[AndyNemmity]

I went into consulting and have found the very same things. Before consulting, I was never burned out, and loved my job a lot. I could imagine doing it forever.

Now, I can't wait for it to end, am in a consistent state of burnt out. I have to work infinite hours to keep up.

I didn't really understand this before I took the job, would have been good reading as I tried to decide what was next in my career.

At the same time, I've learned a lot from consulting, and am much more effective now. So good lessons, but not worth the overall cost.

[manmal]

Having been (or sometimes, still being) in the same shoes, here's some things I can recommend avoiding the consultant blues:

- Never work without a contract or at least a clear statement of work. Ever. So much pain will ensue otherwise.

- Take up front payments whenever you can. Ideally, 50% or more. Liquidity takes a lot of weight off your shoulders. Don't let customers get in the way of liquidity. We learned this the hard way and almost went bankrupt - never again.

- Trust your gut feeling regarding your customers - if your gut says no, don't do it. Again, a lesson learned the hard way.

- Adopt GTD or a similar methodology. The vast amounts of information you are bombarded with (especially if juggling 5 projects at once) need organizing. If you haven't read Getting Things Done yet, just get a free Audible trial at Amazon and listen to the first chapters of the audiobook on your way to work.

- Try to develop actual love for your customers, or their end customers. Or else, you will feel empty inside, and the time spent in the office will feel wasted. If you cannot love them because they treat you badly - talk to them about it or leave them.

- Tell clients to the face if you think that their reasoning or assumptions are wrong. This feels harder than it should be, I think that's because of BS mantras like "customer is always right".

- Insist on your own side of things. You are your own business' only advocate, and you must take a stand for it. No one else will. Everybody tries to push their own agenda. So push yours.

- Don't be a code monkey, but be an actual consultant. Code monkey freelancers are bound tightly into their client's development process, and only churn out whatever code is required of them. They don't get to adopt the purpose the client creates for a project. Consultants help the client transform their purpose (business goal) into a vision, and ultimately into a product. Adopting the actual purpose for your work is so important for not burning out.

I'll save this list as a reminder for myself now.

[Gibbon1]

The way I look at it is, if you're a one man shop.

Link your arms and make a circle, that's the biggest income stream you can capture. Now take ten people and have them join hands to form a circle and that's the biggest income stream they can capture. Obvious a small group can capture much large income stream per person than one guy by himself. Difficulty, keeping them all holding hands in a circle.

You by yourself also have the problem that the stream you're trying to manage is often too big, or too small. Too big you can't keep up with it and burn out. Too small you starve.

One advantage of having been a consultant is your bosses can smell it on you. They treat you differently.