World's Best Boss
J. Kevin Tumlinson

I'm self-employed. Yes, that's right, my boss is a real jerk some times, and unfortunately we always end up vacationing together. But really, working for your self is the only way to go. I can't lie to myself about being sick if I'm just tired from being out late the night before. And if my hours are too long or my pay is too low, I don't have to worry about being fired when I complain.

I've met a lot of self-employed people lately, and I've observed that they all have certain traits in common. For one thing, they're generally able to multi-task hundreds of things at one time. It's an essential skill for self-employment, since you're probably not able to pay for secretaries or office personnel. All those little things you took for granted when you were working in an office – someone else making the coffee, someone else buying stamps, someone else buying pens that you steal and paper clips for you to turn into modern art sculptures – yeah, you're the one who does all that now. And you have to keep track of all of it, plus about a million other things at once. So multi-tasking, that's a biggie.

Of course, the ability to organize is a given. More important than your organizational skills, though, is the ability to FOLLOW THROUGH on what you've organized. I have two wooden file cabinets, both about three feet tall (they make nice little matching book ends to my desk). They were bought with the express purpose of keeping my files and papers organized. One of them, though, is crammed full of art supplies, while the other does have files in it… lots of empty files. Luckily I use my computer to organize the majority of my projects, so file cabinets aren't as necessary as they once were. Still… I'd love to open up my file cabinet drawers and see nice, well organized, well labeled files bristling in them.

Everyone, I think, dreams of being their own boss, but there's one thing that you never really think about. If you are your own boss, you never leave work. I find it happening all the time as I take on more and more freelance work. I have to write product reviews, proposals, movie treatments, and of course the ever popular opinion column on a weekly basis, and sometimes it can get a little overwhelming. That's a lot of words, if you think about it. That's me – humble yet handsome J. Kevin Tumlinson, spending hours in front of the soft, loving glow of my dual computer monitors, viciously assaulting my computer keyboard in what sounds like machine-gun fire, for hours at a time each day. It's a good life, if you like it, but it doesn't leave much in the way of free time some weeks.

Free time. We hear about it a lot and we crave it like an expectant mother craves cashews and Tabasco , but who can say they really have it? I may spend huge chunks of my week in front of a computer keyboard, but I have the freedom to take my laptop and sit in a Starbucks and finish my work. Or I can spend the day researching something I'm working on by visiting museums and libraries and historic sites. So my work, in effect, becomes play, and my life becomes enriched by it. Being my own boss gives me the freedom to do my job the way I think best, and in ways that refine and cultivate me.

There's a Chinese aphorism I like that goes something like this – “Do a job you love and you'll never work a day in your life.” If you love what you do, if it's your passion, if getting up each morning to do it is what drives you and makes you feel alive, then it's not work. How many people can say that about their jobs?

Money? Sure, I could use more of it. But you know, when I was working for someone else I said the same thing. And at the same time I kept saying, “I'm miserable. I wish I could do the things I WANT to do.” Now I do. Money will always be an issue, but it doesn't have to be an excuse. If you hate what you do, you'll hate your life.

Being self-employed is not for everyone. It doesn't always work. It's definitely easier to let someone else worry about insurance and sales and production costs and whatever else the business needs to stay afloat. It's not hard to see why someone might prefer the security of knowing a steady paycheck is coming each week. If you are happy enough with that, that's great. There are plenty of people out there who are working in their dream job. Are you one of them? When you were a kid, is this what you said you wanted to be when you grew up?

Being your own boss doesn't always mean being self employed. Sometimes, it's just about loving what you do. If your job fills you with passion and energy, if you wake up every morning raring to go, then you are your own boss. Those other guys are just the people who sign your checks.