Self-Employed Boy Genius

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So as of my birthday (December 17, for those who are keeping track and feel the need to buy me a belated birthday present), I have quit the corporate labor force and entered the world of independent consulting.

In the process, I have discovered first-hand what I previously only knew of from whispers and legends: something called "Life/Work Balance". Those of you who know me or have worked with me are probably aware of my insane work ethic and my highly focused yet manic devotion to Getting Things Done, the result of which usually amounts to about 60-70 hours of productive work per week. Doing the math to calculate my actual hourly wage, it was clear that with a salaried position I was edging my way down from director-level pay toward McJob-level payWorking from home hasn't really reduced the number of hours that I spend on the job, but it does mean that I'm much more flexible in terms of when I put those hours in.

My typical day starts at 9am with a couple of cups of coffee and perhaps some breakfast, spent in the company of my amazing daughter and lovely wife; at 10 I start work, stopping for an hour lunch (and dog-walk) at noon. I continue work through 7 or so, when it's time for dinner. The evening is split between around-the-house work, hanging out to watch Sopranos, or whatever else. If I still have work that I want to do, I resume around 11 or midnight, after Lisa has gone to bed. (Otherwise, it's World of Warcraft time...)

I'm using The Omni Group's excellent OmniFocus in conjunction with a small whiteboard to manage my tasks, along with a bunch of productivity tips gleaned from LifeHacker. The result? High productivity, much more family time, a commute that doesn't involve an hour a day of public transportation, and the freedom to spend my time how I want it.

Overall, a happy Corey.

::Published by Corey Ehmke on 01/30/2008 in Personal / It's Just Me

Comments

jonm
jonm
03/06/2008
Congratulations, Corey. When I was a kid, every once in awhile a dog would get into our henhouse and kill some chickens. I learned at a very tender age that once a dog gets a taste for chickens, you will never be able to keep them out of the henhouse. The only thing that could be done was to "euthenize" the dog (with a shotgun). In a similar kind of way, once you get a taste for setting your own hours and getting paid according to how hard you work (or not), you will never be able to go back. You may be forced to temporarily because of circumstances, but you will count the minutes until you don't have to anymore. I wish you the very best of luck and success. You deserve it. Jon
Corey
Corey
03/06/2008
Um, this doesn't mean that you want to shoot me, does it, Jon? Seriously, thanks for the kind words. Your taking the plunge and that mad week at MacWorld was a great inspiration to me. I still owe you a nice dinner...
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