When I was employed in the corporate world as a cost accountant, I sometimes had work that was interesting on a theoretical level, and sometimes even enjoyable on a practical level. But the worst part of those corporate gigs was that there wasn’t enough actual work to fill most days. The result was a bunch of make-work, particularly inter-departmental meetings and special projects dominated by corporate lingo about stakeholders, internal customers, thinking outside of the box, and driving the business. The exact language changes over time, of course, so that consultants can keep selling their schemes to corporate management. (You can learn about that scam in this wonderful book.) But the make-work was enough to make me sick to my stomach or put me to sleep—depending on my mood on any given day.
On the other hand, one of the best things about being a self-employed criminal defense lawyer is that every bit of the work has real meaning. If it didn’t, I wouldn’t do it because I don’t have to do it. Some days require 12 or even 14 hours of work. On other days, there’s very little work to do. And when that’s the case, I don’t have to create any make-work to look busy. Instead, I can write, take a nap, watch TV, or (rarely) do something healthy like go for a walk. (I really should do more of that, my doctor tells me.)
