(Self)Employed

What does it mean to be self employed?

(Self)Paid Sick Days
(Self)Taught Hours
(Self)Paid Holidays

Today I woke up sick with allergies. After taking the kids to school this morning I stopped back home to rest. When I got to the office we had a few fires that had to be put out. Then I made a few phone calls to follow up on some receivables. By the time 2:00 rolled around I was finally able to sit down and code. An hour later, for the same client, I took a phone call to consult with their programmer in Oregon. 5:10 I'm out the door to pick up my kids to enjoy the intense thunderstorm.

It's days like these that I can't determine if they are win, loose, or draw. Some days are easy wins...6 billable hours and I'm home at five. Others are losses...no billable hours and a headache from being spun around. But days like today could fit any of the labels. My hope is to learn something to make tomorrow better.

Today I realized that being self employed is about making the elements work together. It sounds like freedom to do what you want but it's really freedom to be creative about finding work, being trusted to do it, making time to do it, and making sure you're paid.

... and it all works out:

(Self)Esteem