When i get job, i set aside all things and oput all my time and efforts in the job.

Absolutely true. Don’t know if this is the case any longer, but years ago Mary Kay would have its associates dress up as in going to an office, even if just to make calls (pre-Internet) from home so that they could get in a business “mindset.”

Is that why I feel like a serf (on the better days)?

I’ll have a biased view, but here’s my take on your question:

You’re starting the right way — ask questions. Ask more of yourself: Why do you want to write? What do you like to write about?

Personally, when I was your age — a LONG time ago — I wanted to get paid for broadcasting sports. And a couple of years later, I realized that if I wrote, too, that would give me a leg up on a sports caster who didn’t write, and it would give me something to fall back on in the event of a recession.

In radio, and in journalism, you go went where the jobs were (this is pre-Internet — Al Gore hadn’t invented it yet). Three months as a midnight disc jockey drove me into print forever. I was a sportswriter for seven years, then started to take accounting courses to prove I could write other things. Getting pigeonholed is dangerous. I’ve moved from sports to education to transportation to business to financial services to technology during the course of my career. The key in each was to find the experts and ask the questions in order to write the articles. I’ve seen enough PR over the years that I do some of that now, too.

Others could advise you on blogging or book writing, those are out of my area of expertise.

But a caveat: There’s a ton more competition today than when I broke in — and I spent my first three months after college carrying golf clubs (after interning at a “superstation” the year before). So develop other skills, too, so you can go in another direction if life dictates — I’ve known a lot of people who’ve taken on different jobs in order to meet the needs of a family, even if they really liked the job/career thy left. Other times, jobs will leave you. I went on my own about the time you were born because my job moved.

Although, one of the perks I do enjoy is not having to share a bathroom with co-workers.

I’m not a full-time freelancer (yet), but I’ve done freelance projects and I’ve never found myself stressed or feeling like I’m overworked or have less free time than I would at a 9-5 job.

Honestly I think that freelancing is an awful lot like school and homework. In high school, you have someone holding your hand all day and forcing you to do things and watching over your shoulder (a la some 9-5 jobs). In college, you’re responsible for showing up for class, you’re responsible for budgeting your time for homework assignments, and you’re judged based on your deliverables. Freelancing is very similar. You get an assignment, you work with a client or clients, and you produce the work that is needed in the allotted time frame. How you get there and how long it takes you is up to you. Keeping yourself disciplined is also up to you.

If someone has trouble focusing and disciplining themselves, then perhaps a traditional job is the better route to go. I find motivation to discipline myself in the freedom in scheduling and being my own boss that freelancing projects allow. Aside from a ‘workaholic’ type of personality, maybe the people that find freelancing to be completely time consuming or hard to stick to are the same people that spent longer on homework and found college to be hard? (I don’t mean this in a demeaning way, just literally maybe that’s the situation.)

To each his own. I think freelancing is fantastic and the idea of being able to take time out for a doctor appointment or errands without having to answer to anybody makes it worth the struggle for me. Work in PJs all the way! *shrug*

I really enjoyed the post. Being a self-employed individual, no matter where or what, is not an easy task. There has to be an element of self motivation, self discipline and organization. BUT – it can be learned. It just may mean a longer learning curve than others experience.

I’m in the camp of getting dressed each day. I just think it prepares me for the unexpected – because the unexpected WILL happen. Because I have the kids home with me all day, work in the middle of the chaos (in the kitchen), and deal with the normal working of the home, it is good for me to dress casually. But I dress nice enough to go to lunch with a friend or meet quickly with a client when necessary (but not so nice that I worry about getting a little dirty or dusty – I have boys and it’s going to happen).