Poll: How many hours do you work per day? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "How many hours do you work per day?".
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| | | | Ana Cuesta 
Spain
Local time: 02:26
English to Spanish
| motivation for overwork | Jul 18, 2005 |
I am shocked at the percentage of people who works in excess of what we could call a "normal" workday, i.e. 8 hours, and would really love to have some sort of insight about their motivation... is it because the per-word rates you charge/get don't allow you to make a living/keep your desired standard of living by working just 8 hours or maybe because you find it difficult to say no to regulars and end up accepting more work than you wished for?
Any comments will be most welcome. Personally... See more I am shocked at the percentage of people who works in excess of what we could call a "normal" workday, i.e. 8 hours, and would really love to have some sort of insight about their motivation... is it because the per-word rates you charge/get don't allow you to make a living/keep your desired standard of living by working just 8 hours or maybe because you find it difficult to say no to regulars and end up accepting more work than you wished for?
Any comments will be most welcome. Personally, I can translate in excess of 8 hours occassionaly, if needed, but no way I could sustain that pace for more than a few days on a row. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Parrot
Spain
Local time: 02:26
Spanish to English
+ ...
Ana Cuesta wrote:
I am shocked at the percentage of people who works in excess of what we could call a "normal" workday, i.e. 8 hours, and would really love to have some sort of insight about their motivation... is it because the per-word rates you charge/get don't allow you to make a living/keep your desired standard of living by working just 8 hours or maybe because you find it difficult to say no to regulars and end up accepting more work than you wished for?
Any comments will be most welcome. Personally, I can translate in excess of 8 hours occassionaly, if needed, but no way I could sustain that pace for more than a few days on a row.
Weekly hours might be more telling. I expect a fair number have narrowed down their work to fields and combinations that they like and are sincerely interested in to keep them going 12 hours, when they're busy. I also fall into 12 hours when I like the subject, but there are days I take off and do something else, dropping down to 4 hours or less. That implies already having worked out the rates issue (i.e., not being forced to work just because of need).
Weekly, I'd like to say I work intensively something like 6 hours a day (which is really what I consider a good target), but at this stage, too much of the workload is sincerely engrossing (i.e., pass my criteria of what I like to do).
All in all, the situation you describe might apply to some, but I wouldn't expect that to apply to people with more than 10 years of experience in the field. I mean, it can't be that bad.
| | | | Rahdne Zola (X)
United States
Local time: 21:26
French to English
| longer hours = more days off | Jul 18, 2005 |
Ana Cuesta wrote:
I am shocked at the percentage of people who works in excess of what we could call a "normal" workday, i.e. 8 hours, and would really love to have some sort of insight about their motivation... is it because the per-word rates you charge/get don't allow you to make a living/keep your desired standard of living by working just 8 hours or maybe because you find it difficult to say no to regulars and end up accepting more work than you wished for?
Any comments will be most welcome. Personally, I can translate in excess of 8 hours occassionaly, if needed, but no way I could sustain that pace for more than a few days on a row.
Usually my projects have a close deadline, therefore I often work more than 8 hours a day. Beyond that, I'd prefer to work many hours for a few days and be able to take "time off" later. Like you, Ana, while it's possible for me to work much more than 8 hours a day, I can only do that for about a week. After that, my productivity and efficiency definitely decreases, which can be dangerous in our profession since we need to be as accurate as can be.
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