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Poll: Work-wise, I tend to try to plan ahead:
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
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Nov 26, 2020

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Work-wise, I tend to try to plan ahead:".

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Kai Park
Fatima Hajyousef
Milan Golubovic
Farnaz Namvar
 
Ana Vozone
Ana Vozone  Identity Verified
Local time: 16:07
Member (2010)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Other Nov 26, 2020

I prefer not to plan ahead at all. There are things I like/want to do, and I usually do those when the opportunity arises, i.e., when I have large jobs booked with a "comfortable" deadline and I know I can take a few days off or, if I just want to relax for a while, I take a longer break during the day to go to a museum or spend time outside/outdoors.

Augusto Rochadel
Muriel Vasconcellos
Tábata Porto
Maria da Glória Teixeira
Mariana Catarina
Iva Tomečić
Farnaz Namvar
 
Christopher Schröder
Christopher Schröder
United Kingdom
Member (2011)
Swedish to English
+ ...
Depends Nov 26, 2020

Much of my workload consists of regular reports published annually, quarterly or weekly. All of that gets booked (or at least pencilled in) a year or more in advance.

If you ask me what will I be doing in late January 2026, I’m certain it will be the same report I’ve been doing in late January since 2005.

But in between these scheduled jobs, who knows?

Right now, my desk is clear. I have a weekly report coming in later today and some more chapters of a
... See more
Much of my workload consists of regular reports published annually, quarterly or weekly. All of that gets booked (or at least pencilled in) a year or more in advance.

If you ask me what will I be doing in late January 2026, I’m certain it will be the same report I’ve been doing in late January since 2005.

But in between these scheduled jobs, who knows?

Right now, my desk is clear. I have a weekly report coming in later today and some more chapters of a book due in next week. What is there to plan?

I think I’ll just go out and play with my friends.
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Mervyn Henderson (X)
Sanjin Grandić
Farnaz Namvar
 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 16:07
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Other Nov 26, 2020

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 after I meet my quota, I’m free to do something else or to keep on working if I’m not too tired and the weather is not inviting. Let's say that each time I happen to exceed my daily quota I have a kind of a childish feel…... 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 after I meet my quota, I’m free to do something else or to keep on working if I’m not too tired and the weather is not inviting. Let's say that each time I happen to exceed my daily quota I have a kind of a childish feel…

[Edited at 2020-11-26 11:59 GMT]
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Liena Vijupe
Linda Miranda
Augusto Rochadel
Mervyn Henderson (X)
Philip Lees
Rachel Long
Muriel Vasconcellos
 
Aline Amorim
Aline Amorim  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 13:07
English to Portuguese
+ ...
A week or a few in advance Nov 26, 2020

I prefer to plan ahead a week because I never know the kind of job will get my hands on and still, there is a truth about unexpected life events: I have to expect them to happen. Things come up that interrupt my plans all the time.

Inés Cendón Rodríguez
Yetta Jensen Bogarde
Maria da Glória Teixeira
Said Ahmed
Miriam Goldschmidt
Farnaz Namvar
 
Kay Denney
Kay Denney  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 17:07
French to English
. Nov 26, 2020

Unlike Chris, I have no idea when anything is due to land on my desk. So planning is impossible unless I actually have a text to translate. The plan usually goes: get draft done asap, proofread at last possible minute.
In between translations, I have various hobbies that I can fit around my work schedule. It seems that any time I make a non-translation to-do list, a translation comes in. So I should maybe plan to draw up such lists any time the dry spell lingers for too long.


P.L.F. Persio
Inés Cendón Rodríguez
Kaisa I
Jessica Noyes
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Mario Freitas
Anna Herbst
 
Mario Freitas
Mario Freitas  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 13:07
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
You wish! Nov 26, 2020

Freelance translators may wish to plan their work in advance, but it's unfortunatelly not possible. I have a lot of work this week, very little for next week, and nothing planned after that. However, it's been exacly the same in the past months, and I've been overloaded with work and forced to refuse jobs lately, because you only know your actual volume of work a week in advance, at the most. You never know if you'll have nothing to do for five days in a row or if you'll receive a new giant proj... See more
Freelance translators may wish to plan their work in advance, but it's unfortunatelly not possible. I have a lot of work this week, very little for next week, and nothing planned after that. However, it's been exacly the same in the past months, and I've been overloaded with work and forced to refuse jobs lately, because you only know your actual volume of work a week in advance, at the most. You never know if you'll have nothing to do for five days in a row or if you'll receive a new giant project tomorrow.
So our planning is only possible once the PO is issued. Other than that, it's pure utopia.
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Naoko Orito
Mervyn Henderson (X)
Laura Bissio CT
Muriel Vasconcellos
Beatriz Ramírez de Haro
Bruno Pavesi
Christine Andersen
 
Maxi Schwarz
Maxi Schwarz  Identity Verified
Local time: 11:07
German to English
+ ...
It's not that black and white Nov 27, 2020

I get work of various lengths, at different times from different clients. You need to have a flexible workable system, and that system is your "plan ahead months in advance", but the work flow is week by week or otherwise.

Philip Lees
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Vesa Korhonen
Yetta Jensen Bogarde
Said Ahmed
Gibril Koroma
Sanjin Grandić
 
Muriel Vasconcellos
Muriel Vasconcellos  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 09:07
Member (2003)
Spanish to English
+ ...
Unpredictability is built into the nature of our profession Nov 28, 2020

With my clients, I never get advance notice. I'm at the mercy of their needs and their schedules. I think that's true for many if not most of us.

The best I can do is keep up daily quotas. The only "planning ahead" is when I inform my clients when I plan to take a break. After I come back from a break, work often shows up spontaneously in my inbox. Apparently that little "trigger" calls their attention to my availability.


Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Sundar Gopalakrishnan
Mario Freitas
Christine Andersen
Yetta Jensen Bogarde
Gabriela Miklińska
Magdalena Balibrea Vich
 
Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 16:07
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
Planning is for the week ahead only Nov 28, 2020

I already have a shedload of work for next week. Beyond that there's just a book I'm editing (that will wait until the New Year) plus vague promises of "a string of translations" and "the Guide", a regular 240-page proofreading job that normally happens in the summer but was booked in for a week in October 2020, then for last week, and is still awaited. So although nothing is planned, I'm sure something will crop up.

Any day that starts without scheduled work gets classed as (a) a
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I already have a shedload of work for next week. Beyond that there's just a book I'm editing (that will wait until the New Year) plus vague promises of "a string of translations" and "the Guide", a regular 240-page proofreading job that normally happens in the summer but was booked in for a week in October 2020, then for last week, and is still awaited. So although nothing is planned, I'm sure something will crop up.

Any day that starts without scheduled work gets classed as (a) a free day, (b) an admin day, or (c) a book editing day.
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Maria da Glória Teixeira
Said Ahmed
Iva Tomečić
 
Gibril Koroma
Gibril Koroma  Identity Verified
Canada
Local time: 12:07
French to English
+ ...
Monthly Dec 4, 2020

I make plans for everything, including work. Every month. Of course I make adjustments as I go along.

lalikomekosh
 
Veronica Montserrat
Veronica Montserrat
France
Local time: 17:07
Member (2020)
English to French
+ ...
Impossible to plan ahead Dec 4, 2020

Each day I need to write down again my assignments for the week because it keeps changing all the time.

I find it impossible to plan ahead. I do have regular clients but I never know when they will need a new translation. I also send offers and respond to job offers regularly, so I never know when a new translation will come in.

So, yes, "I tend to try to plan ahead" because I need some structure, but it's simply not possible.


Iva Tomečić
 
Mr. Satan (X)
Mr. Satan (X)
English to Indonesian
Weekly, if possible Dec 7, 2020

Not always possible, yes. But I would try my best to schedule everything on a weekly basis. That way, I can reliably get a day-off or two.

 
Sanjin Grandić
Sanjin Grandić  Identity Verified
Croatia
Local time: 17:07
Member (2020)
French to Croatian
+ ...
No planning Dec 11, 2020

The less I plan the better it works for me.
The only sure thing are my 45 days off in summer on my boat sailing on the Adriatic sea from island to island.

That is why I work all year long ...


 
Christopher Schröder
Christopher Schröder
United Kingdom
Member (2011)
Swedish to English
+ ...
RIP Daily Poll Dec 16, 2020

Farewell, my old friend. You provided entertainment where there was despair, shed light where there was none, caused argument where there was no need, and ultimately disappointed nearly everyone. But now it seems your job is done, your mission complete. God speed.

Mervyn Henderson (X)
Liena Vijupe
Zibow Retailleau
P.L.F. Persio
Christine Andersen
writeaway
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
 
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Poll: Work-wise, I tend to try to plan ahead:






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