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Poll: What is your biggest distraction while working?
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
SITE STAFF
Jan 18, 2014

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "What is your biggest distraction while working?".

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Julian Holmes
Julian Holmes  Identity Verified
Japan
Local time: 20:44
Member (2011)
Japanese to English
Other Jan 18, 2014

Myself

I work alone in a very quiet and secluded environment of my own choosing so that I can concentrate 100% on my work. If I can't, then it's completely of my own doing and I have only myself to blame.
It takes lots of self control and willpower -- and stubbornness, if you want to call it that -- to sit down in front of a computer and slave away for long stretches, maybe 12 or 14 hours at a time.

Maybe Proz polls should have been one of the options. ...
See more
Myself

I work alone in a very quiet and secluded environment of my own choosing so that I can concentrate 100% on my work. If I can't, then it's completely of my own doing and I have only myself to blame.
It takes lots of self control and willpower -- and stubbornness, if you want to call it that -- to sit down in front of a computer and slave away for long stretches, maybe 12 or 14 hours at a time.

Maybe Proz polls should have been one of the options.
Collapse


 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 11:44
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Other Jan 18, 2014

It depends on the deadline! When I face an imminent deadline nothing can distract me, if not it's completely on me, I'm a freelancer...

 
Ty Kendall
Ty Kendall  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 11:44
Hebrew to English
Other - the dog and cat Jan 18, 2014

Especially the cat, she's a shady character.

 
Theo Bernards (X)
Theo Bernards (X)  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 12:44
English to Dutch
+ ...
Family - without a doubt Jan 18, 2014

When I translate, I aim to end up in a state which I call "in the zone" - see nothing but my screen, hear nothing but the words I need to type and a general state of oblivion - I don't hear phone, music or background noises. Nothing is more distracting than family tapping my shoulder, asking me to give a hand with the shopping, or lift a heavy plant in the garden. Getting in the zone takes a bit of time, being torn out of it is a matter of a split-second. In the zone my productivity soars, and o... See more
When I translate, I aim to end up in a state which I call "in the zone" - see nothing but my screen, hear nothing but the words I need to type and a general state of oblivion - I don't hear phone, music or background noises. Nothing is more distracting than family tapping my shoulder, asking me to give a hand with the shopping, or lift a heavy plant in the garden. Getting in the zone takes a bit of time, being torn out of it is a matter of a split-second. In the zone my productivity soars, and outside the zone I am a mere mortal with normal productivity limits. My wife knows this so when I am in the zone, she will only drag me out of it when it really matters. Grandchildren, on the other hand, don't know the zone, which is why my wife often tries to keep them away from me when I work.Collapse


 
Mario Chavez (X)
Mario Chavez (X)  Identity Verified
Local time: 07:44
English to Spanish
+ ...
One big distraction since December 23 Jan 18, 2014

My cat Oreo Otis Alfonso Holstein


Well, he's a domestic shorthair/bicolor cat, a cow cat (hence, Otis Holstein)


 
Gianluca Marras
Gianluca Marras  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 12:44
English to Italian
Other Jan 18, 2014

Morning:
7-8.30 Family
8.30-1pm Phone calls (friends), internet surfing, phone calls from family members (requests like: I forgot my scarf at home, I do not need it before 6 this afternoon, but can you bring it here right now? or I would like X and Y for dinner, can you go buy that? then you go to the supermarket and? and you receive a phone call informing you that what you have just bought is useless and you could have stayed at work)

Afternoon
2-8 pm Family: kids
... See more
Morning:
7-8.30 Family
8.30-1pm Phone calls (friends), internet surfing, phone calls from family members (requests like: I forgot my scarf at home, I do not need it before 6 this afternoon, but can you bring it here right now? or I would like X and Y for dinner, can you go buy that? then you go to the supermarket and? and you receive a phone call informing you that what you have just bought is useless and you could have stayed at work)

Afternoon
2-8 pm Family: kids are at home, you have to drive them to the football pitch, to the gym, check their homework, and obviously your door is always open.
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Laura Pascual
Laura Pascual  Identity Verified
Finland
Local time: 13:44
Finnish to Spanish
+ ...
Family Jan 18, 2014

If you're on the computer all day, it means you're just doing nothing. I rather be alone, but if there's someone around, they don't seem to understand that I need silence and that I'm not interested in random comment exchange. Also, if they happen to look at you while you're checking something, it means you're already distracted and thus not working. Oh, don't you dare ask a translation question on a facebook forum, facebook is just for losing time (and yes, I do lose a lot of time on facebook, ... See more
If you're on the computer all day, it means you're just doing nothing. I rather be alone, but if there's someone around, they don't seem to understand that I need silence and that I'm not interested in random comment exchange. Also, if they happen to look at you while you're checking something, it means you're already distracted and thus not working. Oh, don't you dare ask a translation question on a facebook forum, facebook is just for losing time (and yes, I do lose a lot of time on facebook, but it is also a great tool if you don't start playing Candy Crush when you're translating).Collapse


 
Noura Tawil
Noura Tawil  Identity Verified
Syria
Local time: 14:44
Member (2013)
English to Arabic
. Jan 18, 2014

Gianluca Marras wrote:

Morning:
7-8.30 Family
8.30-1pm Phone calls (friends), internet surfing, phone calls from family members (requests like: I forgot my scarf at home, I do not need it before 6 this afternoon, but can you bring it here right now? or I would like X and Y for dinner, can you go buy that? then you go to the supermarket and? and you receive a phone call informing you that what you have just bought is useless and you could have stayed at work)

Afternoon
2-8 pm Family: kids are at home, you have to drive them to the football pitch, to the gym, check their homework, and obviously your door is always open.


It must be me who wrote that... But I forgot when! Lol


 
Yaotl Altan
Yaotl Altan  Identity Verified
Mexico
Local time: 05:44
Member (2006)
English to Spanish
+ ...
Neighbor Jan 18, 2014

My neighbor. She lives in front of my apartment, she combs her hair, walks around in her room....

 
Heather McCrae
Heather McCrae  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 12:44
German to English
Other Jan 18, 2014

Feeling bored by the text I am working on! And, in no particular order, family, pets, Internet, Proz, Facebook, Skyping, daydreaming, any of the many books I am reading and any handicrafts I am working on. In short, just about everything! But I still manage to get my work done in between all the distractions

 
Heather McCrae
Heather McCrae  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 12:44
German to English
LOL Jan 18, 2014

Yaotl Altan wrote:

My neighbor. She lives in front of my apartment, she combs her hair, walks around in her room....


obviously, your monitor is simply not big enough


 
Mario Chavez (X)
Mario Chavez (X)  Identity Verified
Local time: 07:44
English to Spanish
+ ...
Have you thought of... Jan 18, 2014

Yaotl Altan wrote:

My neighbor. She lives in front of my apartment, she combs her hair, walks around in her room....


closing the curtains?

Unless your neighbor looks like Salma Hayek, that's what I'd do.


:")


 
Julian Holmes
Julian Holmes  Identity Verified
Japan
Local time: 20:44
Member (2011)
Japanese to English
Just after taking a shower? Jan 19, 2014

Yaotl Altan wrote:

My neighbor. She lives in front of my apartment, she combs her hair, walks around in her room....


What's your address? I'll be there in a flash (pun intended). These are the kind of distractions I can live with ...

@Mario
Yes, don't close those curtains.


 
Yaotl Altan
Yaotl Altan  Identity Verified
Mexico
Local time: 05:44
Member (2006)
English to Spanish
+ ...
Curtains Jan 19, 2014

She closed the curtains in the night but open them again every morning, then she watches out who is walking in the garden, and yawns. I live 2 floors up there, so I think I can watch her from a 35-40° angle, unfortunately I can not see all the movie

 
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