Flexible Side Hustles: Earn on Your Terms & Escape the 9-to-5

You don't have to resign yourself to a schedule that's hard to keep.

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Key points

• Fitting a side hustle into your routine can be a challenge.
• Some gigs like data entry or content writing offer a fair amount of flexibility, making them easier to manage.

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If it seems like every other person you know has a side hustle these days, you're probably in good company. The unfortunate reality is that many people are resorting to side gigs to cover their rising living costs in the face of inflation. 

Of course, you might have a different reason for getting a side hustle. Maybe you're hoping to pay off your credit cards, or to save up money to finally buy a home. 

No matter your motivation, one of the biggest challenges you might face in the course of taking on a side hustle is working it into your schedule. But some side gigs are way more flexible than others. And if you don't want to be locked into preset hours, here are a few gigs worth considering. 

1. Driving for a ride-hailing service

The more time you put in shuttling passengers around town, the more of an income boost you're apt to enjoy. But ultimately, it's up to you to decide how many hours a week you'll drive people around, and at what times. 

If you're a night owl, you may decide to log in some hours between 10 p.m. and 12 a.m. a few nights a week. At that point, you may have less competition from other drivers. 

Or, you may decide you only want to work on weekends, and that's fine, too. The beauty is that you don't have to commit to specific hours. You can adjust your schedule based on your commitments and social calendar on a weekly basis.

2. Data entry

Data entry may not be the most glamorous gig (okay, fine -- let's just say it can be kind of boring). But often, at-home data entry gigs allow you to work at your own pace as long as you meet an eventual deadline. That means if you have some random downtime on a Tuesday night, you can hammer out your work and then take the next few nights off if you get everything done.

3. Content writing 

Producing content can be a fairly lucrative gig -- and a fun one, too. And while you'll be subject to deadlines, you may find that some of the sites or blogs that hire you are fairly flexible.

Say you get hired to produce three blog posts a week for a certain site, and each post will take an hour of your time. If those three posts are due every Sunday night at 9 p.m., you'll have the option to tackle that work when it's convenient. That could mean hammering out one post in the morning before heading to work, doing a second one on a free evening, and completing the third post over the weekend. 

Pursue a flexible gig

Some people who get side hustles end up burning out because their schedules become too hectic. If you want to avoid that fate, it pays to find a side gig that lends to more flexibility. And these are only a few of many options.