There’s no mistaking the fact that being self-employed in any capacity is tough, but instead of complaining about everything from the long hours to the money issues, I’m making a list of the positives.

1.  Setting your own hours.  Work the best between the hours of 10pm and 2am? Or are you the early bird who gets the worm?  If you’re a freelancer, you can tailor your working hours to the times that you’re most productive.  Or course, you may end up clocking more actual hours than the average cube-monkey, but at least you won’t be wasting time.

2.  Creativity and the ability to think on your feet.  You become much more flexible and adaptable.  After all, you are the one who has to solve every problem and handle every situation.  I like this post on the “9 Attitudes of Highly Creative People” from the Problogger himself.

3.  The chance to learn about things you would have otherwise never heard of.  This one is more applicable to writing than anything else, but thanks to article assignments, I’ve researched topics like the American Ruralist movement, male vs. female consumer patterns, and how to make the perfect mojito (although I probably would have looked that one up on my own). 

4.  The sense of self-reliance.  Granted, you don’t have the security of being employed by a company, but every penny you make is your own (after taxes, of course).  For me, there’s also the pride of knowing that I’ve managed to do something I truly enjoy and get paid for it - the first time I paid my rent based solely on income from writing was fan -f$)%ing -tastic.

5.  Getting paid to do something you love.  Enough said.

This post is for Problogger’s Top Five Group Writing Project - check out that link for more details and to read top five lists from many other great bloggers.

46 Responses to “Top Five Reasons to Freelance”

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  7. Justin Durst Jr said:

    I totally agree with your list. I have been writing for a short while, and I absolutely love it!

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  9. Michael said:

    Hey there, I found your list from the top 5 at problogger. Great list, and the design of your blog is beautiful. Good luck!

  10. Mike Sieber said:

    Good post. It’s a nice counterbalance to my 5 reasons not to freelance.

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  12. rjlight said:

    great post — thanks for the reminder!

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  22. Ashley said:

    Really great article. I added you in my top five list for this weekend. http://beasavvywriter.blogspot.com/2007/05/top-five-top-five-lists-on-writing.html

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  31. Miracle said:

    great entry into the competition. #3 is one of my top reasons. One that I might would add is not having to settle into one career/title for your entire life.

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