Photo from iStockphoto

In a previous article about freelancing, I was talking about the most common misconceptions people have about being a full time freelancer and about being self-employed. Here’s what I said back then:

What most people don’t know is that freelancers usually work twice as hard as employees.

For me, the last two years stand as proof that this is a true statement.

At the same time, I can’t deny the fact that self-employment has its perks. Some of these perks are the guilty pleasures that make you say “I’ll never go back to that 9 to 5″, whenever you see an interesting full-time position on one of those job boards.

I thought it would be interesting to start a discussion around this topic, so I’m looking forward to your thoughts in the comments. I’ll go first:

Smoking while working

Lucky for me, I managed to get rid of this habit a little over a year ago (after almost 10 years of smoking), but I remember what it was like.

It felt good being able to smoke indoors, while I was working on that new design. I always felt that lighting a new one would give me the inspiration I need. If you’re a smoker, you know what I’m talking about.

The sad thing is… inspiration has to do with many things, but it sure doesn’t have anything to do with smoking!

Smoking is a guilty pleasure by itself, but smoking in your home office gives you a whole new set of reasons to feel guilty about: the bad smell that is waiting for you every morning, the smoke that gets into your walls, making them darker every day, etc. Not a very creative environment, is it?

For me, some good ol’ will and a fresh paint job did the trick. This is one guilty pleasure I’m glad I no longer experience.

Photo by Вася Артёмов

Eating at my desk

I know a lot of people enjoy their Starbucks while reading their mail or browsing their favorite news site. Nothing strange here, even if you’re working for a company downtown. I’m not talking about coffee here, I’m talking about a full meal.

I had this thing ever since I was a kid: I really enjoyed eating in front of the TV. There were times when I couldn’t stay still at the table. And it wasn’t that having lunch kept me from watching something important, it was quite the opposite: lunch had to be served with a TV program, no matter what that was! :) Some of you will think “What a weirdo!”, some will think “I’m exactly like that too!”.

Years later, I still enjoy eating in front of a screen: my 17″ laptop screen, that is! So sometimes I take a nice sandwich (with everything, of course) or even a salad, open up YouTube or Google Reader and this feels really good!

Why is this a guilty pleasure, you ask? Cause my laptop keyboard is full of breadcrumbs and because I’m fully aware that this is not at all healthy eating, especially since this sort of thing happens past 10PM.

Photo by Matt Seppings

Allowing distractions

You all know those articles about how working at home (instead of maybe renting a small space) can be counterproductive, because there are so many distractions: kids (or the dog) running around, unexpected visit from your parents, etc.

Yes, it’s true, these things can sometimes be a pain (although I learned to deal with them and like it this way), but let’s face it: the real distractions are the ones we allow, because we enjoy them too much.

Here are some of my usual suspects:

  • working on that new mockup while watching stand up comedy on YouTube (that’s what dual display is for, right?)
  • leaving that Twitter client open, cause I really need to know what Jimmy is buying from the supermarket (in real time!)
  • checking Google Analytics, Google AdSense or Google Reader every five minutes, because on the web… things change pretty fast!

Of course, I exagerated a little bit, but you get my point.

Photo by stickwithjosh

Playing video games

You can’t be self-employed and not have an Xbox tucked under your desk, a Wii in your living room or at least some cool games installed on your computer. Ok, some of you might not like video games that much, but maybe you’re obsessed about some Flash game from Miniclip. There’s gotta be something!

I sometimes play games on my old Playstation 2 and I also have a couple of titles for PC, but right now I play a lot of FIFA 08 online (will probably upgrade to FIFA 09 soon), on my PC. This is definitely my favourite time waster!

Now don’t get me wrong, I know when it’s time to work and when it’s time to play. My FIFA 08 “sessions” usually happen way past working hours and I don’t miss deadlines cause I’m playing video games.

The reason why I feel guilty about this is that I keep telling myself I should be doing something more productive, like working on that personal project, or generating some of that passive income everyone is talking about. But what can I say? Guess I’m a FIFAholic! ;)

So… what about you?

I hope this was a fun read for all of you working from home and also for those of you reading blogs when your boss isn’t watching! ;) Either way, I would love to know your experiences as well, cause a discussion in the comments might become more interesting than the article itself.