Poll: Do you make a plan on how much you work and/or what you work on each day? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you make a plan on how much you work and/or what you work on each day?".
View the poll results »
| | | | | Kind of a rough plan | Feb 13, 2022 |
It depends on the type of work I have to do: when I’m dealing with smallish projects I plan ahead day to day or weekly, but from time to time I have long projects that keep me busy for one or two months, for these I always establish a daily quota, weekends included, and every time I meet my quota, or better still, I exceed it, I have kind of a childish feeling of “mission accomplished”. Just yesterday, I managed to complete my quota for yesterday and today, which means I'll have a good fre... See more It depends on the type of work I have to do: when I’m dealing with smallish projects I plan ahead day to day or weekly, but from time to time I have long projects that keep me busy for one or two months, for these I always establish a daily quota, weekends included, and every time I meet my quota, or better still, I exceed it, I have kind of a childish feeling of “mission accomplished”. Just yesterday, I managed to complete my quota for yesterday and today, which means I'll have a good free Sunday! ▲ Collapse
| | | | Baran Keki 
Türkiye
Local time: 23:36
Member
English to Turkish
| For what we are about to receive... | Feb 13, 2022 |
I was making super meticulous plans about how much work I'd get done last week (waking up at 7.30 AM each morning working till 5 PM, doing 4251 words a day, for 5 days), but as they say about the 'best laid plans', they all came to naught. I received about only 800 words this past week (no email notifications for almost 2 days), and while making 'great plans' for the weekend, I received 2 big jobs on Friday evening, so the plans for the weekend were all ruined.
Plans... sounds like a contr... See more I was making super meticulous plans about how much work I'd get done last week (waking up at 7.30 AM each morning working till 5 PM, doing 4251 words a day, for 5 days), but as they say about the 'best laid plans', they all came to naught. I received about only 800 words this past week (no email notifications for almost 2 days), and while making 'great plans' for the weekend, I received 2 big jobs on Friday evening, so the plans for the weekend were all ruined.
Plans... sounds like a contradiction in terms in freelancing. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Mario Freitas
Brazil
Local time: 17:36
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
| Utopia # 137 | Feb 13, 2022 |
How can you make any plans if you have no idea how many clients are going to contact you in the next few days (or ever) with new jobs? Plans of this kind, in our case, are mere speculations, and will never match reality, unless you have too many clients and have to refuse jobs every day. I've had clients emailing me and adding up to more than 30K words for the next 10 days, and three days in a row without any client contact. How does planning work in a profession like this?
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Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 21:36
Member (2008)
Italian to English
ProZ.com Staff wrote: This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you make a plan on how much you work and/or what you work on each day?". View the poll results »
When I wake up and before I get out of bed, I look ahead to my day and what I'll be doing. That's about all the planning I do.
| | | | Liena Vijupe
Latvia
Local time: 23:36
Member (2014)
French to Latvian
+ ...
| Planning is essential | Feb 13, 2022 |
While it is usually impossible to know how much work we will get, how is it possible to not plan in a profession like this, unless you are working on just one or few big projects with no deadline and still getting paid?
I have my working hours and I know how much I can usually do in a day without losing focus, so I plan my work accordingly which also includes leaving some room for the unexpected. If a client contacts me with a new job and I can't find a room for it without changing other p... See more While it is usually impossible to know how much work we will get, how is it possible to not plan in a profession like this, unless you are working on just one or few big projects with no deadline and still getting paid?
I have my working hours and I know how much I can usually do in a day without losing focus, so I plan my work accordingly which also includes leaving some room for the unexpected. If a client contacts me with a new job and I can't find a room for it without changing other plans, then I will either refuse or negotiate the deadline. To me the point of freelancing is being in charge of my time which is the opposite of always being available for any "urgent" work. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Rough Plan Because,.. | Feb 13, 2022 |
... before falling asleep, even though I think about and look forward to what I want to accomplish work-wise during the following day, all of that is subject to change. One reason is because I never wake up to the annoying sound of an alarm clock (my biggest pet peeve) anymore. Also, I sometimes have to attend to other important issues that materialize after I get up, some of which may need to be resolved almost immediately, for which reason I may not be able to get as much translation work comp... See more ... before falling asleep, even though I think about and look forward to what I want to accomplish work-wise during the following day, all of that is subject to change. One reason is because I never wake up to the annoying sound of an alarm clock (my biggest pet peeve) anymore. Also, I sometimes have to attend to other important issues that materialize after I get up, some of which may need to be resolved almost immediately, for which reason I may not be able to get as much translation work completed as I had originally desired for the day. In my case, it has helped that I have mostly been able to get clients to agree to generous, and more often than not anymore, open-ended deadlines. But most weeks, I spread my work out over 6 or 7 days a week, which seems to make up for any disruptions here and there. That allows me, despite the generous deadlines, to submit the finished project to clients within a relatively reasonable window of time.
[Edited at 2022-02-13 16:56 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | matt robinson
Spain
Local time: 22:36
Member (2010)
Spanish to English
| As far as possible... | Feb 13, 2022 |
which is not very far!
I have about an hour's work every morning, which I start at 6.30. Apart from that, I can plan a little when working on large projects, but that usually means no more than a rough daily word target. I leave a margin for other work that may come in, so if I don't get any I can comfortably fit in, then I try to get ahead with my large project target.
I don't like to push deadlines to the limit, which means I do have the odd slack day. The dog likes those days the... See more which is not very far!
I have about an hour's work every morning, which I start at 6.30. Apart from that, I can plan a little when working on large projects, but that usually means no more than a rough daily word target. I leave a margin for other work that may come in, so if I don't get any I can comfortably fit in, then I try to get ahead with my large project target.
I don't like to push deadlines to the limit, which means I do have the odd slack day. The dog likes those days the best! ▲ Collapse
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Something between a rough plan and a very detailed plan. Each working day I assign myself one or more main tasks, depending on how long I estimate each will take to complete. Then I usually have other jobs lined up that I can make a start on if I have time. Otherwise, they will be on the next day's programme. And so on.
So I'm normally planning two or three days ahead.
That's because most of the jobs I have are relatively small, i.e. each phase can be completed in a sin... See more Something between a rough plan and a very detailed plan. Each working day I assign myself one or more main tasks, depending on how long I estimate each will take to complete. Then I usually have other jobs lined up that I can make a start on if I have time. Otherwise, they will be on the next day's programme. And so on.
So I'm normally planning two or three days ahead.
That's because most of the jobs I have are relatively small, i.e. each phase can be completed in a single day. For the occasional big project, I plan out an entire schedule in advance for the project's lifetime. Then the individual components of that feed into my normal scheduling on a week-by-week basis. Thus, for example, the novel I was translating this time last year had been planned out over six months altogether, broken down into weekly instalments, with allowances for holidays, etc.
Finally, with rare exceptions, I don't accept jobs for delivery within less than 24 hours. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Kay Denney
France
Local time: 22:36
French to English
As I finish for the days, I make a list of all the jobs I have to work on the next day, and how far I need to have got by the end of the day. All current jobs are in my invoicing ledger too.
Today I had to do a final proofread of a translation before handing it in by 9 am, and I have two other translations to proofread and hand in today. Then I have two other translations to work on, so once I've handed everything in that's due today, I might start on one. If I get any other requests, I c... See more As I finish for the days, I make a list of all the jobs I have to work on the next day, and how far I need to have got by the end of the day. All current jobs are in my invoicing ledger too.
Today I had to do a final proofread of a translation before handing it in by 9 am, and I have two other translations to proofread and hand in today. Then I have two other translations to work on, so once I've handed everything in that's due today, I might start on one. If I get any other requests, I can see at a glance when I can fit it in. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | To plan or not to plan | Feb 16, 2022 |
As for everyone else, my workload is unpredictable, and therefore planning it is difficult.
Yet, I have developped a sixth sense, and can usually tell when enough is enough.
I only "use" a folder in my mail system where I put all that needs doing, then if really busy, I write it down to visualise the different deadlines, who will accept an extra day (or not), etc.
Planning software are not really useful for freelancers, unless you have regular projects, work with other people/r... See more As for everyone else, my workload is unpredictable, and therefore planning it is difficult.
Yet, I have developped a sixth sense, and can usually tell when enough is enough.
I only "use" a folder in my mail system where I put all that needs doing, then if really busy, I write it down to visualise the different deadlines, who will accept an extra day (or not), etc.
Planning software are not really useful for freelancers, unless you have regular projects, work with other people/run an agency.
The planning, or organizing, relates more to what is around translation, such as TMs, terminology, invoicing, tax returns, daily chores, etc. where you need to be well organized to avoid unecessary pressure, and take some time off work. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Kay Denney
France
Local time: 22:36
French to English
Kay Denney wrote:
As I finish for the day, I make a list of all the jobs I have to work on the next day, and how far I need to have got by the end of the day. All current jobs are in my invoicing ledger too.
Today I had to do a final proofread of a translation before handing it in by 9 am, and I have two other translations to proofread and hand in today. Then I have two other translations to work on, so once I've handed everything in that's due today, I might start on one. If I get any other requests, I can see at a glance when I can fit it in.
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Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 21:36
Member (2008)
Italian to English
I didn't plan to do this today.
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