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Poll: Do you work "overtime" (i.e. more than 9-6 Monday to Friday)?
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
SITE STAFF
Jul 12, 2019

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you work "overtime" (i.e. more than 9-6 Monday to Friday)?".

This poll was originally submitted by Codex Global. View the poll results »



 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 18:44
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Other Jul 12, 2019

If and when work comes along...

P.S. I'm my own boss and this means that occasionally (I admit that sometimes more than occasionally) I work way, way, way more hours than I did when I was an employee, but that’s my choice and I always find ways of compensating myself…

[Edited at 2019-07-12 14:04 GMT]


Elizabeth Tamblin
Kay Denney
Michael Harris
Mariana Passos
 
Mirja Maletzki
Mirja Maletzki  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 03:44
Korean to German
+ ...
I don't think of it that way Jul 12, 2019

I don't define my work that way. I work whenever I want, wherever I want. If I want to earn more money, I work more hours. That's all.

Josephine Cassar
neilmac
Tanja K
Kaisa I
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Olavo Nogueira
Michael Harris
 
Pascale Pluton
Pascale Pluton  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 19:44
Member (2005)
English to French
+ ...
No energy for that Jul 12, 2019

At the end of a day translating, my brain feels like fried.
Therefore I don't have the energy to work long hours.
I mean, effectively working more than 6 hours a day.
Being of FaceBook and answering mails does not count.


[Edited at 2019-07-12 08:42 GMT]


 
Vera Schoen
Vera Schoen  Identity Verified
Sweden
Local time: 19:44
Member (2008)
German to Swedish
+ ...
Other Jul 12, 2019

I prefer working office hours, because I need the time in the evening/weekend to recharge my batteries.
But of course I work "after hours" and weekends if there's work to be done.


Liena Vijupe
Philippe Etienne
Olavo Nogueira
Laura Bissio CT
Katarina Mihalova
Eleonora_P
Melanie Meyer
 
Muriel Vasconcellos
Muriel Vasconcellos  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 11:44
Member (2003)
Spanish to English
+ ...
Most of the time Jul 12, 2019

I prefer to spend much of the "business" day on appointments, errands, and enjoying the great outdoors, which means that I almost inevitably work in the evenings.

Josephine Cassar
neilmac
 
Kay-Viktor Stegemann
Kay-Viktor Stegemann
Germany
Local time: 19:44
English to German
In memoriam
No fixed working hours Jul 12, 2019

Most of my clients are in another time zone, so that it does not make sense to keep strict local working hours. On a normal working day, I start work between 10am and noon, and I often work until midnight, but I take long breaks and do other things during the "working day". And I need most weekends to catch up with unfinished work.

 
neilmac
neilmac
Spain
Local time: 19:44
Spanish to English
+ ...
Yes Jul 12, 2019

Too many assumptions in the question.
I mean, what's the point of being a freelancer if people still expect you to be chained to a "normal" lockstep employee-type schedule? I'll work whenever it suits me, thanks very much.


nordiste
Kaisa I
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Olavo Nogueira
Nadja Balogh
Jorge Payan
Philip Lees
 
Mair A-W (PhD)
Mair A-W (PhD)
Germany
Local time: 19:44
German to English
+ ...
Flexitime Jul 12, 2019

Muriel Vasconcellos wrote:

I prefer to spend much of the "business" day on appointments, errands, and enjoying the great outdoors, which means that I almost inevitably work in the evenings.


Is that really _more than_ 9-6 Monday Friday?

(I also work, uh, flexitime, but rarely overtime... )


Kaisa I
 
Elizabeth Tamblin
Elizabeth Tamblin  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 18:44
French to English
It depends Jul 12, 2019

If I have worked flat-out all week, I would prefer to have the weekend off. If I haven't had much work in the week, then I'm happy to work at the weekend and in the evenings if I have the opportunity.

Kaisa I
Liena Vijupe
 
Abba Storgen (X)
Abba Storgen (X)
United States
Local time: 13:44
Greek to English
+ ...
10-14 hrs 7 days a week, including holidays, for 11 years Jul 12, 2019

Changing now, of course, asap. I had many obligations to cover. But I would have preferred to have spent all that effort in an actual career, not a "job" such as the one of the translator. Particularly one without any benefits and little to show for at the end. Especially nowadays that the whole thing has become a voluntary online plantation, with many deadlines been fake (fake urgencies), designed to increase the project managers' bonuses at my expense. At times other people would bring me food... See more
Changing now, of course, asap. I had many obligations to cover. But I would have preferred to have spent all that effort in an actual career, not a "job" such as the one of the translator. Particularly one without any benefits and little to show for at the end. Especially nowadays that the whole thing has become a voluntary online plantation, with many deadlines been fake (fake urgencies), designed to increase the project managers' bonuses at my expense. At times other people would bring me food and necessities since I would spend 3-4 weeks without going out of the front door. I overdid it, but I had to. Developed various health problems too.
Those with secondary income sources or spousal/parental income support or no extensive family obligations need not respond. I won't answer questions such as "but if... then how..." - I'm not into social media practices at all.

Thank you and good luck to all.

PS. I laughed at the title of the thread. But I also laughed at some statement of Elon Musk that he had to work so hard that he didn't leave the factory once for... 36 hours. A ha ha ha ha.
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Kay Denney
Kay Denney  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 19:44
French to English
. Jul 12, 2019

I don't keep track. Occasionally I'll get up early to meet a deadline, or work late when I've not managed to get as far ahead as I'd hoped. I think I mostly work fewer hours than when I was an in-house translator. At least it feels like it, simply because I can take off to the pool or for a bike ride or to go to a shop on the other side of town more or less when I feel like it, and I only accept the jobs I feel like doing, so I never just plough through a translation in a state of boredom. I cer... See more
I don't keep track. Occasionally I'll get up early to meet a deadline, or work late when I've not managed to get as far ahead as I'd hoped. I think I mostly work fewer hours than when I was an in-house translator. At least it feels like it, simply because I can take off to the pool or for a bike ride or to go to a shop on the other side of town more or less when I feel like it, and I only accept the jobs I feel like doing, so I never just plough through a translation in a state of boredom. I certainly never sit bored out of my mind at the computer waiting for work to come in, as I used to on Monday mornings and other random moments when I had to go in to the office.
My partner has the impression that I work much harder, because he sees me working at the weekend. However that is simply because, if I have a job that will take me about six hours due in Monday EOB I prefer to work a couple of hours each on Saturday Sunday and Monday rather than slog all day on Monday. The translation is much better when I can fit some sleep in between draft and proof, also it frees me up for yoga Monday afternoon, and for shopping in the morning when the shops are deserted. Or it might free me up for another job, if ever something interesting comes in.
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Josephine Cassar
 
Joanna Sobolewska-Kurpiel
Joanna Sobolewska-Kurpiel  Identity Verified
Poland
Local time: 19:44
Member
English to Polish
+ ...
Early morning Jul 12, 2019

Usually I work early in the morning, preferably starting about 5.00 am

 
Lincoln Hui
Lincoln Hui  Identity Verified
Hong Kong
Local time: 02:44
Member
Chinese to English
+ ...
Do I? Jul 12, 2019

It's 12:03am.

I'm working.


 
Michael Harris
Michael Harris  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 19:44
Member (2006)
German to English
Other Jul 12, 2019

I am my own boss, I work when I want to and as long as the deadlines are met and I do not neglect my family too much, then who cares.

And I have friends in high positions in regular jobs and they are even more worse off.

[Edited at 2019-07-12 16:34 GMT]


Philip Lees
 
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Poll: Do you work "overtime" (i.e. more than 9-6 Monday to Friday)?






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