Independence is wonderful
Independence is wonderful. But it has its downsides too.
Here are the key tradeoffs I’ve learned…
10 things I love about being independent:
✅ No alarm
✅ Gym each morning
✅ 3 meals a day with my fam
✅ Shorter work day
✅ No commute
✅ More variety- I work with around 5 companies per week
✅ Work in my home office with my ideal equipment, temp, lighting, music, standing desk, treadmill desk
✅ Truly unlimited time off. I travel at least once a month, often more.
✅ Completely flexible schedule. I work when I feel like it. With a job, I fit life around my work. Now, I fit work around my life.
✅ Impact. Companies use me to teach and coach their teams, review code, and assist with key decisions and projects.
10 things I dislike about being independent:
🚩 No PTO. If I’m not working, I’m not earning.
🚩 I feel pressure to constantly learn to stay on top of my game.
🚩 I have to fill my work funnel via frequent marketing (speaking, writing, etc)
🚩 I have to make a big impact every hour to justify my rate.
🚩 I have no idea what independence will look like in the future. It’s ever-changing.
🚩 I don’t have traditional, long-term coworkers, so it can be lonely.
🚩 Since I have many clients, it’s tricky being away from all of them at once for long vacations.
🚩 I have to deal with annoying overhead like invoicing, contracts, healthcare, and complex taxes.
🚩 I rarely have easy tasks. People come to me with hard problems.
🚩 Since I don’t have a fixed schedule, I’m always tempted to work more, and I often think about work in my free time.
All considered, I much prefer independence. But it’s far from perfect, and certainly has a number of downsides that I didn’t realize until I actually dove in.
It’s certainly not a good fit for everyone, but it’s a wonderful fit for me.