I have been working as a consultant for the past 1.5 years. Working for myself has brought more positives than negatives but it is certainly challenging. For starters, being your own boss means it is your butt on the line 100% of the time. On the flip side, you also receive 100% of the praise for a job well done.

Here are a few examples of how working for yourself can be particularly challenging:

1. No more vacation time. What? You work for yourself, you can do whatever you want! Wrong! If you take a day off there is no one to pass your work off to - no vacation time coming up - no sick days waiting to be used. It is all you, all the time. 

2. You have to motivate yourself. Just because you don’t have to be in the office everyday at 8:00 a.m. sharp doesn’t mean you can just do whatever you want, whenever you want. Discipline is key to working for yourself. 

3. Handling all of the billing/time keeping/administrative tasks. A big UGH should sum that up.

4. Trying to explain what you actually do for a living.

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