I've never actually been in a corporate gig, only worked for small businesses, usually directly for the owner(s). But after running my own web dev company for awhile, I was recruited to work for a small finance company.

I enjoyed being on my own, and the pay was fine, but I really like this job. I have one boss to worry about (and he's awesome) instead of 5-10+ clients at any given time, my coworkers are nice and friendly (but not too much), and I'm getting paid really, really well.

This job is way better, but I think the biggest reason is because of the culture here, plus the pay.

- I don't typically work outside of 9 to 5 - I get paid every week no matter how much work I do (hello paid vacations, it's been awhile) - My boss usually has an idea for a thing to do, and then I do it - If I have an idea, boss will let me run with it unless there's a good reason not to - There's very little back and forth with picky clients who don't know how to tell me what they're looking for - I don't have to worry about finding revenue and keeping expenses in check

While I do sometimes think about work stuff all the time (how many times has the solution to a problem materialized when I'm in the shower after I've been thinking about it for 3 days?!), I don't feel guilty and I'll just send myself an email and tackle it on Monday.