| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Translating too much! Work suffering! Help! Thread poster: Christopher Lewis (X)
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Christopher Lewis (X) 
Germany
Local time: 14:34
German to English
TOPIC STARTER | Much thanks (once again) for everyone's shared wisdom | Sep 2, 2011 |
Thanks, everyone, for the advice! You've proven once again what a great lot we translators can be.
I took a good part of the day off yesterday - did some grocery shopping, caught up on some chores, had a beer - and it gave me quite a bit of perspective. It most definitely has me seeing the forest again! So I guess I won't have to resort to having kids just yet!!
And thanks for the offe... See more Thanks, everyone, for the advice! You've proven once again what a great lot we translators can be.
I took a good part of the day off yesterday - did some grocery shopping, caught up on some chores, had a beer - and it gave me quite a bit of perspective. It most definitely has me seeing the forest again! So I guess I won't have to resort to having kids just yet!!
And thanks for the offer, Marina. I'm on the tail end of things now, but I'll certainly keep your contact into for the day when things start picking up again. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Yes, do take a couple of days off. | Sep 2, 2011 |
That's what the others already said, but it's true. I have been working since February without so much as a week off and I start to feel it. I have more work than I can handle and constantly have to turn down clients because it's getting too much. Fortunately, I haven't had the complaints problem yet, but if I continue down that road, I might. And that's why I rarely work on week ends.
Try to do something for yourself, play sports, go running, swimming, whatever, but get out of the... See more That's what the others already said, but it's true. I have been working since February without so much as a week off and I start to feel it. I have more work than I can handle and constantly have to turn down clients because it's getting too much. Fortunately, I haven't had the complaints problem yet, but if I continue down that road, I might. And that's why I rarely work on week ends.
Try to do something for yourself, play sports, go running, swimming, whatever, but get out of the house/office and do something for yourself, and regularly.
I go running twice a week and have 2 small children, and so I can't work around the clock anyway. I am happy to switch of my computer in the afternoons because I have to go and pick them up and get my mind off the texts I am working on. That's quite a relief.
(So having children is really quite a good idea...!) ▲ Collapse
| | | | Karen Sexton
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:34
English to Portuguese
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| Sounds very similar | Sep 4, 2011 |
Hi Christopher,
Yes, everything I read sounds too similar to me as I have found myself many times in such situations.
There are several solutions as most of the colleagues have written before:
- take a vacation at least a week;
- increase of translation costs;
- establish a network of proven and experienced colleagues - translators which you could rely on in such situations;
- learn to say "No" and refuse low cost projects.
I ... See more Hi Christopher,
Yes, everything I read sounds too similar to me as I have found myself many times in such situations.
There are several solutions as most of the colleagues have written before:
- take a vacation at least a week;
- increase of translation costs;
- establish a network of proven and experienced colleagues - translators which you could rely on in such situations;
- learn to say "No" and refuse low cost projects.
I am sure (based on my experience) that combination of above measures will bring necessary positive results.
Good luck!
Karen ▲ Collapse
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If you don't have allergy to dogs and if you don't have a dog already. Maybe it is a little bit extreme to have children, but a dog is never too early (and never too late).
1. You have to take him out few times per day. They have their routine, so you will need to take small breaks every few hours. 10-15 minutes outside is not so much; you get to stretch your legs a little bit, to rest your eyes, to relax your mind, to check the weather and to see the sky. Before we adopted Tommy, I... See more If you don't have allergy to dogs and if you don't have a dog already. Maybe it is a little bit extreme to have children, but a dog is never too early (and never too late).
1. You have to take him out few times per day. They have their routine, so you will need to take small breaks every few hours. 10-15 minutes outside is not so much; you get to stretch your legs a little bit, to rest your eyes, to relax your mind, to check the weather and to see the sky. Before we adopted Tommy, I wouldn't go out at all for days... I decided to adopt a dog for many reasons, one of them was to rest my eyes a little bit every few hours. It helps.
2. You become more organized (it really helped in my case). Before that I would work in my pyjama until 12.00 or I would forget to eat. Now I have to organize my time differently. I still have to translate, but also to do other things, so I am managing my time much better. I also don't forget to eat anymore.
3. You have somebody that really loves you. Your dog would bring you a lot of joy, believe me, unconditionally.
Just to make it clear, it seems you need more time to take care of a dog and you probably think that this would decrease your translations' quality even more. When you work with a clear mind, you don't make many mistakes. You will have the possibility to clear your mind every few hours and work more productively. Statistics also show that people with dogs go less to doctors and tend to be happier/more satisfied than people without dogs.
Few months before I was totally against pets (I was thinking of all the bacteria and time needed). Now I am thinking of adopting one more dog
Tip: If it is your first dog, adopt an older one, because they know things already and they listen better.
Good luck! ▲ Collapse
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Lyandra
United States
Local time: 08:34
French to English
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Wow! They're so much great advice in this forum. I'm really glad I found this group.
| | | | Rita Pang
Canada
Local time: 08:34
Member (2011)
Chinese to English
+ ...
MODERATOR | delegate and work with others | Sep 5, 2011 |
....always a win-win situation in your case.
I had something very very similar happen to me two weeks ago. All of my clients came to me during that one week! I delegated work to colleagues - it was perfect. They get to pick up extra work, I get to pick up extra hours of sleep
There's no point in sacrificing your work quality, and your mental/physical health at the same time! Translation is a physically g... See more ....always a win-win situation in your case.
I had something very very similar happen to me two weeks ago. All of my clients came to me during that one week! I delegated work to colleagues - it was perfect. They get to pick up extra work, I get to pick up extra hours of sleep
There's no point in sacrificing your work quality, and your mental/physical health at the same time! Translation is a physically gruelling type of work...don't stretch yourself out that way now. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Luca Tutino
Italy
Member (2002)
English to Italian
+ ...
| Laws of supply and demand | Sep 5, 2011 |
You have just discovered that you cannot supply and infinite quantity in a given time. If demand remains persistently too high for your production capacity, increasing prices is the normal reaction in a free market. Of course this is just one of many element in pricing but it is an important one. The pricing strategy should be careful - a very small variation can produce significant changes.
Good luck!
| | | | | Bad advice to delegate work to colleagues | Sep 5, 2011 |
Romina Eva Pérez Escorihuela wrote:
1) You can always delegate some work to your trusted colleagues...
From the point of view of owning a translation company, which only outsources work to qualified/educated freelance translators, this is really bad advice!
As revisors of translations we get used to the style and tone of voice of the translations provided by translators we outsource work to. If a job is outsourced we have deliberately chosen to work with a certain translator, because e.g. his field of expertise and the quality of the work. That translator is in breach of our trust if he outsources the work again to a "trusted" colleague; since we don't nothing about the background and qualifications of that person. It would be a different case if we are asked in advance if it's okay to outsource, but to be honest that rarely happens.
We often notice straight away if something's "wrong" with the usual style/quality of the work we are used to receiving from a certain translator. In those cases we suspect that the work has been outsourced, but this is (for obvious reasons) never admitted to. However, this puts a strain on the relationship.
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Miranda Drew
Italy
Local time: 14:34
Member (2009)
Italian to English
| my dog saved me | Sep 5, 2011 |
[quote]Veronica Lupascu wrote:
If you don't have allergy to dogs and if you don't have a dog already. Maybe it is a little bit extreme to have children, but a dog is never too early (and never too late).
[quote]
I totally agree about the dog. Having to take care of my dog makes me take care of myself, and she cheers me up when I'm depressed or angry. Even if I'm having a really busy day, she'll sit and stare at me with sad eyes until I take her out at least for a few minutes!
| | | | | Delegating work to colleagues | Sep 5, 2011 |
Rifraf wrote:
From the point of view of owning a translation company, which only outsources work to qualified/educated freelance translators, this is really bad advice!
It is important to inform the client that you will delegate a part or the entire project to a trusted colleague. If client agrees, then it is OK. If client doesn't trust the other translator or has any doubt that the translation will suffer this way, then it is better to simply say NO and to not take the project. There were few situations when clients asked me to work with somebody else, in order to finish a project within a short deadline. I always assured the client that I would proofread the translation submitted by my colleague and would check at least for terminological consistency. Style consistency is more difficult to achieve.
So basically I agree partially with all the colleagues that advise to delegate. In any of the cases the client should be informed about such a move.
| | | | | Question to Armorel | Sep 5, 2011 |
"Raise your wages" is your sound advise, but I have the feeling the average wages have gone down badly, I have difficulties finding new customers (I mainly translate for small and medium enterprises). I have asked them why they turn down my offer, and money is the answer. They don't know the quality of my work, so that won't haul them in. Perhaps I charge too much? Is €0,11 per word for a technical translation of 6 pages over the top? Are there people who are willing to share their average pri... See more "Raise your wages" is your sound advise, but I have the feeling the average wages have gone down badly, I have difficulties finding new customers (I mainly translate for small and medium enterprises). I have asked them why they turn down my offer, and money is the answer. They don't know the quality of my work, so that won't haul them in. Perhaps I charge too much? Is €0,11 per word for a technical translation of 6 pages over the top? Are there people who are willing to share their average price? I have been out of the business for a while, I'm considering purchasing a CAT tool now in order to get more work done for lower prices. What would be your advice?
Thank you all. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | nothing wrong with your rate | Sep 6, 2011 |
Martine Van Eerdt wrote:
Is €0,11 per word for a technical translation of 6 pages over the top? Are there people who are willing to share their average price? I have been out of the business for a while, I'm considering purchasing a CAT tool now in order to get more work done for lower prices.
There's nothing wrong with your rate, provided you deliver fault-free, high-quality technical translations. The fact of the matter is, that there's not much translation work available for your language pair (French into Dutch).
If you directly work for end clients who are not willing to pay 0.11 per word, you should find other clients, because some agencies will pay you such a rate (and they even have to make extra money on top of your rate). And you should therefore also try to find agencies who are willing to pay you your rate.
Having said that, there are many translators out there who's word prices are a bit lower, and who provide excellent translations, and who haven't been out of the business for a while. So, perhaps just lowering your word price to 0.10 or 0.09 might do the trick and will get you started again!
CAT tools will (only) cost you money and will attract the wrong clients; those who want cheap translations:) And you have to make sure that the work you receive is suitable for CAT tools (texts with many repetitions etc.). So you end up working harder and harder for less money; that's not a good deal if you ask me...
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| Proz rate calculator | Sep 6, 2011 |
Martine Van Eerdt wrote:
"Raise your wages" is your sound advise, but I have the feeling the average wages have gone down badly, I have difficulties finding new customers (I mainly translate for small and medium enterprises). I have asked them why they turn down my offer, and money is the answer. They don't know the quality of my work, so that won't haul them in. Perhaps I charge too much? Is €0,11 per word for a technical translation of 6 pages over the top? Are there people who are willing to share their average price? I have been out of the business for a while, I'm considering purchasing a CAT tool now in order to get more work done for lower prices. What would be your advice?
Thank you all.
ProZ com has a tool that Show the maximum, average and minimum rates charged by proZ.com users who declared their rates on their profiles. You can check the rates for your language pairs and for your fields of expertise. Here is the link: http://search.proz.com/employers/rates
| | | | kmtext
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:34
English
+ ...
| Cut your workload and take breaks | Sep 7, 2011 |
You should really take a ten-minute break every hour or so, for the sake of your eyesight if nothing else. Get away from your computer and do something that doesn't involve reading or looking at a screen. Try to take a longer break every four hours or so. I also find, if I'm stuck on a particular phrase or sentence, that in the time it takes to make a cup of coffee, the solution becomes obvious.
Forcing yourself to concentrate for long periods of time is counterproductive, and much ... See more You should really take a ten-minute break every hour or so, for the sake of your eyesight if nothing else. Get away from your computer and do something that doesn't involve reading or looking at a screen. Try to take a longer break every four hours or so. I also find, if I'm stuck on a particular phrase or sentence, that in the time it takes to make a cup of coffee, the solution becomes obvious.
Forcing yourself to concentrate for long periods of time is counterproductive, and much less efficient. If you do find yourself working for 10-15 hours on a rush job, try to take at least the next morning off. It is possible to maintain the high-intensity work for a time, but after a while, everything suffers; the quality of your work, your work/life balance, your body and even your sleep patterns are affected and it can take weeks to recover from a long, intensive period of work. ▲ Collapse
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