If someone pays you for your work you aren't working for yourself. A business problem a customer needs solved may or may not look "interesting" and "well-define

If someone pays you for your work you aren't working for yourself. A business problem a customer needs solved may or may not look "interesting" and "well-defined" to you, but probably not, because the customer describes the problem and the parameters. If you have a full-time job now, can you change to an independent contractor relationship? That will give the easiest path to changing your relationship from employee to independent contractor. I have some free articles about freelancing on my site typicalprogrammer.com.