| דפים בנושא: < [1 2] | Poll: When are you usually most productive? מפרסם התגובה: ProZ.com Staff
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Mario Freitas 
ברזיל
Local time: 00:55
חבר (2014)
מאנגלית לפורטוגזית
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| Late at night, | Sep 15, 2015 |
I used to think the first hours of the morning are the most productive, because people keep repeatig that in our ears, based on physiological aspects.
But one day, I found myself unemployed, and became a full-time translator at a home office. And ever since, I realized once everyone is asleep, no more TV's and stereos on, no more cars in the streets, then the telephone doesn't ring anymore and no one interrupts you to ask anything or to say "you don't give me any attention!", etc., ... See more I used to think the first hours of the morning are the most productive, because people keep repeatig that in our ears, based on physiological aspects.
But one day, I found myself unemployed, and became a full-time translator at a home office. And ever since, I realized once everyone is asleep, no more TV's and stereos on, no more cars in the streets, then the telephone doesn't ring anymore and no one interrupts you to ask anything or to say "you don't give me any attention!", etc., etc., etc... my work yields almost twice as much in productivity, concentration and accuracy.
You better believe it: the environmental aspects are a lot more significant than the physiological aspects. ▲ Collapse
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Mario Chavez wrote:
As a translator, I take issue with poorly phrased questions, statements and texts in the best of times. Even more so when the perpetrator seems to be a translator herself. Laziness of mind.
A recent article in The Wall Street Journal casts some light on the different views between the conventional productivity index used in calculating things like the GDP (gross domestic product index) that economists and government statistics bureaus use. They are based on goods and services with commercial value that are produced, sold and bought.
This article went on quoting someone at Google (a typical Silicon Valley utopian hotbed) who said (I'm paraphrasing) that we ought to measure the 'free' things (like apps to find a taxicab or a restaurant in an unknown city) as part of productivity.
I am assuming the pollster thinks of translation productivity as how many words are you translating per hour or day?
This brings to memory a statement by a certain Proz member who, in her profile, indicates that she can translate 2500 words per day, guaranteed —whatever that means.
Is that how we think of ourselves? Flesh-and-bone machines that yield a number of words for clients? That's a very reductive (and irrational) way of thinking.
---o---
Can't really say I agree with any of the above.
Firstly, it is you providing your definition of "productive" and then disagreeing with the question, which is "poorly phrased", "lazy minded", just because it doesn't match your idea.
"I am assuming the pollster thinks of translation productivity as how many words are you translating per hour or day?".
Exactly, it's your assumption.
A translator may find a particular time of day is more conducive to their productivity when translating, researching,
marketing, getting round to doing their accounts and other paperwork, getting backups and other boring things done....etc......
Not that the question itself is a flash of genius.
| | | | 564354352 (X)
דנמרק
Local time: 05:55
מדנית לאנגלית
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After my only cup of 'real' coffee in the morning and a couple of hours spent reading online news and other stuff, and once I'm duely showered and dressed and have had my breakfast, AND once I have fed the garden birds. Greedy little delights! Before all of that, my brain is simply in no-work mode. Unless, of course, I have a tight deadline and need to get into the swing of work in the early hours. Amazing what waiting bills can do to one's level of productivity...
| | | | | It depends... | Sep 16, 2015 |
Whenever the kids are sleeping...
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| "Productivity" - late morning | Sep 16, 2015 |
The word jarred with me also, but I'd be interested to hear what others would (concisely, for a poll question) call the concept. It is disingenuous to say that one's output is irrelevant, except perhaps for the vanishingly small number of full-time freelance translators who don't have bills to pay, or those with no impatient clients prepared to sacrifice absolute perfection in pursuit of a deadline. It shouldn't be an aim in itself, ideally, but sometimes in the real world it unfortunately simpl... See more The word jarred with me also, but I'd be interested to hear what others would (concisely, for a poll question) call the concept. It is disingenuous to say that one's output is irrelevant, except perhaps for the vanishingly small number of full-time freelance translators who don't have bills to pay, or those with no impatient clients prepared to sacrifice absolute perfection in pursuit of a deadline. It shouldn't be an aim in itself, ideally, but sometimes in the real world it unfortunately simply is.
To answer the question: After four years of observing my working days, I am aware that while I always aim to produce (whoops! Do I mean provide, or maybe create?) my best work, and generally manage to do so, there is a qualitative superiority to what emerges between, say, 10.30 am & 1 pm. (There is another, slightly madder peak between 11 pm and 2 pm, but I avail myself of that as little as possible, since I have a family.) I therefore produce, create, supply or deliver more work finished to what I consider a respectable standard during those periods than, say, at this time of day, when ideally I do nothing more taxing than chuntering on a ProZ forum.
Having played by the rules, I'm now going to bend them a bit and stray off the main point (Moderators! Over here! But I'm not the only one...) by saying how disappointed I am when people feel the need to criticise questions and how indignant when they start making attacks on others' linguistic abilities. Nobody forces us to answer polls, still less make lengthy and uncomplimentary comments, and the fact that there's one a day (-ish), allowing us to clock up juicy Brownies and get a subscription discount, is an unmitigated advantage. If posters were to stick to questions that had never been asked before, polls would be considerably thinner on the ground and the Brownies likewise. In any case there is no rule (and nor should there be, to my mind, for the above reasons) saying someone should trawl through the thousands of previous polls before posting a question, nor indeed any way of ensuring that the same question hasn't already been asked in slightly different terms. It's just downright rude and ungracious to niggle and criticise.
Steam let off.
[Edited at 2015-09-16 13:43 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | unfair criticism | Sep 16, 2015 |
Victoria Britten wrote:
Having played by the rules, I'm now going to bend them a bit and stray off the main point (Moderators! Over here! But I'm not the only one...) by saying how disappointed I am when people feel the need to criticise questions
These are polls recycled by proz central, not asked by members, and the monotony is sometimes wearing. I have submitted plenty of polls but none have been deemed suitable...
| | | | | Well, okay, but... | Sep 17, 2015 |
Chris S wrote:
These are polls recycled by proz central, not asked by members, and the monotony is sometimes wearing. I have submitted plenty of polls but none have been deemed suitable...
Okay, I was wrong on that count, but all the rest remains: should ProZ REALLY employ someone to think up interesting polls every day? And why not just ignore the boring / uninspired / unfelicitously expressed / repeated ones? Better, surely, just to click (or not) and move on?
| | | | 564354352 (X)
דנמרק
Local time: 05:55
מדנית לאנגלית
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| Go on, Chris, make my day | Sep 17, 2015 |
Chris S wrote:
I have submitted plenty of polls but none have been deemed suitable...
I'd love to see some of your poll questions. 
Proz staff: Give Chris a chance!
[Edited at 2015-09-17 07:17 GMT]
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