Tomorrow marks six months since my decision to be self-employed. So what is it like being self-employed? Do I regret my decision?

What I Like
I like the freedom of being self-employed. Obviously the scheduling freedom is great, but there are other freedoms too. I have the freedom to choose who to do business with and who to ignore. If I think someone is wrong I can say so and not worry about HR riding me. I can hire who I want for whatever reasons I want to and again avoid HR. But best of all I am free to pursue non work-related interests. I like to think of this as my own 20% time. This has led to becoming a certified trainer and starting my own gym. That was never in the original plan, but it has been loads of fun and a good learning opportunity.

What I Dislike
I dislike that I have to do more paperwork. I have to do my own invoicing, billing, etc.

What Surprised Me
First I was surprised by how much time I had. The first few months were slow, and I had all the time in the world to reflect on what I could be doing. I struggled with this because I usually think of so many things that I could be doing that I have trouble deciding what to do. I see so many opportunities in the world that at times it feels overwhelming. One of my coworkers once said I am oppressively optimistic. Learning to deal with this in an environment with very few limitations has been challenging.

In general the isolation was a challenge. It's not that I was isolated, but I was so eager to be free that I didn't realize how much I depended on my work environment for social interaction. While at Case, by the end of the day I just wanted to be alone. But now it's the other way around. This was a complete surprise to me.

Satisfied
Overall I'm very satisfied with my decision to be self-employed. Financially my income is up over 200% what it was at Case. I had in mind this would happen, but not quite so soon. I might even be hiring in the next year. And I love being free to actualize opportunities without being constantly burdened and halted by political overhead!

Best of all, I can't help but smile as more departments at Case continue to be dissatisfied with PerceptIS and are starting to give me their business.