Commuting
I now recall one of the reasons why I started my own business. Regular commuting is awful. I'm doing some consulting for an old client/employer, and it's a 30-45 minute commute each way. Even though it's a relatively short trip, the amount of time the commute takes is disproportionately large.
Running my own business has been a lot of work, but I feel that I've been entirely successful in my original goal to 'have more free time'. Even though I may be doing about the same amount of work I did back when I had a "real job", I'm doing it with less overheads, and less time constraints. No commuting means an extra hour of sleep each morning, and an extra hour of play each evening. That's just lovely.
