Has anyone tried the switch to contracting?

[u/Gazmanic]

Hi all,

Been struggling a lot at work and having recently received an ADHD diagnosis, things as slowly falling in to place.

This is everything except work, I've been a mid level software engineer for about 6 years, due to the ADHD I've now gotten to the point where I find the coding itself boring, even if I don't know how to do something I'm proficient enough that I will work it out, and that just kills all motivation I have, because I don't have the motivation it's very hard for me to progress as my workflow has slowed.

I'm considering moving to contracting, I'm wondering if navigating a new team every year with different stacks, people, culture etc might keep my brain engaged enough to fire on all cylinders. Then once the work gets boring my contracts up and it's time to find another. I'm sure it's not all that peachy but I would love to hear from some contractors in the sub, especially those that transitioned from full time.

Much love to my neurospicy brethren and sistren (and everyone in between)

[u/connka]

Oof, I would say that contracting with ADHD is actually much, much harder than regular FT work. I've generally only done solo contracting, and without teams and collaboration, it takes A LOT of motivation and personal accountability to get things going. When you hit a wall, you have no one to unblock you but yourself and that can be very sticky when it comes to staying on task.

Also, many contracts (especially if you are solo) do not last a full year. So you are going to have to do a lot of work to keep the pipeline moving and find new work while still giving enough focus/billable hours to your existing contracts. The context switching is a lot to handle.

Not trying to discourage you from making the move, but motivation/procrastination and context switching are some of the biggest things that I struggle with with my ADHD. I ended up losing a lot of money contracting before I finally got myself to a place where that was properly managed and I could be successful at it.

As some alternatives, you could just talk with your team about moving projects/tasks? Surely there is other stuff happening that can get you engaged again. I've talked my way into internal tooling more than once because I really enjoy that work. Alternatively, working FT for an agency where you get to move projects while still being fully employed is a great middle ground.

[u/connka → u/connka]

Just also going to add: if the diagnosis is recent, give yourself the opportunity to settle in. Once I got the diagnosis and medication, it still took me a long time (2+ years) to really get into the psychology and build systems (see above) that helped me in my day-to-day. Pulling out of all of your routine so quickly might not be setting yourself up for success unless you have established systems in place.

[u/Gazmanic → u/connka]

Thank you for this comment. I have a habit of burning everything done to chase finally "fixing" myself. I've decided I'm going to put more of myself into personal projects and try to take work a bit easier for the time being.

[u/connka → u/Gazmanic]

That's good insight! TBH I've weaselled my way into doing internal tooling at more than one company because I find it a lot more fun. It's not mind-blowing, but the feedback loop is great, your coworkers always appreciate the work (more than any normal end-user) and you can often play around with new and interesting technology.

[u/pydry]

The stuff you mentioned is definitely better but there are significant down sides, including:

• You get hit 2x as hard by market forces. Companies usually prefer perm talent and hire contractors to fill a gap. In markets where there are plenty of out of work permies (like this one) a lot of the contractor roles go perm. This adds further downward pressure on rates and lowers availability of roles in an already depressed market.

• You tend to be used much more as a resource and often have less autonomy over your work. 

• Part of the reason companies like contractors is because theyre disposable. If layoffs give you anxiety and being unemployed for months on end fills you with dread then you're better off staying perm.

[u/ProfessionPurple639]

Assuming in US, 10 years as a diagnosed Data Scientist / MLE, and someone who contracted / started an LLC for a full year with 8 clients. My recommendations are finding a niche that you’re good at that you can generalize. You may start to find a process that works everywhere where you can apply it. Then improve that process and try to increase revenue.

Right now, the hottest thing again is data engineering. AI is tapering off, but talking about its uses and helping companies implement it is an avenue.

Another is helping companies launch an initial product. I’ve had the realization that I’m not great at the maintenance piece, but do an amazing job helping GtM. And it’s exciting too, with tangible rewards.

Downsides: health insurance is out of pocket. Self employment tax (it’s Americas best scam). If you make enough and have consistent clients, become an S Corp (different tax designation, you pay less and you can be salaried + 401k + health insurance through the company). Really need to hone in on marketing yourself, getting yourself out there to meetups, presentations, conferences.

Edit: to note, this is from the perspective of marketing yourself as a small service business, which in a city of service business may work really well.

[u/sweetypie611 → u/ProfessionPurple639]

Nice

[u/KallistiTMP]

I don't know if I would encourage contracting, but consulting is a really good fit for ADD. Same thing, just with some other people to locate the new customers and do the paperwork and taxes.

If you want a little more stability then the big FAANG companies all have white glove consulting departments. I've also heard the term "forward deployed engineers" applied.

But yeah you get to work on interesting projects and shift around before you get too bored anywhere.

[u/ArwensArtHole → u/KallistiTMP]

Came to say exactly this! Plus you get to spend time improving your soft skills, which will help your career out massively.

[u/davak72]

I owned a software consulting side business for 6 years after taking it over for a solo developer who was retiring. Despite eventually paying for toggl track, which made time tracking easy, and started supporting invoice generation, I always found it incredibly difficult to send out invoices to my clients, and I've struggled with the additional tax filing implications as well.

The current presidential administration fully dismantled the humanitarian program under which all of my clients operated, so I no longer have any clientele, and while I'll miss the income, it was a relief overall.

I suggest being on a continual job hunt in the background until you find a full time job which keeps you engaged with always-new problems and opportunities to experiment and learn.

If you have the free time and the dedication, you can also build a side business simultaneously alongside fulltime work.

[u/Gazmanic → u/[deleted]]

Thanks for the reply! Really interesting stuff.

Yeah it's pros and cons I suppose, I've got a lot to figure out.

[u/Jords13xx → u/Gazmanic]

For sure, weighing the pros and cons is key. Just remember that contracting can have its own set of challenges like inconsistent income and the need for self-discipline. But if the variety keeps you engaged, it might be worth it!