easily and at a higher risk for being eliminated, which is OK if you are comfortable with that, but you should still be putting money aside for an emergency, and ideally into a retirement vehicle or savings account. This is true no matter how much job security you think you have. It’s the “FU” money that gives real power to a Lazy Girl Job.
Neither Sammie and I were a fan of the “Lazy Girl Job” naming either. Yes, it’s spicy and trendy, but I believe you should be careful what words you use to describe yourself. At one point in my sales career, I felt like I had a “Lazy Girl Job” and what I realized years later was that I was reinforcing this idea to myself that I wasn’t disciplined or a hard worker. Maybe these jobs make sense for a season in your life, but calling yourself lazy isn’t doing anyone any favors.
Now to you, have you heard about the “Lazy Girl Jobs?” Let us know your thoughts and reactions in the comments!
References
The ‘Lazy-Girl Job’ Is In Right Now. Here’s Why. (Wall Street Journal)
Economic Possibilities for our Grandchildren by John Maynard Keynes
The 4-Hour Work Week: Escape the 9-5, Live Anywhere and Join the New Rich by Tim Ferriss
Community Time
Nahid and Joshua Lelon took the four tendency quiz and perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised that they are both upholders! They both commented that it was helpful to think about how people in their families fall on the tendency graph as well.
We received some great advice after we shared our Lifestyle Inflation episode on twitter:
Tobi Ogunnaike “hire me to find your new city”
Melissa Menke “People always ask how I can afford to live in London, and it genuinely confuses me. My husband and I go on picnics, take turns hosting friends for dinner, and live outside of “the center” where we have more space. I’ve never felt like I’m sacrificing much.”
Rick Lewis “This is a very interesting consideration Michelle. Having recently moved from a small town to a big city I can relate to all of this. There are trade-offs to be sure, and my spending on eating out especially is has increased. But I'd say my mood is also elevated just by being in a more humanly populated environment. Along with more restaurants come more parks, community centers, people out exercising, etc. There is a social boost that I find beneficial, but you're right, it's easy to watch your spending escalate as well!”
Miche Priest “I feel similarly. I moved to a big city (Vancouver) a couple of years ago. I live downtown w/o a car and love it! I do need to remind myself to focus on the benefits when the winters are long and wet. Some unexpected expenses were higher taxes and double car insurance cost”
Rick also wrote a wonderful thread on our Interview Monica Lim - thank you for the write up, Rick!
Just got around to listening to this episode and it was really excellent in terms of the perspectives, nuance and humour offered to your audience! thanks again for keeping it so real and relevant
Loved this episode!