| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3] > | Off topic: Are you tired of translation? Thread poster: Jing Nie
|
|---|
| Wish I had a wife... | Dec 28, 2011 |
Joeri Van Liefferinge wrote:
A few years ago, my wife took over invoicing, payments and all the red tape aspects of being a freelancer. That takes a lot of weight off of my shoulders and I can concentrate on what I like most: interacting with my clients and translating!
LOL
Noni
| | | | | vacation needed :) | Dec 28, 2011 |
Jing Nie wrote:
But just a few days ago, I felt that I am totally tired of it after completing a very big project. With the increasing of my clients, I have to spend more time everyday on translation, talking with clients on the phone, sending invoices, dealing with all kinds of problem my clients can not solve.
The same feeling here. It has been a good year for me (business-wise), but I'm feeling so tired now, and those several projects piling up on my desk seem like an enormous task now. How am I going to do that...?
Nicole Schnell wrote:
There is one thing I learned (from my clients): They want you fresh and rested, energetic and full of vigor. Vacations are important. Sleep is important. They won't replace a trusted, reliable go-to translator with a new one at the drop of a hat. But they will replace a burned-out one and I have seen several colleagues with whom I worked regularly on the same accounts vanish into oblivion. During the last two or three years I mercilessly developed the habit of having my phone turned off 90% of the time. I get so much more work done. I also don't drop my work to answer each and every email that is not related to my current job immediately.
And that's a wise perspective and excellent advice! Thank you Nicole!
All the best for the coming year, to all of you.
Ewa
[Edited at 2011-12-28 18:20 GMT]
| | | | | Bit concerned | Dec 28, 2011 |
Jing Nie wrote:
But I am really tired of working everyday, and even think if one day I sleep and never wake up will be a happy ending for me.
Is this just some unfortunate non-native structure, or am I to think that it means what it says?
Assuming the latter, then at the very least you need a holiday/break/change of scene (literal or metaphorical). If you're good enough, your clients will return, and if they don't, you're not good enough, and it would be a shame to spend your life working at a career you're not very good at AND makes you wish you were dead.
Less flippantly, you might want to consider talking to someone professional if possible, if your working life is depressing your mood to that extent.
| | | | Jaroslaw Michalak 
Poland
Local time: 10:43
Member (2004)
English to Polish
SITE LOCALIZER | Demand management? | Dec 28, 2011 |
I think the problem described in the original post is related to supply/demand management. That is, if you are busy all the time (I'm not talking about an odd month here) and have to routinely refuse assignments, it means that the demand for your services exceeds your supply. There is a simple way to regulate that - rates. You can start by increasing the rates to new clients, if that goes well you can gradually propose that to your existing clients.
| | |
|
|
|
Jing Nie
China
Local time: 16:43
Member (2011)
English to Chinese
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | I already do so in the past few years | Dec 28, 2011 |
Good suggestion.
From 2004 to now, my rate for direct clients rised for about 40% to 50%.
But the price of pork increased 100% percent, the price of apartmnets increased 300% percent in China.
So I am not sure if it is reasonable to say I earn more than before
Jabberwock wrote:
I think the problem described in the original post is related to supply/demand management. That is, if you are busy all the time (I'm not talking about an odd month here) and have to routinely refuse assignments, it means that the demand for your services exceeds your supply. There is a simple way to regulate that - rates. You can start by increasing the rates to new clients, if that goes well you can gradually propose that to your existing clients.
| | | | Williamson
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:43
Flemish to English
+ ...
Tired of only translation. A bit. It is no use crying over spilt milk, but if in my youth one had describe my function as "Sitting behind a computer screen, no communication with the outside world", I would never set foot in a school for Translators.
Fortunately, there is such a thing a escort interpreting, facilitating interpreting, corporate interpreting... When the visit or meeting is over (at 5 p.m.), the day is done and the income earned.
[Edited at 2011-12-29 08:16 GM... See more Tired of only translation. A bit. It is no use crying over spilt milk, but if in my youth one had describe my function as "Sitting behind a computer screen, no communication with the outside world", I would never set foot in a school for Translators.
Fortunately, there is such a thing a escort interpreting, facilitating interpreting, corporate interpreting... When the visit or meeting is over (at 5 p.m.), the day is done and the income earned.
[Edited at 2011-12-29 08:16 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Tina Vonhof (X)
Canada
Local time: 02:43
Dutch to English
+ ...
| Need a break | Dec 28, 2011 |
It sounds like you are burnt out and badly need to take a break, even if just for a couple of weeks. Notify all your regular clients and go on a holiday, a visit to family in another part of the country, or simply turn off your computer and phone and go to the park, read a book, or whatever. If the demand is as high as you describe, I don't think your regular clients will abandon you.
You need to take some time to get in touch with 'yourself' , re-assess what your needs and prioriti... See more It sounds like you are burnt out and badly need to take a break, even if just for a couple of weeks. Notify all your regular clients and go on a holiday, a visit to family in another part of the country, or simply turn off your computer and phone and go to the park, read a book, or whatever. If the demand is as high as you describe, I don't think your regular clients will abandon you.
You need to take some time to get in touch with 'yourself' , re-assess what your needs and priorities and limitations are. Don't lose yourself in the demands from the outside world, thinking that you must be at everyone's beck and call at all times of the day and night. Ask yourself if you could get by with a little less income if that means you can take a weekend off or spend a half hour each day on going for a walk. Ask yourself if you are going to lose the client if you say you can get the work done by Thursday instead of Tuesday. Could you ask your clients to e-mail you instead of phoning, so that you have more control over your time? Or phone at a certain time of the day? Or could you turn your phone off for a couple hours at a time, so that you can work in peace? One way or another, you need to find some time for yourself.
By taking care of yourself and taking more control of your time, you may also re-cover your love of translating. I assume that you chose this profession because you loved doing it - don't let that go.
Best wishes for 2012,
Tina ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Draw a line... | Dec 28, 2011 |
You sound stressed, which is not good for you or your buisness. I just recently started as fulltime freelancer , after being an employed translator and part-time frelancer for many years. I took this decision after a big burnout breakdown, and made some clear "rules" for myself. Start of the year, i announce to all my long-term customers when i will be on vacation this year (they will have lots of time to think about how to place procejts and orders this way) and i do get at least 6 weeks a year... See more You sound stressed, which is not good for you or your buisness. I just recently started as fulltime freelancer , after being an employed translator and part-time frelancer for many years. I took this decision after a big burnout breakdown, and made some clear "rules" for myself. Start of the year, i announce to all my long-term customers when i will be on vacation this year (they will have lots of time to think about how to place procejts and orders this way) and i do get at least 6 weeks a year off. No work in weekends unless its a small very urgent job for a long term customer. No work after 8pm and before 8 pm.....at least 1h lunchbreak. All bookkeping s taken care of by a bookkeeper. Invoicing only once a month.
The coach in a stress management course was putting this very well: "We didnt get self-employed to work more, but to manage our time ourselves. Now we just have to step up and do exactly that"
Hope somthing of what i ve written can help you to get "the glow" back. Good luck! ▲ Collapse
| | |
|
|
|
Giles Watson
Italy
Local time: 10:43
Italian to English
In memoriam | While you are taking a break... | Dec 28, 2011 |
Jing Nie wrote: Good suggestion. From 2004 to now, my rate for direct clients rised for about 40% to 50%. But the price of pork increased 100% percent, the price of apartmnets increased 300% percent in China. So I am not sure if it is reasonable to say I earn more than before
... have a good think about your client portfolio and your skills set.
Try to identify the sectors and language combinations where you have scope for raising your rates (ie, the areas where you are significantly more proficient than other translators in the same language combination) and work out how you can further enhance your competitive advantage (training, study, marketing).
There is little point in expending effort on market sectors where plenty of other translators offer similar services. Focus on your strengths - the areas where you don't have to chase business because the customers come to you - and improve them. Then pick the customers that appreciate your abilities, use Proz or any other medium that occurs to you to raise your market profile and keep ramping up your rates in line with those pricey apartments.
Provided you are good enough, your clients will be too busy making money out of your translations to complain 
| | | | Pascale Pluton
Netherlands
Local time: 10:43
Member (2005)
English to French
+ ...
| prioritizing and strict planning might help | Dec 29, 2011 |
Hello Jing,
It does indeed look like you need a break.
I too have to admit that I am sometimes feed up of translating, feeling like my brain has fried, feeling more like a machine than a human. Or like Charlie Chaplin doing some assembly line work in the film “Modern Times”. This is partly due to the nature of my specialisation (technical translation) and also to the fact that I am much in demand, but the main reason is actually a wrong planning, taking more than I ... See more Hello Jing,
It does indeed look like you need a break.
I too have to admit that I am sometimes feed up of translating, feeling like my brain has fried, feeling more like a machine than a human. Or like Charlie Chaplin doing some assembly line work in the film “Modern Times”. This is partly due to the nature of my specialisation (technical translation) and also to the fact that I am much in demand, but the main reason is actually a wrong planning, taking more than I can chew.
Your clients (agencie’s and direct clients alike) only see one thing. The quality of the service you deliver. So they come back to you as long as the quality meets their expectation. They have no clue about how busy, tired, sick or whatever you are. It is up to you to define your limits and to stick to it. You are the one that can regulate how fast the ‘assembly line’ goes. I think no reasonable customer will contradict the fact that you are not a machine able to run 24/24.
So why don’t you take good resolutions for the New Year and include in your signature your new office hours. I plan no more than 6 hours translating a day, adding to it 2 hours for unproductive time such as dealing with mails or phone, looking for inspiration, and Murphy’s Law. And then I have a full day, which is about the maximum I can cope with, without too much incidence in my private life. And of course the weekend and evenings are mine. In those 6 hours, I plan a reasonable target and when the target is met before the end of the day, I usually stop translating. Only in some occasions I carry on to get ahead of schedule.
I strictly plan my work, using a software to record my projects (and issuing invoices) and time spent which, combined with a Trados analysis processed in Excel allows to see whether I am on schedule or not. This is a way of releasing stress.
Another way might be, in case of direct clients, to write some standard document summing up all that you client needs to know. That might reduce repeating the same things again and again.
Also what about having 2 different phone lines, one private, and one for work (with a message indicating your opening hours). In that way, you can ignore those who call while ‘the office is closed’. The work related line may as well be a cheap mobile.
About availability, I noticed that direct clients always come with a job when I am fully booked. That is why I got in touch with trustworthy colleagues who can do the translation for me should it be necessary. This system also allows you to take time off without losing your direct clients. Find a trustworthy colleague with whom you share the same values to take over the project management. Allow this colleague to have access to your mails via webmail, forward you professional line to his/her phone (or even better to a mobile you lend him/her so that it is clear that those calls are for you and not for him/her) and there you are: ready to go on holiday.
When you are less tired and when you have your time/project management sorted out, you can then take time to reflect on your needs. If you, like me, need some degree of contact with nature, physical and artistic activity, which can not be catered for by translation (which I like), then it might make sense to take time for those activities which will help you feel happy and refreshed. To your benefit and that of your clients.
At such times you can also think of ways to improve your productivity. What do you think of working less and earning more, or at least as much? Let’s go for it! ▲ Collapse
| | | | Lingua 5B
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 10:43
Member (2009)
English to Croatian
+ ...
| Maybe consider raising your rates? | Dec 29, 2011 |
If you double your rate, you will have twice as much free time, and still be earning the same amount. See how it's practical.
| | | | | Don't get trapped... | Dec 29, 2011 |
This is the problem with freelancing...At some point, you realize that you work 24/7, cause you are good (?) and keep deadlines and customers want your services. The only way, in my opinion, is to set some boundries. If an agency from the USA sends you a job at 6 pm, let's say, NY time, they should not expect you to answer their e-mail right away. If, for some reason, you lowered your prices because of, let's say, huge volumes, they should not expect you to offer such low rates for all jobs, etc... See more This is the problem with freelancing...At some point, you realize that you work 24/7, cause you are good (?) and keep deadlines and customers want your services. The only way, in my opinion, is to set some boundries. If an agency from the USA sends you a job at 6 pm, let's say, NY time, they should not expect you to answer their e-mail right away. If, for some reason, you lowered your prices because of, let's say, huge volumes, they should not expect you to offer such low rates for all jobs, etc. And, honestly, I do not understand why agencies order jobs by phone. We have e-mails and I think you should at least have a look at the text before you say "yes" and it's pretty difficult on the phone (ok, they can read the text to you, like a long 300-page financial statement, LOL). Holiday is also very important especially after longer periods of work - just decline jobs then, unless it is your regular customer.
As for all the additional jobs...Wife will do, or a father who is a retired economist and accountant...:-)
Cheers,
Kate ▲ Collapse
| | |
|
|
|
Claudio LR
Local time: 10:43
English to Italian
+ ...
| It doesn't work like this... | Dec 29, 2011 |
Lingua 5B wrote:
If you double your rate, you will have twice as much free time, and still be earning the same amount. See how it's practical.
This is a rather simplistic proposal I often here on proz, with different percentages.... You can't just double your rates and expect to have half of your work. If your rates are already above market rates for instance or (if you work for an agency) if your rate already cover most of the rate the end client pays to the agency, you may simply end up losing all your clients. And this applies also to smaller increases than "half". Often very busy people already have above average rates and similar rates for all their clients (which generally means they have already raised them as much as they could, eliminated any bad/low-paying clients and put a high threshold for new ones) and there is little they can do if they are still too busy (all the more so if you have more agency clients than direct ones). If you dump several clients (for example by keeping on incresing rates) you could still work full time most of the time, but the quality and diversification of your portfolio could go down, which means a risk if for example a recession or some specific problems affect some of your remaining clients. If you still feel comfortable with it, do it. It also depends on how much money you have put aside. If you have enough to live on for several years (and have no debt/mortgages etc) you can afford taking more risk with a smaller portfolio.
| | | | | Got an example today | Jun 25, 2012 |
On 28 Dec 2011 José Henrique Lamensdorf wrote: ... I am tired of several unique quirks the translation market has: - Several clients demanding specific tools (viz. Trados) even when there is no reason to use any such tool (e.g. a 300-word handwritten document).
A job posted today shows...
The outsourcer has chosen to restrict quoting on this job to those who:
... report experience with at least one of the following software tools: SDL TRADOS (You have not.)
However let's check what the job entails, verbatim:
I have a little children's story to translate for today. Very EASY text but I need a target idiom translator. I need it back today EOB, I just know by now that it has 8 pages, not sure of amount of words.
So I am prevented from bidding, even if I were the most qualified professional to do it. Of course, that's the job poster right. I don't have blond hair, blue eyes, big breasts, nor Trados. Client is king, they are entitled to demand whatever they want.
However is it worth it? Would a translator matching any such features actually help them accomplish their objective at hand?
Let's see... Though I am not a specialist in translating stories for children (so I wouldn't be bidding anyway), I wonder how many colleagues who are would use Trados in this kind of work. It is an absolute must-have requirement here.
The only reasonable argument would be if this particular story for children were all about using Trados, a somewhat preposterous idea.
| | | | Stefano Papaleo
Italy
Local time: 10:43
Member (2005)
English to Italian
+ ...
| Clients without a clue | Jun 25, 2012 |
José Henrique Lamensdorf wrote: On 28 Dec 2011 José Henrique Lamensdorf wrote: ... I am tired of several unique quirks the translation market has: - Several clients demanding specific tools (viz. Trados) even when there is no reason to use any such tool (e.g. a 300-word handwritten document).
A job posted today shows... The outsourcer has chosen to restrict quoting on this job to those who:
... report experience with at least one of the following software tools: SDL TRADOS (You have not.) However let's check what the job entails, verbatim: I have a little children's story to translate for today. Very EASY text but I need a target idiom translator. I need it back today EOB, I just know by now that it has 8 pages, not sure of amount of words. So I am prevented from bidding, even if I were the most qualified professional to do it. Of course, that's the job poster right. I don't have blond hair, blue eyes, big breasts, nor Trados. Client is king, they are entitled to demand whatever they want. However is it worth it? Would a translator matching any such features actually help them accomplish their objective at hand? Let's see... Though I am not a specialist in translating stories for children (so I wouldn't be bidding anyway), I wonder how many colleagues who are would use Trados in this kind of work. It is an absolute must-have requirement here. The only reasonable argument would be if this particular story for children were all about using Trados, a somewhat preposterous idea.
Trados is not all evil. Often it is required even for small jobs because that is what the agency has and the job is probably an update to something bigger and often leverages from a specific TM. Other than that it is indeed pure madness and I agree with you. CAT tools are – indeed – tools and therefore must be used accordingly, if you don't need that tool for that job, just don't use it.
I guess here the client has no clue and included Trados simply because some people know it's a tool translators use. Given the absurd deadline (the translation business is becoming a last minute business), the fact that they know the number of pages but not words etc. etc. I wouldn't bid on that even if I were a suitable translator for that job. That ad tells a lot about how "organized" they are Problems ahead, steer away.
There are lots of clients out there, end clients and agencies alike, that don't have a clue about what they want/need. Fortunately, some of them are eager to listen and accept advice, those who don't... they know where the door is...
| | | | | Pages in topic: < [1 2 3] > | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » Are you tired of translation? | Trados Studio 2022 Freelance | The leading translation software used by over 270,000 translators.
Designed with your feedback in mind, Trados Studio 2022 delivers an unrivalled, powerful desktop
and cloud solution, empowering you to work in the most efficient and cost-effective way.
More info » |
| | Anycount & Translation Office 3000 | Translation Office 3000
Translation Office 3000 is an advanced accounting tool for freelance translators and small agencies. TO3000 easily and seamlessly integrates with the business life of professional freelance translators.
More info » |
|
| | | | X Sign in to your ProZ.com account... | | | | | |
Login to reply/comment 
