Comments on: Managing your time as a freelancer

By: Maria Diehn

Maria Diehn — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 18:41:17 +0000

Thanks for sharing your experience!

By: Alison Carroll

Alison Carroll — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 20:42:10 +0000

An excellent post, Corinne, with lots of good comments!
As a mother-of-four, I’ve learned to remind myself that I’m really a “part-time” professional, even as a business owner.
To manage my time, I’ve learned to:
- respond to the unexpected without losing my head,
- build flexibility into my deadlines, if possible and in case I need it,
- whenever possible, work with a trusted team, even if it is just another colleague to edit my work or whose translation I edit,
- make sure I take care of my own needs, including regular exercise and building a team of professionals who support me in my business.
Thanks for all the wisdom!

By: Judy Jenner

Judy Jenner — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 18:48:01 +0000

Very well-writen post with lots of good info. I am with you and Paula: you have to find what works for you. For me, sometimes that varies week to week. I always find time to work out, even when I really don’t have time, as working out clears my head and gives me the benefit of a nap and the energy that comes with breathing fresh air. I do need to follow my own advice about not obessively checking e-mail every five minutes.

We typically accept fewer projects (in terms of word volume) than most of our colleagues, and that’s because we are very obsessive about our QA process, which adds another few days to every project.

BTW, I am finalizing a workshop on time management to give during 2010, and if it’s OK, I might incorporate some of your idas (with due credit, of course).

By: Tess

Tess — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 19:46:41 +0000

Kudos to an important and valuable post Corinne! I find that I have the same principles and work schedule as you. I start working at 8 when my kids are off to school. Work for about two hours until my dog stares me down and we go for a walk or run. I always fit in exercise during the day and the only social activities I do during the day are combined with exercise or lunch. I could do better volunteering in school, but I feel too stressed out if I have a weekly assignment. Instead I help out with field trip, art projects and such. My children come home from school at 3:30 and that is when my most hectic time of the day starts. Homework, chauffeuring to different activities, library, playdates, piano practices, making dinner etc.

Since I often take one long break in the day for exercise I usually end up finishing up some work tasks after he kids have gone to bed. This does not disturb me so much since I also have a husband that frequently need to finish off work at night.

Overall I think this schedule works for me. I have a to do list most every day and it feels nice to check things off. I very frequently eat lunch while working and my kitchen table often end up as my work desk. I try not to work weekends and devote them entirely to my family.

Thank you for your input Corinne! We are so fortunate to be able to make our own schedule most of the days.

By: Sathit Manee

Sathit Manee — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 16:10:53 +0000

I’ve learnt a lot from your bloc. As a translating practitioner at the very very first stage of this career, I’ll keep on learning but it takes so much time than I though it did. I’m so young in the field.

Admiration et respect, Corinne.
Sathit
Bangkok, Thailand

By: Maty

Maty — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 10:59:58 +0000

Well, I do have my workspace in my bedroom because there is no other option. I don’t know what do you mean by “wasted time”. However, it has just shortened my sleeping time tremendously, nothing else.

By: Olivia

Olivia — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 08:23:06 +0000

I love your idea of doing sport during the day. I am going to find a way to work that into my schedule. I need to become a bit more disciplined with my non-urgent but important tasks (working on specialist fields, re-writing my marketing collateral etc.) and I also need to monitor my time spent reading the news or blogs, and use them as “treats” once I have finished certain pressing jobs, rather than jumping on the internet within the first hour or two of work. Time management really is a skill to be developed. In fact, I’ll make it a priority in my business plan for next year!

By: Paula Dieli

Paula Dieli — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 20:58:50 +0000

This posting is so relevant at this time of year! I like your suggestion to bend the rules and do what works for you. I figured out that I work best in the early mornings so I plan my toughest tasks for that time period. I really slow down from about 2-3pm so I adjust my schedule accordingly and try not to do anything important; I often take a break at that time (which means eating through the “regular” lunch hour).

By: Mathieu R

Mathieu R — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 18:50:56 +0000

This might seem like an obvious advice to experienced freelancers, but young freelancers need to know: don’t set up your workspace in your bedroom. It leads to wasted time for every translator I know who has tried it.