If you have the discipline to work within a schedule without someone looking over your shoulder, the flexible working hours are a great reason to become a consultant. As a consultant, no one can tell you when to work. That means that you can work all night and sleep all day if that's how you work most efficiently. When you daughter is sick and out of school, you can stay at home with her. If your best friend from college calls to say he's coming to visit, you can take off at a moment's notice.

Of course there are two assumptions in the above scenarios. First, you still need to get all of your work done and on time. No matter when you work or how many hours you put in, if you don't complete your work you won't have a very successful career—and don't expect it to last too long. Second, your relationships with your clients are very important. You want them to call you back for subsequent projects, and you want them to recommend you to other clients as well. They won't be likely to do this if you call up every other day to tell them you've decided not to come in to work today. So, as with everything else in life, there's a balance. On the other hand, most clients understand if you take time off occasionally. Or work unorthodox hours. As long as it doesn't interfere with the project schedule.

And when the project is finished, you always have the option to take extended vacations, in order to write the Great American Novel or simply sun yourself and sip brews on a beach in the Bahamas.