Intuition in freelancing – Practical examples of listening to the inner voice

 

A vital but unquantifiable part of business success, whether small or large, is the use of intuition. It tells us to fight or flee, engage or avoid or seize or ignore. To be clear, intuition may sometimes feel similar to fear or enthusiasm. However, it transcends those temporary reactions and guides business people in deciding whether to work with a certain customer, take on a given project or invest time and money in a specific marketing initiative. While listening to intuition may not guarantee success, ignoring it can lead to disaster.

To define the term, intuition is the feeling that an individual experiences upon exposure to a new person, idea or proposal even before knowing any or all of the facts. The opportunity seems clearly “right” or “not right” without a person being able to put a finger on the reasons. Further analysis can confirm or cancel the feeling or merely confuse the issue but the initial intuition, like a first impression of a person, is generally correct. One of the difficulties in trusting intuition is its similarity to more fleeting sensations, notably fear and enthusiasm. In other words, people may be in an emotional state in which they want an idea to work even if all the indications are contrary or, by contrast, they refuse to believe in the success despite all the positive signs. Intuition is a deeper feeling and remains constant. In fact, one of the tests of intuition is to delay the decision for a short time and test whether the previous willingness or reluctance remains. It is amazing how often, in hindsight, we knew what to do from the start.

One of the major business decisions where intuition is vital is the choice to take on a given new customer. Even with due diligence, many entrepreneurs generally lack all the facts to objectively assess the benefits/risks of working with a given person or company. While the benefits of a new customer are evident, i.e., short-term and long-term revenue, the hidden risks can sometimes outweigh them. For example, some customers could be reluctant payers while others work in such an inefficient manner that it greatly increases the work required. As they say about friends, with customers like these, who needs rivals? In practice, the tone and content of the emails and spoken conversation often provide a window into the inner workings of the potential customer. Granted, if they are working in a foreign language or come from a different culture, an unpleasant tone or approach may merely indicate lack of fluency or cultural variance. However, in most cases, if a red light goes off in the brain when negotiating with a new customer, the freelancer needs to think twice. In many cases, avoiding the person or company is a good idea regardless of the lack of objective proof to the contrary.

Freelancers work by projects but must apply intuition in choosing which project to take on. There is a concept in economics called “opportunity cost”. It means that one price of taking project A is the inability to take on project B. Moreover, customers never forget an improperly executed job even if they sometimes forgive it. The significance is that a freelancer or company should not take on a project that “feels” beyond its ability or below its interest. In the first case, the result cannot be ideal because it involves learning at the customer’s expense, never a great idea. Similarly, the lack of interest in a project generally negatively affects the level of execution. Poor work is one of the primary reasons businesses lose customers. Curiously, freelancers generally “know” whether or not to take on a given project. However, illusions of grandeur or desperation lead people to roll the dice. Just as the vast majority of gamblers lose in Las Vegas and Atlantic City, “wrong” projects too often go awry. By contrast, calculated risks taken with open eyes are often the keys to opening up doors of opportunity. Wisdom is hearing and following intuition.

Finally, intuition also plays a role in marketing decisions. Freelancers sometimes receive invitations to join various sites, conferences and events both in their industry and outside it. These opportunities require an investment of time and/or money. It is hard, if not impossible, to know which of these will pan out. A postponed decision too often becomes an unmade decision as other urgent matters arrive on the desk. Thus, it is worthwhile investing two minutes to investigate the opportunity in order to ascertain whether it has potential or not. Intuition is a key element in the decision as it is difficult to access all of the factors. Of course, mental fatigue and work pressure tend to make it easier to pass on them. However, this laziness may result in a lost opportunity. If a marketing lead feels relevant, it is often worthwhile to sign up immediately or, at least, put on an active “to do” list for further investigation. As Fleetwood Mac sang, nobody knows what tomorrow will bring.

Clearly, intuition is neither infallible nor clear. People find it difficult to distinguish it from their internal want or fear list or simply do not trust it. However, freelancers, without dedicated marketing and financial departments to conduct a full investigation, have to depend on it. Faced with the limitations of time and energy, a quick but careful decision in line with intuition leads to far greater success than one in opposition to it. Of course, it is always advisable to check the facts to look for traps. Yet, in a world where partial knowledge is the best we have, intuition is an important tool for every business person. Ignore your inner voice at your own peril.

Different roads to Rome – multiple paths to a successful freelancing career

 

[bird's eye view of highway and side road*]

If you ask most adults over forty how they entered their chosen profession, especially freelancers, a rather high percentage of them will admit that it was serendipity. Rare are those that knew what they wanted to do at 18 or younger and actually made a career of that ambition. By contrast, today it is far more common for people at the beginning of their professional life to immediately strive to open their own business, whether that is being an attorney, freelance translator or any other form of entrepreneurship. The need to first work for someone else is no longer assumed.

Thus, there seems to be two ideal types of freelancers active in translation now: those that “fell” into the profession later in their life and those that had no doubt that they wanted to be their one boss from day one and trained for that goal. Each path carries its own strengths and weaknesses and shapes the learning experience of the freelancer. Of course, individual tendencies also influence the nature of the professional growth. However, regardless of the initial approach, circumstances require all business people, including freelancers, to constantly learn and adapt.

Many older translators began their freelancing life later in life. Due to technological limitations, in the not-so-distant past, translation, especially technical translation, was largely in-house or local and thus difficult to enter. Freelancing often began as a source of second income and capitalized on years, even decades, of experience and knowledge of a certain industry. Thus, such accidental entrepreneurs brought with them a rich background of subject knowledge but often much less of technical knowledge of translation and business management, especially marketing, which they had to learn on the fly.

By contrast, the last decade has seen a growing number of people at the start of the professional life choosing the path of freelancing in general and translation in particular. Consequently, even before earning any significant money, they seek detailed knowledge and take courses, both free and paid, to prepare themselves for the challenge. This focus, fueled by ambition and the need to make a living, gives them a huge advantage in grasping trends and applying technology. On a technical level, they are off to a flying start. The issue sometimes is the depth of knowledge of the actual area of technology, e.g., medicine and law, as compared to their more experienced colleagues. Of course, both paths are legitimate.

Clearly, personal traits influence how people approach a profession. Elements such as income, technical success, comparative performance and life style balance have a varying impact on how people run their business. For me, money beyond a certain amount has never been a great motivator. (Otherwise, I would have never become a teacher first.) I also have a tendency to not ask questions and try to figure things out by myself. The reason for this stubborn insistence is that I enjoy the learning experience as much as  the actual result. The charm of working in translation is the joy of constant learning, whether in regard to content, business management or marketing. It is the complement of teaching, whose main variable is the students, not the process. Thus, I, maybe peculiarly, feed off the process of running a freelance translating business as much as the income. I freely admit that many freelancers have neither the inclination nor the luxury of relishing the road and must focus on making a living. Circumstances and tendences are very individual.

Regardless of the initial approach of freelancers to the business, incredibly rapid changes in technology, marketing, communication and business structure, to name a few, render any lesson learned today obsolete in five years. It is extremely difficult to find anybody whose client body, business practices and work  volume have not changed radically in the past few years, for good or bad. In practice, all freelancers, for that matter all businesses, must both plan for an uncertain future and learn by trial and error. Since nobody can accurately predict the future beyond the fact that much of life, including business, will be quite different in a decade, people, including freelancers, are left to the heuristic approach, ideally striving to learn from the experience of others, if possible, but mainly from their own experience, including mistakes. No business, small or large, is protected from constant change.

 It turns out that the roads to Rome, regardless of their classification, today have an amazing resemblance to the random staircases of Harry Potter’s Hogwarts. The most efficient route is never quite certain. Thus, in my opinion, whether labeled the express route or service road, the road of a successful freelance translator is filled with surprises, which adds spice to it, at least in my opinion.

* Picture captions allow the blind to fully access the Internet.

Picture credit

The freelance dilemma – rising and raising prices

 

[Crossroads*]

It is probable that many countries will experience meaningful inflation in the short-term future.  For example, the US Labor Department announced an increase in prices of 0.9% in October of 2021, this previous month. For freelancers lacking both a CFO to analyze the risk as well as significant market strength, this inflation poses a serious challenge, even danger, as it affects our ability to make a living. As I see it, the self-employed have four options to cope with the return of inflation if it occurs, each with its benefits and risks.

To clarify why inflation is likely to become a significant factor in the short term, in simplistic terms, inflation is too much money seeking too few goods. In the last three years, governments around the world have pumped in unprecedented cash to their economies while their economies were not growing or even shrinking at the same time. Therefore, neither production nor productivity compensated for the inflow of money. Furthermore, given the current high cost of living in many countries and high level of government aid, many workers do not wish or cannot afford to return to their previous jobs, minimum wage and higher, creating a labor shortage in many industries and, consequently, pressure to increase wages. Adding the masses of people that have chosen to leave salaried positions to start their one business, employers will have to pay more to attract employees, a cost that will eventually be passed on to consumers. Thus, prices are likely to increase until a balance is reestablished.

Inaction is always an option. It is emotionally easier both for the self-employed and their customers to ignore inflation. Whether out of ignorance, the lack of belief that anything can be done, as with exchange rates, or the conviction that the market will not bear higher rates, passive freelancers hope that inflation will not be significant enough to affect their standard of living. In the worst case, the relative attractiveness of their rates will lead an increase in volume, compensating for the loss in purchase power. The advantage is that it is possible to continue with “business as usual” and ignore actual conditions. The risk is regular loss of potential income and lower actual revenue

One active response to wait for official inflation figures in order to justify rate increases to customers. In theory, freelancers can inform their customers that their rates are increasing X% to reflect the official figures for the previous six to twelve months. For the freelancer, such an approach helps reinforce the courage required to raise prices and should increase the chance that this request or notice is accepted without protest. On the other hand, this strategy recognizes a write off of indexing differences, the gap between the nominal and adjusted income. Furthermore, as freelance rates are not automatically linked to any income, there is a limit on the frequency that this unilateral increase can be made, generally around once a year. While this reaction-based approach may be simple, it also simply creates lost income due to its delayed effect even in the best circumstances.

Of course, the self-employed can take a proactive approach and inform their customers that as of a certain date, their rates are increasing. For example, a translator can announce that as of January 1,2022, their rates will be .105 EUR per word instead of .10 EUR per word to reflect increased prices and taxes. The advantage of the approach is that it reduces the impact of inflation. The danger is that not all customers will continue to provide work at the same level or at all. As a result, entrepreneurs must invest time and effort in finding customers that will pay their desired rates, a positive result in itself. Admittedly, there is no certainty that the proposed increase will fully compensate for the actual inflation but there is no certainty in business in any matter. While being proactive may create some tension with existing customers and involve increasing marketing efforts, it does provide some protection from inflation.

Another approach, at least for translators and editors, is to switch to project-based pricing. As there are no “units” in this form of proposal, the rate can be adjusted flexibly, taking into account specific circumstances such as the individual customer, the state of the relevant economy and translation markets and the actual supply and demand of the freelancer at the time. As there is no need to justify increases to the customer, they are much easier to attain in real time. Of course, it requires educating customers that you do not have any per-word or per-hour rates but, in my experience, they not only get used to it but find project proposals much simpler. While many customers, including large agencies, may not prefer this approach, end clients find it much easier to understand and budget for. Furthermore, it does allow for immediate adjustment of prices. Project-based pricing requires changing the nature of the customer-freelancer relationship but provides the most effective protection from inflation in my opinion.

If inflation does begin to significantly affect buying power, freelancers should actively consider their strategy to cope with it. Each approach suggested above has its advantages and risks. However, clearly the problem of rising prices and raising rates poses a dilemma to self-employed but the power to act is our hands.

* Captions help the blind access the Internet.

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The Artful Dodger – From no-win to win-win on offers you can refuse

                                                                  [Black pebbles]

Freelancers live by projects, long-term and short-term, which almost always involve providing a price proposal. Unfortunately, many of these requests are irrelevant due to the task, scope, price, deadline or nature of the job. On the surface, it appears that these situations provide no real opportunity and are simply a waste of time and energy. However, with some lateral thinking and proper communication, any request for a proposal becomes a real opportunity.

The most objective reason for not being able to take on a project is the lack of appropriate skills. Professionals know that discretion is the better part of valor, i.e., if you cannot do it right, don’t do it. So, freelancers faced with requests beyond their skill set tend to write polite refusal notes, hopefully explaining that the task is not in their realm of skill. However, since the requesting party has your undivided attention, it is a great opportunity to market your actual specialty. It is quite possible that the people reading it or any of their friends and acquaintances may need those services now or in the future. This request, however irrelevant, is an ideal opportunity to market as it is requested, does not cost a penny and allows freelancers to express their uniqueness to an attentive audience. Not only that, if you can refer another freelancer with the required skills, the reference will create a wave of goodwill for all parties, which may bear fruits in the future both from the prospective customer and the other professional. Thus, the presented opportunity for future business is just as important as the actual proposal.

In other cases, the requested proposals involve some elements that are beyond the scale or scope of the freelancer. In this case, an opportunity is still present. First, freelancers need to explain simply and clearly which aspects of the project are relevant to them. In regards to the other elements, a freelancer can offer to manage the project or have the potential customer handle the management. Again, if you can provide any referrals, it saves time for the customer and creates a future referral to you. Therefore, it is always good to be aware of professionals with complementary businesses. If the customer should opt for you to manage the project, the management fee provides supplementary income even if it does sometimes complicate life. With or without the management aspect, the freelancer creates a positive and professional impression.

The most common reason to dismiss a request for a bid, at least in translation, is the budget limits. It is often clear, explicitly or implicitly, that each of the parties is on a different planet in terms of price. There is a natural tendency to laugh or scowl and then ignore the request. Even this bottom-fisher type of request is a marketing opportunity. It is worth answering and even preparing a template that states your rate, justifies it in terms of the quality of your work, suggests that it may be possible to collaborate on a small project in the future where the price difference may be less meaningful, and plants in the mind of the customer the idea that you are the person if they need your special set of skills in the future and have an appropriate budget. It is quite probable that no immediate project will arise but business success is a matter of both the quantity and quality of marketing exposure.

In many projects, the major problem is the deadline.  As too many businesses do not or cannot plan ahead, they find themselves needing to outsource a task at the last minute. Here, the freelaner faces a dilemma. This request for a bid is an actual, even quite profitable opportunity. On the other hand, it carried great potential for short-term and long-term disaster in terms of work effort and poor quality. To avoid the danger, it is necessary to carefully consider whether the project can be properly executed within the allotted time. If so, the freelancer can and should add a hefty rush fee to justify the extreme effort. If not, the reply should include a realistic deadline that reflects the time required to provide a professional result. Curiously enough, the deadline is frequently not as firm as it was stated. Therefore, either the potential clients adjust their deadline or refuse the offer this time. The freelancer wins in all cases as maintaining a reputation is as important as gaining a project. Furthermore, the professional approach may bear fruit in the future.

An emotional reason to avoid a project is the unpleasant nature of the work itself. Just because a given task is part of the job description and within the skill set does not make it attractive and tempting. Every profession has its “dark side” of time-consuming and boring tasks. At certain times, freelancers simply “don’t feel like” doing them. In terms of business, this is often a poor choice but even freelancers are human. One way to alter the situation is to offer a price that takes the drudgery into account, i.e., provide a high quote. In such a case, freelancers win regardless of the result as if the bid is refused, a better job will come soon, while, if accepted, a handful of sugar (money) makes the medicine (job) go down, to paraphrase Mary Poppins. Just ask plumbers how much money they take to handle blocked piping from the toilet. Thus, unpleasant work creates an opportunity for higher pay.

In the famous story about lateral thinking, a girl facing the choice of two black pebbles changes a no-win situation to 100% probability of a positive result. Likewise, even faced with completely irrelevant project proposals, it is possible and desirable to answer and gain from them. As Mr. Buffet has often explained, opportunity comes to those who seek it.

*Label all images in order to allow blind people to access your blog.  All pictures via the pixiebay site.

Starting up the freelance business leanly

This week, I attended a short lecture and workshop given by Prof. Rami Gazit from the Braude College of Engineering.  The subject was the lean startup model, which was new to me.  In a few hours, he provided the background and main points of this business model.  As a freelancer translator for 15 years with a formal business background (MBA), I could not help but consider whether this knowledge would have helped me when I started and how much it is relevant now.  My conclusion is that while freelancing and startups are not identical situations, some of the basic concepts to which I was exposed would definitely apply to a startup and established freelance translator.

To begin with, I clearly see three important differences between technical startups and freelancing.  The first involves the environment in which the business begins. One of the definitions of a startup business provided us was an attempt to create a viable business model in an essentially uncertain world, i.e., to introduce a new product or service into the market.  By contrast, freelancing involves providing a known product or service in a relatively stable existing market, i.e. specific and complete business models already exist.  

Another important difference is the end goal of the activity.  Ultimately, the startup entrepreneur wants to succeed in creating a business that is sufficiently large and viable to sell for millions. By contrast, the more modest end goal of all freelancers is to make a living in the long term on their terms.  The money involved is in thousands, not millions. Granted, in the translation business, more and more successful freelance businesses are being bought in the recent of conglomeration.  Still, the vast majority of freelancers are in for the long term to make a living. Finally, new freelance translators, unlike a budding startup company, has nothing new to offer. Their service is superficially identical to that of countless others. The only changes in the service will be the product of outside technological change, such as machine translation, not any innovation they can bring.

That said, freelancers can learn from the lean startup model. First, in both, it is essential to focus on the customer, not on the product or service. This emphasis is vital both in the starting and later stages of the business. In the beginning, it is necessary to talk with companies and translation project managers to ascertain what they look for, i.e. the characteristics of a successful service provider. For example, in translation, on-time delivery and effective communication create the basis for a long-term customer.  As the business grows, these same customers can provide information regarding QA issues and other required services, i.e. areas to which the service provide can expand, such as transcreation or post-MT editing in the translation field today. Only after entrepreneurs understand their customers can they tailor their skills and knowledge to the market.

Proper scaling also applies to freelance businesses. Scaling applies to the speed of expansion of business activities.  The relevant key lesson from lean startup is that trial and error on a small scale is vital for long term success.  In other words, in the beginning, freelancers should focus on a single specialization within their repertoire of skills and knowledge. For example, translators should market one language pair in one direction in one specialization.  When translating or marketing errors occur, the lessons learned from this experience will significantly increase the efficiency in later stages. Not only that, a small controlled start will avoid burning customers for the later stages. Once the basic technical issues are clarified and resolved, it will be possible to expand to further niches (and higher income). Thus, while there is a tendency to throw out a wide net, a narrow focus in the beginning can better serve a new freelancer.

The third aspect is the need to be able to pivot, i.e. flexibility. Whether due to market changes or incorrect assumptions, some marketing ideas or potential niches do not produce results. After a certain point, it is pointless to invest more time and energy in them, at least for the meantime. A successful entrepreneur seeks another area in which the same set of skills and knowledge or an additional one will apply. For example, the knowledge of legal and financial accounting terminology is also a key in translating documents for international development marketing as I learned in a recent ATA webinar by Corinne Mckay. Since the business world is only relatively stable, the ability to pivot is relevant for the entire lifetime of a freelancing business. Change can be a curse or an opportunity. Flexibility is an important relative advantage of a successful freelancer.

I make no claim of being an expert of lean startup after a two-hour lecture/workshop.  Yet, I found many of its lessons relevant to both new and established freelancers, including but not limited to translators. The need to be customer focused by asking questions, walk before running and identify and react to changes applies to all businesses, freelancers, startups and even corporations. All entrepreneurs that start up a business can lean on these principles.

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Intuit

I have been a freelancer for some 15 years now.  I began my translating career knowing next to nothing about translation and very little in practice about running my own business. To explain, my MBA did provide me with some macro understanding but very little guidance on how to run a one-person business. My tools were trial and error, analysis and, most importantly, intuition.

To be clear, I have made plenty of mistakes and still do occasionally.  After every “disaster”, I analyze what went wrong and how to avoid a repeat incident.  In this manner, I have managed to learn what my business education did not teach me: how to run a translation business. Aside from countless small technical tricks, my main conclusion of all my analysis is that the key for me on both a macro and micro level is not accounting or vision, which have their place, but but instead intution, 

Intuition is the “gut feeling” before any decision, big or small, that it feels right.  It is not necessarily rational and logical within the framework of the facts known at the time. Nor does it emotionally reflect our desires and/or fears. Intuition often leads us to take actions that have negative short term consequence or arouse fear.  In fact, our intuition both encompasses these elements and surpasses them in understanding. It is the feeling that a given plan of action is correct regardless of whether the brain or heart endorses it. Of course, it should not be confused with wishful thinking, a dangerous cousin, infamous for causing impulsive and foolish actions. The difference between them is similar to that between happy and contented, with the former describing the state of mind at any given time, subject to immediate change, while the latter describing a general state of mind regardless of immediate events. In fact, the key in known what a potential decision is intuitive or wishful is if it still feels correct after some time has passed.

I can say that I could have avoided close to 95% of my mistakes if I had noticed and heeded my intuition. On a macro level, I would have avoided several scammers since I sensed that something was wrong but did not investigate.  I would have avoided certain texts that were beyond my understanding and ability, which I immediately knew deep down. I would have pursued certain marketing media much earlier because I understood that they had good potential. On a micro level,  I would have insisted on longer deadlines since I had a strong feeling that the document was more complicated than it seemed at first glance but I did not insist. I would have rechecked and reedited phrases that lit up a red light before the client had to read it. In other words, as a translator, I “knew” what I needed to do but did not follow my intuition.

On a positive note, my intuitive decision to break out of the gilded cage of a salary and become independent has transformed my life and thinking.  I cannot imagine my life only as a teacher. Armed with intuition, I have found a long-term niche, developed practical operating procedures and pursued effective marketing strategies not only relying on my rational analysis but also my intuitive feeling. I have had almost no payment issues in a situation where most of my customers are far away. Without being an expert on any specific country, I have been able to communicate with people from a wide variety of cultures and expectations. In an uncertain future, I can rely on my intuition, with guidance from others as required, to overcome challenges.

To clarify, every business person, large and small, must be keep track and be aware of the key numbers: income, expenses, change, etc. Not only that, a vision of the business in five years is vital for long term planning. However, these two tools are not sufficient to guarantee success. At least for freelancers, intuition is an important key.

The advice is deceivingly simple. The voice of our intuition is much quieter than that of our desires, fear and cold logic.  Not only that, outside voices, both family and colleagues, can impact our decisions, many times but not always for the best. Consequently, it is important to consult people that truly understand, not primarily want to control. Ultimately, the success of freelancer is in the hands of the freelancer. You don’t need an MBA to succeed but it is vital to listen to the quiet but wise voice of intuition.

Anna Chronistic terms

I am a freelancer. This term is almost universally understood, even in languages other than English.  Yet, at the same term, the word refers to a no longer existing profession wiped out by changes in technology.  Specifically, in Europe for some three hundred years, through the 17^th century, more or less, a group of men that were armed and skilled in fighting with a lance wandered around Europe searching for paying clients and generally found them.  The mass production of simple powder weapons that took much less strength and training to master ended the value of their services.  Still, any person not receiving a salary that is searching physical or virtual space for paying clients is a freelancer, not matter which service s/he is offering.

Changes in written communication technology have also bypassed some vocabulary.  For example, if a person is penciled in to work on a given day, the chance that the name is written in pencil is small.  Today, computer technology is our book and keyboards are pencils. Likewise, it is common practice with emails to cc a person or persons if they should be informed of its content.  Curiously, carbon copies, made by putting a carbon sheet between sheets of paper in typewriters have gone the way of those typewriters, i.e. disappeared except as a quaint period piece. Still, we cc in emails.

The revolution in long distance communication has also left behind victims.  While we still refer to the process of starting a telephone conversation as dialing, people actually press buttons today. In fact, most of those under the age of 40 have no idea what to do with a real dial telephone.  In the world of banking, money using wire transfers, which were once upon a time notices by telegraph or similar direct line means.  In 2019, modern and even not so modern banks use the Internet htlml messages to communicate money transfers. Yet, they are still “wired” in language.

In terms of the order of matters, language is also lagging a bit behind reality. It is unwise to put the cart before the horse for obvious reasons, but except on Aran Island in Ireland and few isolated places, people travel by car and motorcycle, not horse and carriage.  Likewise, a person jumping the gun leaves too quickly.  Yet, at all track events I have seen in the past few years, the started is an electronic beep, not a person firing a gun.  Still, the expression remains.

You could conclude, to paraphrase Tolstoy in Anna Karenina, that all long-lasting expressions are alike: they transfer the meaning and moment of the term, even if that term is no longer in the moment, unlike most short-lived slang, which fails to get anchored in the language for many different reasons. These outdated but ever effective terms have the horsepower, strength, to retain their places in our thoughts.

Freelance business potential or I had a good day

Many years ago, I learned of a way to measure the potential of a business quickly and inexpensively. The technique is to identify the business day with the best results, analyze what went right that day, and apply the lessons learned from this analysis. Of great relevance to freelancers, it takes into account that each business is fundamentally different mainly due to the fact each person and set of circumstances is unique. This technique helps define the current actual potential of a business rather than its theoretical and maybe unattainable one.

Clearly freelancing involves factors not relevant to standard businesses. Freelancing is generally conducted from a residence and not always even in a dedicated room. As a result, friends and family represent a major disturbance factor. Furthermore, household duties, including laundry and cooking, can be a serious time robber. This lack of clear distinction between work and home also creates a tendency to relax business discipline as distractors are close and plenty. As freelancers are their own bosses, work discipline is internal matter subject to moods and whims, unlike the traditional workplace where fear of the boss keeps people on their toes. Finally, freelancers must handle sales, marketing, production, bookkeeping and post-sale service, often dividing their concentration and rendering them less efficient in any or all of the tasks. Thus, the potential of a freelancer is not identical to that of a standard business.

Given the multiples hats a freelancer wears, the term productivity can be measured on many forms, depending on what is required. The results can include an order from a new client, proper job preparation, successful resolution of a customer issue, sending of invoices, collection of debts, preparation of marketing material, cleaning of the desk and even producing a product or service. All of these required to earn money but are not directly reflected in daily income. Psychologically, freelancers must consider each one a proper and effective use of work time.

Given that the productivity of freelancers is so dependent on themselves, a good day begins by starting the morning properly.  A good night’s sleep creates the conditions for proper energy while getting waking up at the ideal hour, both individual matters, helps starts the day with maximum momentum. Likewise, some type of breakfast fuels the morning hours. Feeling physically good is a basic requirement for the ideal day.

In addition, since outside disturbances, both work-related and domestic, drain energy, the efficient day begins with a clear head. Some people have the skill and/or discipline to block out external matters but most freelancers have to clear them away. First of all, the best day begins with no pending email matters from previous days, the mental version of a clear desk. Not always in our control, it is preferable that there are no unpleasant appointments scheduled that day, such as the dentist, which not only take time but create anxiety. Facebook is the enemy of productivity.  Since nothing there is truly urgent, the mere refusal to open it reduces that temptation. By contrast, scheduling a pleasant evening activity creates a positive expectation for the evening as well as reinforces discipline in terms of staying on task as the available time is limited. Importantly, translators must educate the friends and family that work hours are precisely those even if they are physically at home. Admittedly, this is not an easy goal to achieve. Thus, the mind is in focus on the tasks at hand.

The work process directly affects productivity. For example, a clear but flexible schedule helps directs the order and priority of tasks.  For example, if a translation is due EOD, the first draft should be completed as early as possible in order to have as much “forget time” before final QA. In additioon, ideally, all elements of the job should be ready. If a translator is using a CAT (computer assisted translation) tool on a document from a PDF, the document should be converted into Word the night before, a task that can be done even when the person is bit tired. If writing is the task at hand, the freelancer should organize the approach and material beforehand. It is possible to properly focus completely on either content or language, but not both. Setting daily goals dividing the tasks that must be completed and those that we would like to be completed is a useful technique for many people. If there are multiple tasks for that day, a list helps freelancers move through the day by creating easy recall and helps prevent avoidable emergencies. If a task has multiple stages, each aspect should be considered separately, a successful method for reducing stress in large, complicated projects. For example, the creation of a website involves attaining the needed information, creating the text, defining the design concept and flow, production, proofing, etc., each of which is a complete task in itself. Of course, if specific physical materials are required, such as a printer toner, sufficient amounts should be in stock. Like a regular business, an ideal business day begins with the preparation on the previous day.

When all of the stars are aligned, it is amazing how much a freelancer can accomplish in a single day and how much satisfaction (and money) it provides. That magical work day is the current potential of the business, which can change in either direction for many reasons at any given time. The good news is that freelancers, like all businesspeople, have the power to influence those factors and recreate that success. Just as it is important to understand yourself to achieve happiness, an enterprise, no matter how small it is, needs to understand not only its failure but also its success. Scio te when the sun is shining.

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