Ask HN: How can a technical person trade work for money without a full-time job?

Many companies are willing to pay me a high salary, but they all require a tedious interview process and a commitment to spend every daylight hour working exclusively for them.

Is there any way to trade programming work for money in a way that doesn't suck? I would happily take less money for a more pleasurable way of working.

If contracting is the best answer, is there any way of finding clients that isn't painful and time-consuming?

Thanks HN.