Well, it depends.
You're running your own business, so, if you hope to achieve a comparable income, yes, it is "life-consuming" -- as in "you are your business" and you will be working evenings and weekends on menu development, professional development, marketing, paperwork, accounting, etc., and you start looking at every person you meet as another chance to get the word out about your business.
On the other hand -- if it's a day scheduled for paperwork and it so happens to be a wonderful spring day and you decide to spend the day in the garden and just get up early on Sunday to do your paperwork -- you can do that. If a client sounds like a total pain in the butt (picky, picky, picky, can't eat this, don't like that, trying to lose 40 pounds but don't have time to exercise, no, we don't have parking near our apartment) you don't have to take them. Work like a dog for six months and want to take it easy -- you can do that, too.
No one is yelling at you, no one is back-stabbing you, no one is screwing you up by not doing their job or doing it poorly.
You will work places where it probably smells good, you don't stick to the floor, and vermin are almost non-existent, and there is no grease container that a human could fall into. You may sweat, but it will only be your sweat.
On the other hand, it can be lonely, if you like to talk to people while you work. If you don't work, you don't get paid. Some of us get clients easily, some have to work like dogs to get them -- all depends on your location, demographics and the effort you expend. No one's going to pay you if you're too sick to work, or when you go on vacation. You're going to have to take responsibility for taxes and paperwork -- making sure you get paid and that you pay others.
In some ways it's harder -- but, I've found it to be soooo much healthier for me and my head. The rewards of being your own boss are enormous -- unless easy money is your only determining factor for success. If you find comfort in someone telling you what to do and when, this is not for you. If you chafe under being told what to do and when, and always secretly feel that you could do it better, welcome to the world of self-employment!
Look through the archives here to see what being a PC is like, read up on the joys and disappointments of being self-employed (lots of stuff in library and on net).
There are definitely chefs who have left the industry over the past couple of years because they decided that this wasn't for them -- some have gone back to working for others, some have decided to take a break from cooking -- but lots of them are also still here and loving it! It's sort of a personal thing...
Just know that the people in this association are here to support you, should you make the leap.
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Meredith
Whisk For Hire
Kensington, MD
