Musings from an overworked translator

How to say no and still keep the client May 26, 2009

As freelance translators we all eventually have to say “No” to a job offer. Either we are too busy to do a good job or feel it might be over our heads – or may simply want to enjoy a weekend off for a change. Some translators I know are afraid to say “No” to anything, because they are afraid the client won’t contact them again if they say “No” too many times. This isn’t a good mindset to get into. If you have done good jobs for them in the past and are easy to work with I guarantee the client will contact you again.

Sometimes “No” is the only responsible response – as well as an honorable response. If you decide that “No” is the answer that you prefer to give, then it is authentic and honest for you to say “No.” If you say “Yes” when you want to say “No” you will feel resentful the entire time you are working on the job – and that helps no one. This costs you energy and discomfort and is not necessary if you just say “No” when you need to. Plus, you probably won’t do as thorough a job if you are resentful – and that is NEVER a good idea.

There are ways to say “No” and still keep the client. A simple “No, I won’t be able to help with that. I’ve already made a commitment for Friday afternoon.” is always appreciated. My method is explaining why I can’t accept the job and always offering the names of one of two colleagues who I think would do a good job. It is up to the client to then decide whether or not contact them, but I have found that most of my clients appreciate a good referral. Sure, some clients have their own stable of translators who they contact, but some don’t. And your colleague might appreciate the work and return the favor in the future – it’s a win-win situation.

So the next time you are feeling overwhelmed practice saying “No.” I guarantee you that you won’t regret it.

The luxury of mobility May 20, 2009

You really have to love our job. We can live and work anywhere we want and still be able to keep in contact with our clients. Benny the Irish Polyglot is the epitome of the globetrotting translator :-), but most of us do love the freedom translating affords. As long as we have our laptop set up and configured we can pop off to the cafe and use the wi-fi whenever we feel like working with others or our Internet goes down.

I just spent the last two days at my sister’s. I babysat my nieces and still managed to translate around 3000 words both days. My parents are on vacation (I am also dogsitting their Cairn Terrier). My father babysits on Mondays, and my sister needed me to take his “shift.” I was even able to spontaneously stay a second day when I realized they needed me but hadn’t dared ask if I could. I don’t think my clients noticed, because I had access to my e-mail, Twitter and Skype the whole time. Most of my clients also know to call my cell phone. When I walked in the door tonight I checked my messages and only had one – and it was not a business call.

When my nieces asked me why I was working all day I explained that adults work all day (and that their mom and dad were also at work); however, I also found time to blow bubbles in the backyard, run around the yard with the dogs with them, and cater to their every need. Most importantly, I took the time to explain that work doesn’t feel like work when you are doing something you love. Hopefully that settled in their subconscience for when they grow older and are ready to choose a vocation.

Knowing when to step back and take a deep breath April 22, 2009

Business has started to pick up again (thank goodness!), and I had an Aha moment yesterday that I wanted to share with you. I got absolutely slammed with work over the past weekend. I had 27,000 words to proofread for one client and 5,000 words for another, several personal documents to translate for an individual, and a difficult AGB that I needed to finish. And then another client called begging me to accept another proofreading job (“only 300 lines”). I had initially turned them down flat-out, explaining I simply had too much to do as it was, but then the owner called and I managed to let her talk me into putting it off until Monday. Little did I know she meant Monday at noon my time, but that’s another story unto itself. Monday rolled around, and I had finished everything but the 27,000 words and the rush job. Somehow over the weekend or in the chaos of Monday morning between answering phone calls from the client every ten minutes and scrambling to make the deadline (I finally had to put my foot down and tell them in no uncertain terms to stop calling or I wouldn’t make the deadline), I somehow managed to lose the translation of the personal documents.

I needed to print the pages out yesterday to have it notarized and mail it to the client, and I could not find the file on my hard drive. I have a system that usually always works. Anything I am working on is either in the Attachments folder of my e-mail program or My Documents. Once I finish the job (and send the invoice) I zip up all the files and move them to an archive that is broken down by month and delete them from My Documents. When I get crazy busy, this sometimes has to wait until things slow down enough that I have time to do it.

I looked for the file I needed in both folders – three times! – and could not find it. I looked in my temporary folders. I started to wonder if I had possibly translated it and then forgotten to save the file in the franticness of the weekend. Talk about a bad feeling in the pit of your stomach… I couldn’t remember what I had called it, but I had a vague idea. I definitely knew that it contained the client’s last name. I initiated a search of the hard drive, searching for the client’s last name inside the file itself, and went off to make a cup of tea. As the water started boiling, it occurred to me that I had used a template of a birth certificate and that the file might have been saved in my Templates subfolder. Sure enough – it was!

Organization of files on your computer is so important. I know several colleagues who constantly lose files because they don’t know where they have saved them. I am a double Virgo, so this kind of disorganization would drive me insane. I lost 15 minutes yesterday trying to find the file. Being organized is important, but so is stepping back and taking a deep breath every once in a while. If I hadn’t stepped back and made a cup of tea I might still be searching for the file…

T minus one and counting… Tax Day is almost here April 13, 2009

I have had my taxes finished for about a month and a half now, but I choose to wait to mail in my returns until April 15th since – like most freelancers – I always owe the government instead of getting a refund like everyone else in the world. I’ve known this day was coming and have had the money set aside (unfortunately I had to dip into my “house down payment” savings account to cover the bigger-than-expected federal tax bill and my accountant’s fee), but it still hurts to write all those checks to the U.S. Treasury, State of Ohio and local city tax office – plus my first quarter estimates. The returns are signed, the checks are written, and the envelopes have been stuffed and sealed. I’ll be mailing them out on the 15th.

I was surprised to see that business really wasn’t as bad as I thought it was in the first quarter. My revenue compared to the first quarter of 2008 is down only $200, but I think my second quarter revenue is going to be down quite a bit compared to 2008.  It’s already down about $7000 compared to this time last year. This overworked translator misses being overworked!