TL;DR: I am a data scientist, working in finance (quant). I just left my old work, but cannot start my new job until perhaps as late as May 2020 (January if I'm lucky). What kind of work could I do in a short time like this?

The reasons for why I cannot start my new job are boring, legal, and frankly upsetting - so never mind. I can, however, work outside finance. But what kind of skilled, data-or-programming-related job can I do for 6-8 months? I'm not asking for specific job offers or suggestions (though these are welcome too), rather, what modes of work make sense in the timeframe? Contracting? Do any companies hire data analysts short-term? Can I make any headway with a side project / startup in such a short period? I definitely want to start my new job next year, so not looking for something long-term, and I wouldn't want to mislead a potential employer/client into thinking otherwise.

Here, I'm thinking of paid, or deeply meaningful unpaid work. I have savings to see me through, but I could do with some kind of income over this period.

For context, I have a sciency degree, 7 years' experience of data and programming, generally numerate and pretty good at what I do. I'm also good at Python, though no 10x developer for sure.

Many thanks in advance for all your help!