5 Reasons Freelancing Beats Corporate Life

Regular readers of $200KFreelancer know that we’re brutally realistic about what it takes to earn a decent living as an indie professional.

But if you’re one of the 71% of employees who aren’t feeling engaged in your current job, it’s worth noting that there are plenty of good things about freelancing too. (Provided you’re cut out for it … See our post that lists Six questions to to determine if you are cut out for freelancing.)

If you’re considering freelancing as an option, here are 5 of the biggest bennies to consider:

1. You can manage your life like an adult. There’s no micromanager boss to ask if you can take a break from responding to email for a few hours to get something done –or if you can take Fridays off in the summer. There are no co-workers who’ve chosen different childcare options to lift an eyebrow at your choices. You can make your schedule work for you and the other key players in your life, without any push back.

2. There’s no glass ceiling. In freelancing, what you earn depends on your talent and your ability to get work done. Clients generally won’t hold it against you if you don’t fit the stereotype of what a “good employee” at a corporation should be. They may never even meet you. They just want you to do a great job on their projects and play well with others on their team or in their client companies.

3. There’s no penalty for working at home. I’ve heard time and time again from corporate telecommuters who’ve been subtly demoted once they’re no longer showing up at headquarters every day. Suddenly, after years of paying dues, they’re getting assignments that could be done by an entry level employee or intern. That doesn’t happen in freelancing. Clients expect freelancers to work from home, in most cases.

4. Mind-numbing meetings are few and far between. If I spend 15 hours in conference rooms over the course of a year, that’s a lot–and I’m a very busy freelancer. You will be amazed at how much your productivity soars when you are freed from those soul-deadening sessions–where, in many companies, no one is really free to communicate honestly anyway.

5. You’ll work on much better projects. Many employees at big corporations suffer from “title creep.” Before the recession, they had a single job title, with a paycheck to match. Now they’ve got three roles, for just a tiny bit more pay. They’re burdened by tedious administrative work and, as a result, have to outsource the fun projects that got them jazzed about their career when they started out. If you’re a freelancer, you’re the one who they’ll be hiring to tackle the creative stuff they can no longer do. They may have the corporate health benefits, but you’ll be the one who looks forward to getting up in the morning.

Related posts:

5 rules for a successful freelance startup

The double life of work at home parents