I've never done it so I could be wrong, but what appeals to me (at least in theory) about contracting is that there's no emotional investment involved.

When you're an FTE there's an expectation that you're invested in the stuff you build and that you care about it and think about it and how to make it better. I find that exhausting, because most jobs will have you working on things you don't particularly care about because you're not a user of the product, or there's no societal impact stemming from the work you do.

So I job where I could put in 8h a day doing whatever tasks are handed to me, and nothing else, sounds perfect.