[patricius]

When I compare the jobs I’ve had, I would say the first ever job I had as a freelancer was best. It wasn’t for a particularly sexy, high-profile company in the IT sector. It wasn’t a company that used particularly interesting technology. It wasn’t a place with young, high-energy employees. But what I really enjoyed was the opportunity to work independently as the sole programmer on the particular project I was assigned to. I managed my own time, decided how to structure my work and deliverables, and coordinated with domain experts on my own. It wasn’t until I finished that project and moved on to another with a larger (over-staffed) team, a lot of written requirements and a dedicated architect that I realized how I prefer to work. I felt so productive before and ended up in the tar pit. Where I had time before to learn on the job _and_ be productive at the same time, suddenly there wasn’t enough hours in the day for all the meetings, requirements reading and planning.