Poll: My productivity has increased over the past 3 - 5 years. Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "My productivity has increased over the past 3 - 5 years.".
View the poll results »
| | | | Kay Denney 
France
Local time: 21:04
French to English
I voted that I don't know, because I don't keep tabs on such things. I know I translated an average of 3,800 words in a 6-hour working day when I was at the agency, (not counting Monday mornings when I invariably twiddled my thumbs), and whenever I have had to fit a biggie into a tight deadline I calculate accordingly, and this rarely leaves me scrambling to finish. But I'm taking life much more gently nowadays, so I rarely take on stuff with tight deadlines. Come to think of it, my clients rare... See more I voted that I don't know, because I don't keep tabs on such things. I know I translated an average of 3,800 words in a 6-hour working day when I was at the agency, (not counting Monday mornings when I invariably twiddled my thumbs), and whenever I have had to fit a biggie into a tight deadline I calculate accordingly, and this rarely leaves me scrambling to finish. But I'm taking life much more gently nowadays, so I rarely take on stuff with tight deadlines. Come to think of it, my clients rarely impose any, they know how I work. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | I don't know | Jun 27, 2023 |
I’m much more concerned with quality than with productivity. So, I’ll take the time I need with my work. I'm probably faster and better in the fields I have specialized in and I’d risk saying that my productivity has increased over the years. With experience I don't have to rely so much on dictionaries and other sources of information as I used to. Though I still go through a moment of doubt when I’m starting a new big job, experience has given me the confidence to know that somehow I’... See more I’m much more concerned with quality than with productivity. So, I’ll take the time I need with my work. I'm probably faster and better in the fields I have specialized in and I’d risk saying that my productivity has increased over the years. With experience I don't have to rely so much on dictionaries and other sources of information as I used to. Though I still go through a moment of doubt when I’m starting a new big job, experience has given me the confidence to know that somehow I’ll manage it. ▲ Collapse
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I probably do slightly more per hour, but I can afford to do fewer hours, so less work in total.
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The times that I could have '48 hours' work a day are over. Fortunately a day has only 24 hours, so I manage, but in the last few years I noticed a definite decrease in the number of job offers I receive.
To give an example - I used to outsource jobs (with consent of the client of course, there where necessary), because the amount of work I received was bigger then I could handle. I even developed a special administrative system for this purpose. To keep it short, it is already more... See more The times that I could have '48 hours' work a day are over. Fortunately a day has only 24 hours, so I manage, but in the last few years I noticed a definite decrease in the number of job offers I receive.
To give an example - I used to outsource jobs (with consent of the client of course, there where necessary), because the amount of work I received was bigger then I could handle. I even developed a special administrative system for this purpose. To keep it short, it is already more then 4 years ago since I outsourced the last job.
I rest my case.
[Edited at 2023-06-27 20:26 GMT]
[Edited at 2023-06-27 20:27 GMT]
[Edited at 2023-06-27 21:19 GMT]
[Edited at 2023-06-27 21:21 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Productivity | Jun 28, 2023 |
Ice Scream wrote:
Decreased
I probably do slightly more per hour, but I can afford to do fewer hours, so less work in total.
If you do more per hour, that means your productivity has increased not decreased.
Productivity doesn't measure the total output, but the ratio of output to input (including time, effort, etc.).
I had a bet with myself that people would get this wrong.
| | | | Lieven Malaise
Belgium
Local time: 21:04
Member (2020)
French to Dutch
+ ...
If you are a translator with a normal workflow your productivity should increase over the years because you keep getting better and faster. There probably will be an upper limit to that (at least to the speed), but even after almost 23 years of translation I've still got the feeling that I haven't reached that limit yet.
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Philip Lees wrote:
If you do more per hour, that means your productivity has increased not decreased.
Productivity doesn't measure the total output, but the ratio of output to input (including time, effort, etc.).
I had a bet with myself that people would get this wrong.
Philip, you know I love you, but there a million ways of defining productivity.
I'm more productive per minute but less productive per day. Does that make you happier?
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Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 21:04
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Thanks to the existence of more online translation systems, i.e. online CAT tools that clients require me to use. And since other translators also use those systems, the time that I spend fixing translation errors has also increase because there are now more translation errors.
| | | | Kay Denney
France
Local time: 21:04
French to English
Lieven Malaise wrote:
If you are a translator with a normal workflow your productivity should increase over the years because you keep getting better and faster. There probably will be an upper limit to that (at least to the speed), but even after almost 23 years of translation I've still got the feeling that I haven't reached that limit yet.
Yes, if you keep translating the same kind of stuff. I have worked in many varied fields. For example 70% of what I translated at the agency when I first started was in fashion and textiles. Nowadays I hardly do anything: catalogues are translated using MT+PEMT and designers selling dresses at several thousand euros a toss think my rates are too high.
Nowadays I do a lot of translations for museums and art galleries, which I only started doing around 2012. It so happens that the more interesting the text is, the more research is required, and texts for museums and art galleries are notoriously erudite, and invariably written in as convoluted a style as possible. This means the texts need to be reworked considerably before the translation even makes sense, and it takes far more time than fashion catalogues which are pretty repetitive and for which I have a pretty exhaustive glossary, meaning that research is hardly ever necessary.
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What are we looking at - productivity in terms of words translated or cash earned or purchasing power? Are we talking about productivity per hour or per day or year?
In terms of potential number of words per hour, I've about doubled my productivity over the past twenty years. This is due to experience, searches already done, far bigger translation memories, and far greater resources on the internet.
In terms of potential amount of cash earned per hour, the amount has na... See more What are we looking at - productivity in terms of words translated or cash earned or purchasing power? Are we talking about productivity per hour or per day or year?
In terms of potential number of words per hour, I've about doubled my productivity over the past twenty years. This is due to experience, searches already done, far bigger translation memories, and far greater resources on the internet.
In terms of potential amount of cash earned per hour, the amount has naturally doubled along with words per hour, but I also have higher paid jobs and my rates have gone up too, so it's more than double.
In terms of potential purchasing power, I have to set the amount earned per hour against inflation. If I look at the official rate of inflation, then it's shot up. Even against the real rate, it is certainly up.
The problem with all this is the word "potential". Twenty years ago I could concentrate for longer, which meant that I could put in more productive hours per day than I do now. If I now take off more free time, then the amount I produce per week, month or year will be down, even though the amount I can produce per hour has doubled.
So, in the end, my short, approximate answer is that my:
Productivity per hour has doubled
Productivity per year has halved
I've being receiving a pension for the past three years, so that's about what I want it to be.
Simon ▲ Collapse
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