I’d say the prospects of working for yourself, by yourself has some pretty heavy effects (good or bad) on your personal life. Often times, the fun parts are over emphasized and given more weight than they deserve. A monthly (or even weekly) review of your tolerance for self-employment side effects is a great investment… for yourself and your business. If it starts to feel less positive and more like a ball-and-chain following you around, you may need a quick break, or a refocus of your energy, towards efforts that feel more positive for you.

Here’s what I’ve noticed about the up sides to self-employment.

• I can pick which days I don’t want to work. I can spread my weekend ‘free days‘ throughout the week if each day is feeling too taxing. Or I can lump a few days together for me-time to do things I enjoy and reward myself for pursuing a very flexible lifestyle.
• Similar to the above, if you’re a night owl, you can work as late as you can bear. If you’re most productive in the mornings, you can get to bed early. One of the largest benefits I’ve had is in discovering my natural sleep-wake patterns and being able to stick to them.
• Entire creative control. No upper management to approve or disapprove your ideas and efforts. Fly as far out of the box as you can!
• Yes, I’m going to say it, you can work in your pajamas (or naked!)
• It provides for an ultra-portable life, in which all you need is your computer and an internet connection and you’re set. So if you love to travel or can’t stay in one place for long you can work wherever you want! Even at the beach if you really wanted to (I’m jealous if you can).
• No distractions from co-workers, bosses, memos or noisy office interference. I for one like a bit of white noise in order to focus, so I usually find some instrumental music, or open my window to the city. So you can work in dead silence or pumped as loud as your neighbors will bear.

In the next section I will discuss the downsides and hurdles to overcome while working for yourself, and how to perform a review of your personal interactions with self-employment. Stay tuned for part 2!

Related articles You May Find Interesting

• 12 Key Tips for Successfully Working Alone. (dancurtis.ca)
• Working Alone Sucks. Stop It! (c3sart.com)