Do you work better when you have expectations to meet? I don’t. My work ethic is great when I have my own project that I can work on whenever I want to work on it without pressure. I love adding features that I want to add when I want to add them. I’ll work like crazy under these circumstances, working in 20 hour long blocks of time. Give me an expectation or deadline and I’ll stop working. I’ll browse blogs, forums, or anything to avoid working. I’ll go drive around town pointlessly. I’ll go sit in a parking lot waiting for a friend to get off work just to hang out. I’ll go buy food. I’ll shop for electronics. The exception to this is when it’s a “real job” where I have to go in and work on their computer on a time clock. I still work better without all the deadlines and expectations, and I won’t waste my employers money browsing the internet, but I still won’t work as hard.

However, if I am given a deadline or expectation and I somehow manage to get my heart into it I’ll work just as hard. The hard part is getting into that mindset. That place in my mind. Zen. Happy places. The Zone. Whatever you want to call it.

I think I was just born to be self-employed.