I am pretty shocked that you can get paid to sleep.
It’s pretty shocking, to be honest, but there are possibilities that you can make it a means of income. It’s definitely not a full time job, so be careful about your expectations as it relates to money.
The opportunities are rare but they’re out there.
Sleep testing
One of the most important things out there is to realize that you’re probably going to be part of a sleep study or sleep quality test. Your data is going to be collected.
And if that’s OK with you, you might want to consider becoming a Nap Reviewer at eachnight.
eachnight Nap Reviewer
These people want to do a sleep study to test out their theories over the course of 30 days.
There are going to be experiments done, such as testing the best nap duration for better sleep and reducing overall levels of fatigue.
Every participant have to take part in a video call before and after the nap, and then complete verbal questionnaires detailing your sleep.
Certainly, what this means is that you need good evaluation skills and a specific sleep environment that ensures a good night’s sleep.
“The idea that napping is for young children and burnt out university students is slowly dissipating and an increasing number of working adults are beginning to see the benefits of a daytime snooze. Understanding that napping can be a tricky thing to get right, we wanted to test out some of the theories behind the practice and decided how better to gather our findings than on real people who might benefit from a nap the most. If you think you’re up to the job, or know somebody who is, please do share and apply,” said eachnight’s Jasmin Lee.
If you are one of the successful Nap Reviewers, you will earn $1,500 for your time.
Sleep Junkie Sleeping Beauty
Another place you can keep your eye on is Sleep Junkie. They are also a mattress website that are looking for ways to improve people’s sleep quality in different environments.
You will be paid to sleep on the job. You will become their official mattress tester who will provide “honest advice on some of the US’s top rated mattresses.”
They will send you three mattresses over a two-month period to you and it will be your job to thoroughly test these mattresses.
What you provide in return is an analysis on your sleep health, quality, mood and how comfortable the mattress is in a review. Clear writing skills will really help here.
The mattress company will pay you $3,000 and you’ll get to keep a mattress up to $1,500 in value for two month’s of work.
Participate in a sleep study
Some sleep studies will pay you money.
The link above will show you all the clinical trials with “sleep” as a condition of study.
Taking part in a sleep study is a good way of making money around the country. In fact, the link above gives you many places beyond the United States.
If you’re from Canada, try MedSleep.
Taking part of a sleep study isn’t going straight to the lab and sleeping. It’s a bit more involved.
There’s a bit of prep in paperwork and an evaluation of your health. Then, when you get to the actual test, be prepared for some rules around what you need to do such as sleeping in a certain position, in a specific bed or for a specific amount of time. There’s also usually some medical devices that get hooked up.
NASA sleep study
NASA will pay you almost $19,000 to do a Bed Rest study.
It’s not a easy study. You are going to need to commit for 70 days in head-down tilt to simulate weightlessness.
They do this to help with “understanding the effects of living in space is critical if we are to send humans to Mars. Without gravity pulling blood flow to the legs, astronaut’s heads fill with fluids resulting in “puffy-head, bird-legs” syndrome. During bed rest studies, researches study the effects of fluid shifts in participants’ bodies, as well as bone and muscle loss often experienced in weightlessness.”
They even caution that you’re going to feel bored after a few days and daily routine such as showering, getting dressed, eating and exercising is going to be a chore because you can’t stand up to do them.
They also collect data such as blood pressure, heart rate, nutrient absorption, energy expenditure, bone mass and participant’s mood. Diet is also strictly controlled but your friends and family are allowed to visit.
Professional line sitting
If you live in a big city where there’s a multi-day lineup for some things like new iPhones, new software, Black Friday sales, show tickets, then you might be able to make some money by becoming a professional line sitter.
Who wants to wait multiple days just to buy something, right?
The link above leads to a New York company that offers that service called Same Ole Line Dudes.
They charge $485 for a 24 hour wait and a surcharge for bad weather, a faraway location and same day service.
Although not every city will have the same opportunities as New York City would (think: talk show standby lines, Broadway theater), you might be onto something if you can find some niche that will save people time. I mean… think about how annoying it is to wait at the motor vehicle department at 5AM so you can be the first in the standby road test lines.
Could be a business opportunity.
Sleep executives
Some places need people to test out their furniture and how they help or disrupt sleep.
These people are sometimes called Sleep Executives.
The term was first announced by Hillarys from the UK.
According to their job description, the candidate will be subjected to sleeping in different conditions with the use of blackout curtains and varying amounts of light and sound.
You’ll have to wear a sleep monitoring device as you sleep so they can evaluate how environmental factors have affected your sleep experience.
They are paying £24,000 for the sleep executive.
Test conditions vary between different Sleep Executive roles. For example, Sonno is seeking a person who is “social media savvy with a deep burning passion for sleep.”
You’d have to apply online, sleep 100 nights and you’ll get paid.
The common thread between the two is that they are both mattress or furniture companies that need feedback on the products they sell.
If you’d ask me, this is the closest you can get to being a professional napper.