From personal experience, sysadmin/engineer work. Unfortunately some places use sysadmin to refer to high level tech support, but I’m talking about the people who keep back end infrastructure running. If the back end systems are kept working and you have a project that is simultaneously technical enough and sounds important enough, people will often just leave you to it.

There is a lot of downtime. I’m paid for my knowledge and ability to solve complex problems quickly when they arise, not to be cranking out manual work 40 hours a week. However, there are absolutely times where I’ve got to full focus in, full hours. They just are the exception rather than the norm.

The biggest tool for this is learning the automation tools and systems your company uses. More you can automate, the more actions you can take in a shorter time, giving you more down time. This also increases opportunities to break shit exponentially, so you’re trading knowledge, risk (especially while you learn), and up front time for time later.

Always remember this table as well. Automation can free you but it can also be a trap.