Ana Cuesta wrote:
I am shocked at the percentage of people who works in excess of what we could call a "normal" workday, i.e. 8 hours, and would really love to have some sort of insight about their motivation... is it because the per-word rates you charge/get don't allow you to make a living/keep your desired standard of living by working just 8 hours or maybe because you find it difficult to say no to regulars and end up accepting more work than you wished for?
Any comments will be most welcome. Personally, I can translate in excess of 8 hours occassionaly, if needed, but no way I could sustain that pace for more than a few days on a row.
Weekly hours might be more telling. I expect a fair number have narrowed down their work to fields and combinations that they like and are sincerely interested in to keep them going 12 hours, when they're busy. I also fall into 12 hours when I like the subject, but there are days I take off and do something else, dropping down to 4 hours or less. That implies already having worked out the rates issue (i.e., not being forced to work just because of need).
Weekly, I'd like to say I work intensively something like 6 hours a day (which is really what I consider a good target), but at this stage, too much of the workload is sincerely engrossing (i.e., pass my criteria of what I like to do).
All in all, the situation you describe might apply to some, but I wouldn't expect that to apply to people with more than 10 years of experience in the field. I mean, it can't be that bad.