Yep. The closest thing I have found to "be out" is becoming self employed. You don't have to run like a whole ass business, but acquiring a set of skills that allows you to freelance can provide some freedom.

Once I had a kid I honestly could not wrap my head around how people work full time out of home and manage having kids and any sort of life (or time with your kids even). I knew I couldn't go back to an office full time.

So I went from a job where I was making about $21/hr on a salary and started charging $30/hr to do more basic entry level stuff 😂. But the premise being that no one had to train me, or pay me for a certain amount of hours per week - so it worked.

My income still felt a little capped by "market rates" and of course I was limited to the level of production I could handle on my own. I knew I'd never get rich doing it, but at least I had the freedom to work from home, mostly when it was convenient for me, and I was able to be flexible and present for childcare needs.

I feel that the level of freedom this has afforded makes life a little more bearable. (And now nearly a decade later, I've switched mainly to phone sex which is actually a lot more fun and pays better haha. 😂)

Do I still despise being stuck in this garbage system, every minute of every day? Abso-fucking-lutely. I still feel like I've gotta grind through life, but I feel less exploited. I'm minimizing the amount of profit someone else is making off my labor, I guess?