My magical thinking approach to my freelance translation workload didn't work out this time.
As I've mentioned before, I've noticed that large quantities of work drop from the sky when I plan a lot of chores. Accordingly I try to come up with big to-do lists when I want to get some work in. Likewise, I procrastinate on the chores when I want to get a little time off.
Today I procrastinated. I've been working over the last several weekends and I figured I was due for a break. A couple days in a row sounded about right. Sort of like a weekend except in the middle of the week.
It even worked for a few hours, although Oz tried to scare me this morning. He called and, disguising his voice, said, "So, you wanna do some translatin'?" But then I started thinking of the chores I should do tomorrow and when I checked my email this evening, I found 5000 words about a water filter.
167 words | August 15, 2005 06:46 PM | Lost in translationMy backup strategy to avoid work is to raise my rates. Then if I still get work, at least I'm making more money. win-win!
Posted by: Derek at August 16, 2005 04:21 PMThat would work. In translation that can sometimes backfire, because the client will go with the low bidder and then have the high bidder do the proofreading, for which they don't pay very much.
At the moment I want to keep a steady flow of work (in order to have a correspondingly steady flow of cash), so I'll hold off for now. I did hike my rates after graduation, though, and my clients didn't squeal. I must not have raised them high enough.
Posted by: Nee-chama at August 16, 2005 06:52 PM