So I somewhat recently got a new job. I get paid a decent amount of money, nothing crazy, but where it really hits is that I probably only average 15-20hrs of work per week, and I basically never have to put in a full amount. I "work from home" about 2 days per week, but due to the nature of the job, that amounts to checking my emails and not much else. When I crunch the numbers, the amount of money I'm paid relative to the amount of work I actually do is about $70/hour, a rate that there's no way I could replicate at any full-time position at this point in my life, so I've been thinking of keeping this job but then also trying to come up with ways to make additional money in my spare time. Here are a couple ideas I have.
1) Get a second part-time professional job. I work in STEM, mostly data analysis type stuff, and I've thought about approaching a company in town (that does work completely unrelated to my current job) and see if there's any way they'd be open to hiring me on for something like 20hrs/week at a professional level's rate. Between the two jobs, I'd be working about 40hrs/week give or take a max of 10hrs, and I'd be making tens of thousands of dollars more per year than I am now. Seems like a good idea.
2) Starting my own business and doing consulting. Similar idea to above, except I'd be working for myself. Probably higher profit margins but also less consistent work.
3) Investing in real estate and being a landlord, having rental properties, etc. I need to learn more about this.
Any other ideas? What are your thoughts on this idea?