| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Poll: Do you usually keep strict business hours? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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| What's wrong with cats? | Mar 12, 2015 |
John Cutler wrote: Chris S wrote:
I really don't get all the people on here who claim to work all hours of the day and night and say they have to or they prefer it that way. For me, work is just a means to an end. Life is for living. The difference is you have a family and they have cats. 
I have a human family AND cats and dogs, which are certainly part of the family!
[Edited at 2015-03-12 19:02 GMT]
| | | | Mario Chavez (X) 
Local time: 16:52
English to Spanish
+ ...
| Strict? Business hours? | Mar 12, 2015 |
Different strokes for different folks. I know of a friend, a small business owner (translation company) who would close the door to her home office at 5 p.m. every workday so that she could be with her family. That habit takes discipline, of course.
The good thing about working in-house is that the business hours are fixed, plus overtime, which gets paid (at least here in America; in Europe, I don't know).
The bad thing about working as an independent translator at home... See more Different strokes for different folks. I know of a friend, a small business owner (translation company) who would close the door to her home office at 5 p.m. every workday so that she could be with her family. That habit takes discipline, of course.
The good thing about working in-house is that the business hours are fixed, plus overtime, which gets paid (at least here in America; in Europe, I don't know).
The bad thing about working as an independent translator at home is that the notion of business hours goes out the window, as indicated by the variety of working hours so many poll respondents have shared.
I just finished 79,300 words for a civil engineering project (English to Spanish) in five days, including last Sunday and one 17-hour day. It was intense, I probably worked 60 billable hours this week.
I used to have a cat. He was my pal, a fun companion. Now he's with another family, but I don't think I could do this much work myself if I had a wife or significant other, plus kids. Definitely a different lifestyle for me. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | food for thought (Chris S) | Mar 13, 2015 |
Chris S wrote:
I really don't get all the people on here who claim to work all hours of the day and night and say they have to or they prefer it that way. For me, work is just a means to an end. Life is for living.
It depends what "all hours" means. It can mean being a slave to every customer's wishes day and night, in which case I agree with you. It can also mean taking the freedom to do things at times that you choose, and making a choice with every translation request that comes in. In the latter case we have lives, and life is still for the living.
I don't like the 9 - 5 hours or that kind of routine. I find it oppressive. So if I were to adopt those kinds of hours, some of the quality of life that I presently enjoy would go missing. Otoh, making sure that you have the time to rest and the time for leisure and for friends and family are very important. It just doesn't have to be at those particular hours.
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I may go for a walk or beer at like 5 o'clock if there's nothing urgent to do, but I don't have business hours otherwise. Only clients are not expected to call me outside of normal, polite hours for that sort of thing unless it's really urgent or beneficial to me.
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