When I first lost my contact job at General Motors in the fall of 2008, I panicked. I had nightmare visions of being homeless, eating cat food, and having to give up my habit of good oral hygiene. Luckily, none of those things happened — I went back to school and started building my own client base for freelance writing, editing, and social media services. Now, two years later, I can’t imagine working for The Man again, and here’s why. Here are 7 reasons to work for yourself.
Believe it or not, when you work for yourself, you tend to be more productive, getting a lot more done in fewer hours. You also tend to get more of everything done, from attending your child’s school functions to keeping up with the laundry. All around, your time management skills, and productivity, sky-rocket.
Because you control when you work, and when you do other things, you have more flexibility. If you have a weekend party, and a deadline on Wednesday, you can always take the weekend off and work more on Monday and Tuesday. If you have a school function on Wednesday, and a deadline on Friday, you can swap your time around. The flexibility means you can do more life things, not just work things.
The flexibility also gives you freedom. Since you work for yourself, that means you decide which projects you accept, and when. So if you want to make every Tuesday during the summer your beach day, you can. If you want to only work on Fridays, you can. It’s up to you! Freedom!
Working for yourself can be scary, sure, but most times, I relish the responsibility. Being responsible for my own success means I’m to blame if things go wrong, but I’m also sure to get the well-deserved credit when things go right (even if I’m the only one who knows it).
I adore all of my clients. If I don’t, I simply don’t work for them. Isn’t that wonderful? I can’t even count how many wicked, rude, horrible, cruel, unprofessional, and otherwise stressful clients I had to work for in the past. No more! Since I get to choose the clients I work with now, I love them all.
Because I work for myself, I know I’m not going to get laid off or fired or downsized. Granted, my clients could also stop using my services, but I have more than one client, so even if that happens, I’m still going to be working.
Admit it — there are some days you wish you could work in your pajamas. Like when you’re right in the middle of that PMS puff or it’s just so snowy and cold outside. A skirt and tights? No way. Or worse, who wants to wear a uniform to work? Not me! Most of the time, I dress stylishly but oh-so-comfortably, and some days, yes, I can wear my soft, cozy bathrobe.
Those are all of the reasons I love working for myself. Without the flexibility and freedom of m schedule, I sure couldn’t be going back to school, and honestly, I truly adore all of my clients, so they never stress me out! Do you work for yourself? What do you love or hate about it?
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