More Than 90% of Art Directors and CEOs Work at Their Own Pace—These Are Other Top Jobs for a Self-Paced Workstyle

It’s the most desirable thing a job can offer workers today—the ability to perform work anywhere and at any time.

Numerous surveys of workers taken since the pandemic forced employers to lean into remote working practices bear this out. In one performed by Citrix as part of its plan to assess what the future of work will look like in 2035 for so-called knowledge workers, 88% of employees said they were seeking complete flexibility.

Using 2022 Bureau of Labor Statistics data, we here at ClickUp ranked the 15 best jobs for working at your own pace. Occupations are ranked by the share of workers who say their workload is self-paced and are the top jobs out of more than 150 occupations with available data.

Only about 17% of civilian workers nationwide said they control the pace of their workload, BLS data shows. BLS data also highlights that workers in management roles report the most flexibility.

Unsurprisingly, perhaps, chief executive officers rank high on the job positions that report having the most self-paced jobs. When you call the shots from atop an organization, your workday is likely not audited by someone looking over your shoulder.

What may be more intriguing to rank-and-file knowledge workers is that a decent portion of public relations managers and those working in emergency management report similar levels of control over their schedules—despite working in jobs that often respond to crises.

Read on to see if your own role is reflected in those that report the most flexibility in their work.

IMPROVE YOUR ASYNCHRONOUS WORK
Learn how asynchronous work changes collaboration, including common pitfalls and how to avoid them.

This Article Contains:

15. Marketing managers

A woman presenting in a meeting — fizkes // Shutterstock

Percent who say their work is self-paced: 76.2%
Total nationwide employment: 278,690 (1.98 per 1,000 jobs)
Median annual pay: $135,030 ($64.92 per hour)

A marketing manager oversees teams who plan and distribute marketing campaigns that convince people to buy their company’s products or services. The advent of digital marketing and automation has made it possible for the industry to work odd hours and set up campaigns ahead of time.

THE BEST MARKETING PLAN TEMPLATES FOR YOUR CAMPAIGN
Find the perfect marketing plan template to coordinate and provide direction for your marketing campaign.

14. Compensation and benefits managers

Two people reading notes on a piece of paper — fizkes // Shutterstock

Percent who say their work is self-paced: 77.6%
Total nationwide employment: 15,330 (0.11 per 1,000 jobs)
Median annual pay: $127,530 ($61.31 per hour)

Pay and benefits managers are human resources professionals who partner with health plans and outside vendors to get employees paid on time and provide them with attractive benefits. Entire software suites that automate aspects of this job, like Workday, Gusto, and Paycom, have successfully saturated the U.S. employer market.

13. Computer and information systems managers

Percent who say their work is self-paced: 78.1%
Total nationwide employment: 485,190 (3.44 per 1,000 jobs)
Median annual pay: $159,010 ($76.45 per hour)

Computer and information systems managers work as translators between the technical-minded computer engineers inside an organization and the less technical business leaders. They explore options for investment decisions in new technologies and help various company stakeholders communicate successfully about complex problems.

12. Archivists

An archivist looking through files — Stokkete // Shutterstock

Percent who say their work is self-paced: 78.4%
Total nationwide employment: 6,120 (0.04 per 1,000 jobs)
Median annual pay: $60,050 ($28.87 per hour)

Archivists work in both private and public sector organizations collecting and documenting valuable information before storing it efficiently for future use. These are not managerial positions and pay less than other roles where workers reported the ability to work at their own pace.

11. Training and development managers

A woman presenting in a meeting in front of people — rawpixel.com // Shutterstock

Percent who say their work is self-paced: 78.7%
Total nationwide employment: 35,830 (0.25 per 1,000 jobs)
Median annual pay: $120,130 ($57.76 per hour)

Training and development managers help colleagues learn new skills and hone old ones. These are critical positions in modern companies, which have done immense hiring in recent years as workers shuffle around jobs looking to build new skills and better themselves.

10. Political science teachers, postsecondary

A teacher presenting in front of his students — Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock

Percent who say their work is self-paced: 79.1%
Total nationwide employment: 14,060 (0.10 per 1,000 jobs)
Median annual pay: $81,980 (Hourly rate not available)

A few teaching roles, including college and university political science teachers, report high levels of self-paced work. They are among the lower-paid jobs in this self-paced work cohort. Political science teacher roles are also more scarce than positions as a computer and information systems management professional or marketing manager.

9. Curators

Percent who say their work is self-paced: 79.4%
Total nationwide employment: 11,030 (0.08 per 1,000 jobs)
Median annual pay: $60,110 ($28.90 per hour)

Curators work to obtain and present art pieces and other important belongings for organizations. They might work in an art or history museum and are not managers.

8. Natural sciences managers

Percent who say their work is self-paced: 80.6%
Total nationwide employment: 74,760 (0.53 per 1,000 jobs)
Median annual pay: $137,900 ($66.30 per hour)

Natural science managers are the supervisors who oversee the work of scientists. They help workers navigate research and testing of theories.

7. Emergency management directors

An emergency personnel with a walkie talkie — VE.Studio // Shutterstock

Percent who say their work is self-paced: 80.9%
Total nationwide employment: 10,320 (0.07 per 1,000 jobs)
Median annual pay: $76,730 ($36.89 per hour)

Emergency management directors have played a critical role in society in recent years, as no part of the U.S. was unaffected by the COVID-19 pandemic. They plan and supervise the rollout of aid services and disaster mitigation efforts after storms, accidents, and other disasters.

6. Public relations managers

A woman writing notes on a piece of paper while talking on the phone — Pressmaster // Shutterstock

Percent who say their work is self-paced: 81.7%
Total nationwide employment: 59,850 (0.43 per 1,000 jobs)
Median annual pay: $125,780 ($60.47 per hour)

Public relations managers are the crisis response arm of most private and public organizations. These professionals also work to craft a message for the public that helps the company sell more goods and services.

5 PRESS RELEASE TEMPLATES TO CAPTIVATE READERS
Kickstart your writing process and maintain your company’s image with these free and powerful press release templates.

5. Economics teachers, postsecondary

Writing on a whiteboard — Syda Productions // Shutterstock

Percent who say their work is self-paced: 82.3%
Total nationwide employment: 11,790 (0.08 per 1,000 jobs)
Median annual pay: $104,940 (Hourly rate not available)

Like political science teachers, there are fewer college economics teachers than in other self-paced jobs that make this ranking. These workers also have higher annual median earnings.

4. Urban and regional planners

A man holding a blueprint — Chad McDermott // Shutterstock

Percent who say their work is self-paced: 83.5%
Total nationwide employment: 38,940 (0.28 per 1,000 jobs)
Median annual pay: $78,500 ($37.74 per hour)

Urban and regional planners often work to bridge the public and private sectors, communicating with private developers about land use and building projects.

3. Software quality assurance analysts and testers

A software engineer working on code — Roman Samborskyi // Shutterstock

Percent who say their work is self-paced: 86.7%
Total nationwide employment: 190,120 (1.35 per 1,000 jobs)
Median annual pay: $98,220 ($47.22 per hour)

Software and quality assurance analysts and testers stress test the software people use at work and home and the video games people rely on for entertainment. These workers seek out defects in code and fix them so programs run smoothly.

2. Chief executives

A woman thinking by her office desk — Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock

Percent who say their work is self-paced: 90.2%
Total nationwide employment: 200,480 (1.42 per 1,000 jobs)
Median annual pay: $179,520 ($86.31 per hour)

Surprise, surprise—your CEO is likely setting their own work hours. They may be long hours, but chief executives report the second-most flexibility in their schedules and location of work.

1. Art directors

Creative team of graphic designers, art directors, and more working together — rawpixel.com // Shutterstock

Percent who say their work is self-paced: 91%
Total nationwide employment: 42,080 (0.30 per 1,000 jobs)
Median annual pay: $100,890 ($48.51 per hour)

Art directors report the utmost freedom in working conditions. These professionals hold coveted positions atop entertainment, marketing, advertising, and other creative firms.

FLEXIBLE TOOLS TO ENHANCE ASYNCHRONOUS COMMUNICATION
Drive successful collaboration and improve productivity with these asynchronous communication tools.

Empower Your Self-Paced Workstyle with ClickUp

One of the most sought-after job benefits these days is the flexibility to work on your own terms, wherever and whenever you like. The good news is that many top jobs now offer a self-paced workstyle, and with the right tools, like ClickUp, you can easily manage your workload and create a self-paced yet productive workstyle.

ClickUp offers hundreds of advanced and flexible features to help you plan, track, and manage your work with maximum efficiency and collaboration features to empower you and your team to collaborate in real-time or asynchronously. Plus, it integrates with over 1,000 work tools, allowing you to consolidate your apps and bring all your work in one place to streamline your workflow further.

Best of all, ClickUp is fully customizable to suit your unique work style and workflow, and it even has a mobile app so you can access your work from anywhere, at any time. Try it for free today!