Working Alone

The tradition: Authors, illustrators, playwrights and other creative thinkers require time in their own heads, truly creating something from nothing. This tradition is at least a thousand years old, and remains a viable option for those who work outside the traditional business community. This style has also been adopted by an Internet-enabled workforce of writers, researchers, market planners and others who decide to work alone for personal or family pleasure, to eliminate a commute, or because it’s simply easier to work on their own.

The classic Thoreau quote still rings true: “If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music he hears, however measured or far away.”

The really good parts of working alone:
1. If the creative work is great, you get lots of credit (external gratification).
2. If the creative work is great, you know that you made it happen (internal gratification).

The good parts of working alone:
1. There’s nobody to bother you, or tell you what to door how to do it.
2. You get work done faster because there are fewer distractions.
3. You get work done your way, because your way is best, most efficient or otherwise superior.
4. You set your own working hours. As long as you meet the deadline, your time is your own.

The bad parts about working alone:
1. It can be lonely.
2. Your ideas don’t benefit from cross-fertilization by others.
3. You can become overprotective of your ideas because they are purely your creations.
4. Potential clients and employers may forget about you.
5. You may always be perceived as an individual contributor, not a team player.

The really bad parts about working alone:
1. You’re not creating and nurturing new business relationships. In time, this reality will decrease your workflow and cause you to either accept lesser work or to figure out how to fit back into the normal working world (the more time alone, the more difficult this can become).
2. You can develop really bad habits in terms of working hours, and spend too much time alone in your own head.
3. If your computer crashes at 3 A.M., you’ll have to fix it yourself.