Before I resigned a few weeks ago, I spent 11 years working a typical office job with all the typical trappings: annoying commute, 8 hours day with an unpaid lunch, Monday-Friday schedule with no option for telecommuting, fluorescent lights, poor morale, gray furniture, and gossipy co-workers. My work hours were filled with heartwrenching and tedious tasks, and I longed for 4 PM on Fridays when I could put it all behind me until 8 AM on Monday. Although I was doing noble, necessary work, I never really produced anything I was proud of or accomplished anything noteworthy. Except getting through each day.

Sad story. True story.

Now, as a freelancer, I don’t have a real weekend. I do need some time off, so I actually take my “weekend” on Friday and Saturday, although it’s not unusual to find me working on something on one of those days. I can’t help it. I love what I’m doing. And now, rather than the weekdays as something I have to get through in order to achieve the weekend, the weekdays are now something I look forward to just as much as I did the weekends in my previous life. It’s such a relief to wake up each day, excited about what I’m going to do rather than thinking of it as torture with a paycheck. To quote Loverboy, I’m no longer “working for the weekend” (which, incidentally, is today’s money tune. Yeah, I’m good). I now work for…well, I work because I enjoy what I do. And I’m really proud of it. Even if I don’t make a lot of money.

Much better story.

Note: Song starts at 2:25.