Freelance vs. salary: I tried both and one wrecked my sleep

Worked as a freelancer for 2 years before getting a salaried job at a mid-size company. Thought salary would be less stress, but I actually sleep worse now. Freelance let me stop at 3 PM if I hit my goals, but now I sit at a desk until 5:30 even when my work is done by noon. The constant presence watching over my shoulder feels worse than the uncertainty of the next gig ever did. Anyone else trade one kind of stress for another and regret it?

3 comments

3 Comments

jade5171mo ago

OH MAN, I feel this SO hard. I did the same swap and the strict 9-to-5 nearly broke me. My trick was to treat my salaried job like freelancing in disguise. I started keeping a WIN list of everything I finished each day, and if my work was done by 3 PM, I'd just leave. Like walk out the door, no guilt. Took a few tense weeks but eventually my boss realized my output stayed the same or got BETTER because I wasn't slumped over a desk for two extra hours. You just have to test those boundaries a little bit, most managers care MORE about results than butts in seats anyway.

david_jones381mo ago

@jade517 that "walk out the door" part is risky unless you've got a really chill boss tbh.

janah831mo ago

That "WIN list" idea actually makes a lot of sense now that I think about it.