Have you ever dreamed of getting paid to sleep? What would you think if you saw job postings with the words “sleeping” or “comfort connoisseurs” in the job description?
You might be surprised by how many creative avenues there are to get paid to sleep. Some of these are jobs where you can sleep while you’re on the job, and others are passive streams of income.
Most of these are great side hustles that require zero or little training and just a small amount of time, so you can start immediately. Plus, these are also sustainable and can be done long-term if you want. We’ll also discuss the average salary and how to determine what to charge.
So curl into your favorite sleep position because today we’re discussing 10 ideas where you can get paid to sleep!
1. Pet Sitter
Being a pet sitter can be an absolute dream job for animal lovers! When pet owners are on vacation or away for the weekend, the ideal situation is someone who can come to the client’s house to watch their furry friend. This is a great solitary job for those who prefer to work alone.
As a pet sitter, you will feed the animals, take them on walks, or play with them. These activities won’t take all day or night, so you’ll still have plenty of time to nap or get a good night’s sleep. Both Rover and Care.com are good websites where you can create a profile to start accepting pet-sitting jobs.
You can earn around $45 to $75 per night as an overnight pet sitter. This can depend on your location, demand for pet sitters, and other factors.
2. Mattress Tester
Can you believe this is a real job? Would you like to test mattresses? According to ZipRecruiter, there are a few qualifications and things you can do to get started as a mattress tester. You’ll need to be at least 18 years old, and having some experience with product testing is a plus. If you’re not familiar with product testing, keep reading; we’ll talk about that more later on.
As a tester, you’ll try out mattresses and a range of beds while they are in the development stage. Then, you’ll provide feedback and detailed information about what you liked and what could be improved. To find this job, research companies that manufacture or sell mattresses or Google “mattress review company” or “nap reviewers.”
Believe it or not, a few years ago, Casper put out a call for Casper Sleepers and paid a few lucky sleepers $25 per hour to test their mattresses in public.
If you are writing reviews, you’ll need strong English writing skills.
You can make about $48 per hour as a bed tester.
3. Overnight Caregiver
As an overnight caregiver, you will be taking care of people, particularly older adults. This could be a great fit if you are a night owl, patient, and enjoy helping people. Or if you enjoy working independently, as it will usually just be you and the client you are supporting.
Your tasks in this role may include assisting your client to the bathroom, helping them get changed, assisting with getting in and out of bed, and addressing their specific needs.
You’ll need a high school diploma or a GED. Each state has different requirements, so you’ll need to see what certification is needed for your state. You can also look into getting certified in First Aid and CPR or taking other certification courses.
While you shouldn’t expect to just sleep your whole shift, you will likely be able to rest and relax while your client is sleeping. Just make sure to check on them regularly.
If you enjoy this kind of work and have the ability, you could even become a live-in caregiver, providing round-the-clock care in your client’s home.
You can earn about $15 per hour as an overnight caregiver.
4. Flight Attendant
If you’re looking for a lifestyle where you can see interesting places and travel to destinations around the world, try becoming a flight attendant (FA). As an FA, you will often have multi-day trips where you will stay the night at a hotel before flying home or continuing with the trip.
Some of the general qualifications are: you must be at least 21 years old, have a high school diploma or GED, have a valid passport, have excellent communication skills, and be able to meet the physical requirements of the job. For an American-based airline, you must be eligible to work in the United States.
Once you pass the initial interviews, you’ll need to complete the training process, which typically lasts around six weeks.
The average base salary for a flight attendant is $29.10 per hour.
5. Content Creation
Another way to make money while you sleep is to pursue a side hustle like content creation or blogging. If you want a specific lifestyle with lots of flexibility, content creation has lots of potential. Unlike some of the others we’ve talked about, you can do this from the comfort of your home. While you are getting a restful night’s sleep, your subscribers and followers can be reading your content on the other side of the world.
There are many ways to make money with content creation, like getting sponsors, selling digital products, working with advertisers, and creating social media content with TikTok or Instagram.
While you don’t need to have the latest iPhone or the newest phone, it can help to have a smartphone with a good camera for taking photos and creating social media posts.
6. Sleep Study Participant
When you think of getting paid to sleep, sleep studies are probably the first thing that comes to mind. You might envision clinical trials in a hospital environment or facilities where your sleep pattern and brain waves are tracked with electrodes.
According to the CDC, one-third of American adults are sleep-deprived, making this an important area of research.
These different types of sleep studies are usually for specific sleep issues, like sleep apnea, narcolepsy, insomnia, or if you have some other problem sleeping, like being a light sleeper, a history of sleepless nights, or you can never seem to get enough sleep.
There are various forms of sleep studies. Some sleep studies will take place in a sleep research facility, where you may undergo routine medical procedures like blood pressure checks and tests to monitor your respiration.
Other types of studies are at-home sleep studies and may involve testing out new pills or the use of a machine in your own home, such as a CPAP device.
To participate in sleep studies, you’ll want to be comfortable in a medical environment and be comfortable answering questions and discussing your health issues with a healthcare provider. You may also need to complete a standard non-invasive physical, take a psychological exam, submit a small blood sample, or receive other such tests.
Depending on the study’s goals, you will likely need to meet some medical requirements or specific qualifying conditions, like fitting into a specific age range or age window. You’ll likely need to fill out some questionnaires with your personal information and ensure there aren’t any restrictions in order to qualify.
If you find a study in which you’re interested in participating, make sure you receive a thorough explanation of the study. Some details of the sleep study you may wish to discuss include:
- The study methods
- The physical nature of the test
- Any warnings or restrictions
- The time frame or length of in-hospital time
That said, if you have an obvious concern, bring it up. You can also discuss this with your primary care doctor when you go in for your yearly physical exam.
There are a few ways to find potential opportunities. Numerous hospitals and universities offer sleep studies, so start by contacting the ones in your area. Or, if you don’t have any nearby, you might be able to do a stay-at-home study. For such studies, you’ll keep a detailed sleep diary to provide a complete record of your sleep.
Project Sleep is a great website for finding ongoing sleep study opportunities. If you don’t meet the requirements, there are plenty of options, so just keep looking to find a different study.
Compensation will depend on the specific study. Some studies rely on volunteers, while others compensate participants with gift cards or cash. When you talk to the researcher or coordinator, you can ask about the average expected compensation.
You can also learn more about participating in clinical trials.
7. House Sitter
House sitting might be one of the easiest ways to get paid to sleep. And fun, too! As a house sitter, you’ll need to be clean and organized. You may also need to do some light housekeeping tasks or take care of pets while watching the client’s house. These tasks can often be done any time of day, though, allowing you to still get a restful night’s sleep.
Some house-sitting gigs pay for such efforts, while others are done in exchange for a free stay.
A few possible sites to help you get started would be:
The pay for house sitting can vary anywhere from $25-$150 per night. This will depend on location and the number of responsibilities.
8. Airbnb Host
Do you have your own home or an RV? If so, why not make some cash from your extra space by renting out any extra bedrooms in your home?
If you live in or near a city or college town, you could do this during special events like orientation, graduation, conferences, or sporting events.
You can use a site like Airbnb if you don’t want to worry about finding guests or handling payment.
For this side gig, you’ll want good customer service skills and a knack for creating wonderful guest experiences.
Similar to renting out a room, you could also rent out your driveway or yard during events, especially if your area has a parking shortage.
While you can set your own rates, your earning potential will be completely dependent upon your area, so do your research and see how much others are charging in your city. You can also ask around and see what friends or family would be willing to pay.
9. Hotel Mystery Shopper
If you love staying in hotels and have an eye for details, you might want to look into a side gig as a hotel mystery shopper.
As a mystery shopper, you’ll take note of the details of the entire experience, from the hotel mattresses and your quality of sleep to the restaurant experience and any retail stores.
To begin, you’ll want to research companies to work with, like Coyle Hospitality. Once you apply and get approved, you can begin applying for mystery shopping opportunities. After that, you will complete your shop, write your report, and receive payment.
For this side hustle, it’s important to have strong writing skills and be very detail-oriented, as you’ll want to pick up on things that others might miss and provide any useful information the company should know about your stay.
A hotel mystery shopper can expect to make around $18 per hour for their hotel stays.
10. Product Tester for Sleep Products
As a product tester, you will try different sleep-related products, like eye masks, shutters, blinds, or other new products.
If you’re looking for free sleep products, this could be a fun side hustle.
You might also enjoy this if you can’t or don’t want to participate in a sleep study but are looking for a restful night’s sleep.
Or perhaps you consider yourself a fussy sleeper or a self-confessed insomniac.
If you already have a blog or social media following, you can apply to become a product tester with Vesta.
You can also check out Sleep Score Labs.
Another way to find opportunities is to use websites like Indeed and ZipRecruiter. Or, try contacting companies that sell sleep products.
Get Paid to Sleep Wrapup
Whether you are looking to get paid to sleep because you want a fun side job or want to overcome your poor sleep history and get a restful night’s sleep, there are lots of options to bring out your inner sleeping beauty.
Some of these only require a few hours of your time each week, while others could even be turned into full-time gigs if that’s what you’re looking for.
As you find opportunities that look interesting, do a little bit of internet research, and see what you can do to get started.
The great thing about many of these side jobs is that you can do more than one at once! For instance, you could work part-time as a Flight Attendant while also being busy creating content as a travel blogger.
The options are endless!
