Guest posts

Mar 13 2017
Corinne McKay

Surviving and thriving as a freelancer and mom

This is a guest post by Jennifer Nielsen. Jennifer is a freelance Spanish>English translator, interpreter and project manager specializing in law, business, cogeneration power plants and official translations. She recently returned to her home state of Colorado after spending the last seven years in Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, during which time she obtained her master’s degree in translation and interpreting, served as president of the Organización Mexicana de Traductores (Mexican Translators Association), gave courses and workshops on translating, and started a family.

Twin preschoolers…and a thriving freelance business

As a freelancer and mom of twin boys turning three next month, I can say with certainty that it is possible to thrive as a freelance translator and mom. I would even go so far as to say that being a freelancer is one of the few career paths that allows moms the flexibility to grow our careers and not miss out on the precious time we have with our kids while they are small. Of course, it’s not easy, and the struggle to find balance (and even sanity!) is very real. Over the past three years I have slept less than I ever imagined possible, spent loads of wonderful quality time with my family, and succeeded in continuing to grow my business and income each year.

How have I done it? Well, aside from a lot of hard work and even more trial and error, here are some mindset shifts and practical tips that have gotten me through, and that I hope might help more than one of you achieve your definition of personal and professional success.

Mindset shifts for freelancing moms

– Don’t be afraid to push yourself outside of your comfort zone. As a mom you have superpowers that allow you to do things you never thought you could, so don’t be afraid to take on more than you think you can handle. That said, even superheroes have their limits, so it’s just as important that you find yours—even if it’s by going past them on occasion—and accept that it’s not possible to do everything (well), all the time.

– Focus like a laser-beam on your priorities. Decide to spend your time on what gets you closer to your goals (both as a mother and freelancer) and don’t apologize for it, ever.

– Take time to reflect on and celebrate your accomplishments. Being a freelancer and a mom requires that we focus so much energy on conquering the everyday tasks in front of us that we rarely take time to notice what we’ve accomplished. Recognizing this gives you the motivation to continue when you are sure you can’t.

– View work as a form of self-care. Working can help you to maintain a sense of self through a period where your time, and even your body are no longer yours, and most adult interaction vanishes from your life.

– Embrace the chaos. Balance (as most people would define it) as a working mom with small children is an unrealistic goal. The most you can hope for is to hit a stride right at the time when you are ready to give up. Enjoy this cautiously, and be ready for it to change, as something will happen to throw you back into chaos most likely sooner than later.

Practical tips for reaching a manageable level of chaos (i.e. balance for freelancing moms)

– Look for clients that need smaller jobs. This could include work like press releases, blogs, marketing texts, brochures, etc. Another less stimulating, but profitable, option is translating vital records, academic and official documents (this is a great option for freelancing mothers who don’t necessarily have the longer blocks of uninterrupted time longer projects demand).

– Split large jobs with a colleague or negotiate a long deadline. Taking on that 50,000 word assignment may be doable if you can split it with a trusted colleague or find a client that can accept a longer timeline.

– Focus on working with direct clients rather than agencies. I’ve accepted fewer jobs from agencies because they are almost always huge texts for yesterday, and you can’t get help from colleagues. With direct clients, you can establish a relationship that not only allows you to farm out projects to colleagues when you can’t take them on, but they will also potentially be more understanding when an emergency comes up and you need an extra day or two to finish a job.

– Plan on some late nights working. It’s not something you want to make a habit of, but sometimes it’s worth it, either because you need the money, because you want to get a new client, or because it’s the only way to make a deadline.

– Consider diversifying your professional activities. Look for non-translation work from clients or employers that can offer flexible deadlines or schedules. Depending on your skills and preferences, this could include project management, grading ESL exams, teaching, consulting, writing or reviewing.

– Invest time in unpaid professional activities. Volunteer with a professional organization or mentor a new translator. Participating in professional organizations and helping newbies is something you can do on your own schedule that allows you to expand your network of trusted colleagues who can help you in a pinch.

– Ask for and accept help from colleagues, friends, family, neighbors, daycare providers, and anyone you trust and is willing to lend a hand. Count on situations arising that will take you away from scheduled work time. It is inevitable, but also almost always manageable with help. Colleagues can allow you to take on more work than you are certain you can finish by doing part of a job or proofreading work you did at 2 a.m., and your personal network can give you a couple extra hours when a deadline is looming or allow you to take on an urgent job for an important client.

If you enjoyed this post, you might also want to take a look at:

Creating and managing translation teams, a guest post by Michelle Bradley

Being a freelancer and being a mom, a Speaking of Translation podcast featuring Jennifer (this guest post’s author) and Elena Langdon

Translating for individual clients, a post by Corinne McKay

Mar 06 2017
Corinne McKay

Creating and managing a translation team

This is a guest post by Michelle Bradley. Michelle began her career in translation 26 years ago after earning her M.A. from NYU in Madrid, Spain. Some of her first assignments as a newly-minted project manager included searching the Yellow Pages for Arabic translators, and fixing dial-up modem settings to meet late-night deadlines. It’s no wonder Michelle is now grateful for technology. Subsequent roles as Vendor Manager and Director of Operations prepared Michelle to open her own company (Colorado-based Wordtrail LLC) in 2010. Michelle currently wears multiple hats: project management, cultural consulting (including video creation), transcreation, copy-editing, transcription, DTP and translation from Spanish to English.

50,000 words for next week?

Your client has a 50,000 word job due in a week, so it has to be divided up among multiple translators. Why not provide extra services and visibility and take the whole assignment? It saves the client (Project Manager at an agency OR end client) headaches and time. You may earn more jobs since this makes you more appealing (scalable). My former translation agency colleagues heavily favored (quality) linguists who took on higher volumes. Small linguistic teams were in demand, especially teams who offered translation and edit. We knew small teams were advantageous in terms of consistency, quality, and efficiency.

What to think about ahead of time

When you take on such a project, you must be ready to wear multiple hats as linguist and PM (Project Manager). A brief overview of steps to consider if you take on a project requiring multiple translators:

1. Establish delivery/expectations with your client: target audience, source/target language variant, language register, deliverable (type of file, level of edit and file formatting). Priority: be sure you and the client are on the exact same page up front regarding which tasks they expect you to handle and by when. With software strings, ask client for character limitations. Ask about slide notes (PowerPoint), and always ask how to treat graphics or other embedded text. Make sure you get everything in writing.

2. Establish roles (you vs. client): establish who will reassemble files at project end and ensure consistency (formatting and terminology). Decide who will collect & address content questions, centralize terminology, do the final QA… etc. These tasks are normally part of your client’s job –the client may not be used to delegating, so all the more reason for clarity. This same concept applies to your team. Set expectations for your team (spell checking, etc.). If you delegate the editor role, be sure you and editor are clear on exactly what an “edit” entails.

3. Choose your translation team: only approach respected colleagues with whom you’ve previously worked. Establish responsibilities/roles within the team.

4. Define schedule: Factor in project prep, translation (determine your team’s average net words per business day), editing, QA (and formatting & format-proof, if applicable) into the schedule. Give one day (or ½ day) buffer, planning to deliver one business day before the client’s deadline. Bottom line, leave time for something unexpected to happen. If you need more time, ask the client if you can possibly stagger delivery of files. Consider staggering steps (start the edit before all translation is finished).

Communicating with the client and your team

Communications tips:
• For multiple files, multiple steps and deliveries, set up a tracking sheet in a central location. It saves multiple team email exchanges!
• Set up a central location (OneNote, Dropbox, OneDrive, Google docs, Yahoo group…etc. to exchange questions and files.)
• Always specify time zones.
• Avoid having substantive side conversations on text, skype or chats; choose communications that are easily searched in case you need to refer back to something.
• “Paper” trails: after a phone call, send a quick email summary in writing. Your memory is not good enough to recall exactly who said what on which day. Sometimes this can be important – usually it only matters when something goes wrong, but finding the cause will be useful.

5. If formatting: to see how the file will look after translation, run the file through your CAT tool (inserting some sample target language) and see how well target file exports. Only accept formatting tasks if you or a designated team member really know how to format. Instruct translators NOT to touch formatting at all. Usually their efforts are in vain and create extra work. This task alone can derail a project.

6. Continually refine/tweak schedule daily, reminding team to check it daily.

Breaking the project into steps

Once terms, expectations, process and schedule are solidified, consider these steps (some may not apply to you; steps in bold always apply):

1. Source analysis (identify questions before project start): this is easy to overlook. You may be “in a hurry” to start translation, but every minute spent examining the source will save you tenfold in the end. Be sure to ask if graphics or embedded text will get translated, and if so, will client or you be extracting such text to a Word file?

2. Create a simple style guide: saves time “fixing/unifying” (instruct on how to handle UI, acronyms, conventions such as a.m. p.m., degrees C/F, currency conventions, metrics, upper/lower case, time conventions (a.m., p.m.), etc. Do not make this guide into a novel. Include client’s preferred terms, if any. Send it to team with every project.

3. Existing TMs – establish TM reliability; instruct on whether 100% matches should be checked, and order of priority if there are multiple TMs.

4. Specify source/target language variant (e.g., es_mx vs es_es)

5. File prep: hide DNT text, rid files of either metadata or other factors that throw off your CAT tools.

6. Assign volume/files to each linguist: if there are multiple files, try to assign whole files to each xlator. If not, plan to split larger files at logical stopping points, then distribute pieces of the file to each team member.

Warning! Only split files if you first run tests (using copies of client files, not originals): run files through your CAT Tool (or your translators’ CAT tools), and rejoin files back together. This can be tricky and in my experience it’s safer to keep files whole. Test THE entire chain of steps before you decide your process.

You may choose to either lock DNT (do not translate) segments, or hide text (in Word) to protect DNT content (i.e., hidden text does not get imported to Trados). Splitting files is inadvisable if you are working with a large Word file with an automated TOC or complex section splits. In those cases, keep files intact and carefully designate who translates which sections. Send copies of original (client) files to linguists with the translation files for their reference. For instance, don’t just send xliffs – because linguists should be looking at context, pictures, and should be aware if there are layout constraints. Try to assign similar sections (topics) to certain linguists. Always record all of this in your tracking sheet.

7. Language Lead will distribute established terminology – determine where/how.

8. Recombine files after translation before edit. Editor or you also run QA tools.

9. Final formatting & format-proof if applicable.

10. Before delivery, compare original source with your final target, side by side. Confirm to be sure client received files before you take off for your tropical vacation. If your files go to their spam, all your work was in vain.

11. Take notes if anything could be improved. Jot down these ideas before heading to the tropics.
Establish payment terms and payment methods up front to avoid surprises. Be clear on whether you will pay your team members within a set period of time, or only after the client pays you. You want to preserve these professional relationships; clear communication is critical.

On the other side of the coin, you risk your reputation when you accept such a project from an unknown client; only do teamwork with known clients who pay. Otherwise, you’re (ethically) responsible for paying your colleagues if the client doesn’t.

The idea of this collaboration is that everyone ends up benefiting as long as you only take on tasks you (or your team) is experienced at, and you get compensated*. The client saves hassle, you get more work, and you bring colleagues together. These joint projects can be bonding experiences, and hopefully mutually beneficial.

*Stay tuned for part two on considerations when charging the client, paying your team, and how to choose your team.

Feb 17 2017
Corinne McKay

The LinkedIn “foot in the door” strategy

This is a guest post by Maryam Abdi. Maryam is a registered Somali court interpreter and the owner of Expert Somali Translations, a boutique firm offering Somali > English translations and cultural consulting services to legal and government sectors. She is the creator of Translators Academy where she blogs about marketing, sales and career strategies for aspiring and new freelance translators. Maryam holds a Bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of California, San Diego. She is a recipient of the State Bar of California’s Wiley M. Manuel Award for Pro Bono Legal Services, for her volunteer work as an interpreter and translator for victims of human rights abuses.

If you’re a freelance translator looking for new clients, the days of bidding on translation job portals and arbitrarily cold-calling translation agencies are over. It’s not a numbers game anymore. Clients these days expect you to spend the time to learn about them before getting in contact. And what’s the best way to do that? The answer is LinkedIn. LinkedIn is nothing short of a goldmine for freelance translators. It’s an incredible tool to learn about prospects, grow your network and find high-quality and well-paying clients. When used correctly, it can create endless work opportunities.

In this blog post, we’re going to dig deep and explore how freelance translators can:

Authentically connect with other translators working with their ideal clients
Expand their network to get access to translation projects that never get advertised
Use the Foot in the Door Strategy to leverage their network and get introductions to “pre-sold” potential clients.

By harnessing the power of LinkedIn, you’ll be well on your way to setting up a well-organized translation sales system that you can maintain in as little as five hours a week.

The step-by-step method to building your high-end LinkedIn network from scratch

Is there a particular translation agency or company you want to work with? But you’re unsure how to go about it? The most effective way to getting in the potential client’s inner circle is to use the Foot in the Door Strategy. It’s a simple, three-step process that you can implement right away on LinkedIn. This is a highly methodical approach that deconstructs the often-confusing prospecting process. It begins with finding other translators who are already working with your ideal clients and translation agencies.

The LinkedIn Advanced People Search tool helps you find the right translators to contact. You can search for translators by their language pairs, specialization and the companies they work with. Here’s the step-by-step process to filling out each field of the Advanced People Search tool:

Start with the keywords field and type in the specialization of the translators you want to connect with. If you’re interested in flexible translation positions, this is a great place to enter the keyword “freelance”.
To find translators working in similar language pairs as you, enter the preferred languages in the title field. For example, if you’re searching for French <-> English translators you could insert, “French English translator.”
Next, enter the name of the agency or potential direct client in the company field. For many translators who don’t populate this field, their search results become limited.
In the Advanced People Search tool, you can also filter the results by relationship. A “1st connection” is someone that is already in your network. Assuming you want to find a translator outside of your network, click on the remaining options (2nd connections, Group members and 3rd connections + Everyone else).
The next step is to narrow your search by location. Enter your city to find local translators working with your ideal clients.

Once you complete the form, click on the search button to get a list of translators with the information you specified. You can experiment with the Advanced People Search tool to find the specific person you want to contact.

After you review the search results, the next step is the “research phase” where you’ll collect information on the translators working with the translation agencies and companies on your prospecting list. Before you contact them, do your homework so you don’t come off impersonal in your approach. Once you’ve found the translators that have a relationship with your ideal clients and you review their profile, now it’s time to find a way to connect with them on LinkedIn.The easiest way to connect with freelance translators working for your ideal clients and agencies is to find a connecting factor. Before you can send them a message you have to demonstrate how you know them. For example, you can connect with a translator who went to the same university or translation programs as you. You could also search by translation association membership or perhaps comb through their profile to see if they have listed their personal email. Either way, you need this information to not only “warm up” your message but to add them to your personal network on LinkedIn. It’s best to reach out to translators who have the same specialization as you or work in complementary language pairs. For example, if you’re a Spanish > English translator find an English > Spanish translator.

Now that I’ve showed you how to find the translators working with your ideal clients, it’s time to authentically contact them with a personalized invitation to connect on LinkedIn. If you’re wondering what to say, you can use the tested word-for-word script below to connect with translators the right way. By using this script you can shave off weeks if not months on your search for new clients.

The word-for-word script to help you find new clients faster

Finding new clients is a lot easier once you leverage the network of your existing clients and colleagues and it all begins with the Foot-in-the-Door Strategy. Here’s a sample message you can use to invite a freelance translator to connect on LinkedIn. Unlike a generic message, this one is personalized and has a high response rate.

Don’t worry about sending this type of message and being met with deaf ears. It’s different from the typical cold emails sent by most freelance translators because:

The focus is shifted from you to them and it doesn’t come off as self-serving
You’re asking freelance translators to share their story instead of asking for a handout
You’re showing you’ve invested some time in getting to know them

This is a much easier way to find new clients without going to random networking events, cold-calling or running expensive advertisements in trade journals.

Building a relationship and requesting an introduction

Once your connection request on LinkedIn is accepted, it’s time to ask for the translator’s insight on the company you’re interested in. You can conduct your informational interview over email, by phone, or even in person if the fellow translator is in the same city as you. During your interview, ask open-ended questions about their experience working with the translation agency or company, the type of projects they work on, and their likes and dislikes about the client you’d like to work with. It’s very important to vet companies and agencies to make sure they’re a good fit for you and your translation services. When it comes to clients, quality is better than quantity. Naturally, the conversation will bounce back to you. In most cases, the translator will ask about your experience. Use this as an opportunity to express your interest in working with the agency or company and ask for an introduction.

However, it doesn’t end there. The point is to make it as simple as possible to get a warm introduction. Just like you, they’re very busy professionals and crafting an email to refer you will be one more thing on their to do list. Make sure to do the “heavy lifting” for them and offer to write the introduction message for them.

Lather, rinse, repeat

It’s often said your network is your net worth and I couldn’t agree more. Freelancing is a business built on relationships. Having the right network of translators will give you access to the well-paying translation projects that never get advertised. If you want to stay top-of-mind when the opportunity arises, stay in touch with translators in your network. Make sure to follow up with the translator after your talk or meeting. Send them a message genuinely thanking them for their time. If they gave you suggestions, tell them you’ll apply the strategies and keep them in the loop with your results. Remember, you also want to nurture your network. You have to give in order to receive and that involves referring your colleagues and presenting them with opportunities to tap into your clientele as well.

The Foot in the Door Strategy isn’t something you only do when you’re in desperate need of clients. Similar to exercising, it’s something you should do consistently in order to see results. Building a network is not easy, but the potential payoff is huge. With time you’ll be able to build the confidence and credibility to approach fellow translators and colleagues on LinkedIn. Eventually, you’ll get faster, more creative and self-assured the more you use the Foot in the Door Strategy.

Now I want to hear from you. Tell me about your experience using LinkedIn to find new clients by sharing your thoughts in the comments below.

Feb 10 2017
Corinne McKay

A lucrative sideline: editing for non-native speakers

This is a guest post by Karen Tkaczyk, a fellow French to English freelance translator. Karen is a specialized scientific translator, and over the years she has also built up expertise in editing English articles written by non-native speakers. Since this is something many of my students and readers ask me about, I asked Karen to tell us more about this. You can follow her on Twitter (@ChemXlator) or Facebook

One Translator’s Sideline: Editing Non-Native English Scientific Writing

“The manuscript is poorly written and has too many grammatical and syntax errors. The results are promising, but the paper needs thorough revision to make it suitable for publication in The Journal of Astounding Scientific Developments.” Enter the native English-speaking editor.

Editing texts written in English for publication by scientists who have another language as their mother tongue is a relatively common sideline for freelance translators. The measure of success is the article being published after we have worked on it. Even better, the author sends subsequent manuscripts before submission to avoid the painful step of criticism or rejection. We become a trusted partner.

Editing agencies and scientific publishing houses that offer editing services also feature prominently in this market, but I’ve largely stuck to the more lucrative private clients. Another source of much work is graduate students who need editors for long theses but really can’t afford them. I suspect that could be a great stepping stone into this niche, if you want experience, but that it wouldn’t pay the bills.

So in my experience, an academic scientist is writing in English, which is not their native language. As well as journal articles, they send grant proposals, résumés, and accompanying documents. All of that is going through multiple drafts in the run-up to submission deadlines.

This work is a natural fit for me because I have training in a hard science and translate scientific texts as the bulk of my practice. I work mainly with chemistry and texts related to the chemical industry. I have received non-native editing work on and off throughout the 12 years I’ve been a freelance translator. The work has come to me from my ProZ.com profile , from professors I’ve met at chemistry networking events, and from word-of-mouth from translation colleagues who live in France and give my name to academics there. In 2016 non-native editing made up a little over 10% of my billable income. I have never actively marketed myself for this work – it really is something that has just come my way.

What sets this work apart from bilingual editing or from editing texts written by native speakers?

Obviously there are some parallels with other editing work, such as correcting typos and inconsistencies, but it diverges due to stronger source language interference. For instance, these texts may include homonym errors. On the other hand, you can nearly always assume that the technical terminology will be flawless. You might have to adjust hyphenation but you are unlikely to be spending any time researching technical concepts. Another factor is that you might not be familiar with the author’s native language, so you might not read between the lines the way you can when you know the “other” language.

One other thing that sets this apart from translation work is that you’re pretty consistently interacting with the authors. Of course that may be the case in normal translation or editing work but I find that even with my direct clients I am usually working with a contact in the same company rather than the author directly. Here the academic is asking me to quote, sending the files, sending me updated files because they added a paragraph, asking what I think of the article, resending it at 3 a.m, and then submitting it to the journal.

Pricing

The typical market pricing method is per hour, by volume, often assuming 1,000 words per hour. I’ve seen agencies offer per word rates too. Having gained experience and developed an efficient process, I work quickly, so a per hour rate penalizes me. I prefer to quote a flat fee now, and customers never quibble. They don’t need to know how long we spent on it. They need to value what we achieve. When you quote, do remember to include time for back and forth and redrafts, especially until you get to know your customer.

To estimate how long the job will take, we have to agree on degrees of editing. These categories work for me:

• Copy editing (formatting, grammar, punctuation)
• Language editing (style, semantics)
• Substantive editing (flow/content improvements)
• Developmental edits and ghost writing

I always do the first two of these, and have never done the fourth. I make substantive edits for some of my customers.

The occasional need to justify changes, AKA buttering up the client

You have to be willing to invest in relationships to do this sort of work successfully. Once you know your customer, normal amounts of tact work, but at the beginning, I find being gentle and complimentary useful. Massage these authors’ egos a little. Diplomacy is especially useful if you are ripping apart their logic or filling the margins chock-full with edits. So I might sandwich the edits with a few compliments where I can come up with them.

• “I particularly enjoyed the conclusion. I thought it summarized your results very well.”
• “What exciting results. I hope you agree that the abstract conveys your main point more effectively now.”

Sometimes people will love you and graciously take your advice. But you also need to be prepared for the occasional defensive response. So you need to know your stuff, and have ammunition for justifying changes. For me that’s as simple as referring to my preferred style guide and a few straightforward references about scientific writing usage, when I am challenged. Another typical response is insisting that you revert an edited term to use something that reads as non-native, or a calque of some sort (Often “Eurospeak” jargon). I give them my opinion, in writing, so that I can point out that they ignored my advice if the article comes back rejected, and then they decide.

Other value that I can add includes occasional comments for suggested obvious improvements that are not within the scope of the job. Mentioning that “This reference is not listed in the Bibliography” can be a plus.

I enjoy editing as part of my translation practice. It adds variety and helps me think about target-language writing more “purely” than when I translate and might be affected by a source text, so I think it builds up my skills. Once in a while, the authors even credit me in the acknowledgements, so my name makes it into The Journal of Astounding Scientific Developments, or this week’s equivalent: that’s my small reward.

Feb 01 2017
Corinne McKay

Shifting perspective: from putting out fires to long-term business success

This is a guest post by Dorothee Racette, a past president of the American Translators Association. Based on over 20 years of experience as a successful freelance writer and translator, Dorothee now trains and coaches small business owners in time management and productivity. She shares her insights in her blog and invites you to follow her on Twitter or Facebook for more practical time management advice.

Shifting perspective: from putting out fires to long-term business success

One of my first jobs after graduating was a part-time teaching position in a foreign language department. As I quickly learned, one didn’t simply walk into the department office to request photocopies. The secretary, who had clearly dealt with generations of instructors, kept a large sign on her bulletin board. “Want it tomorrow?”– it read– “Order it yesterday!” I have yet to find a diplomatic way of sharing the same sentiment with certain clients.

As client expectations for fast turnaround blur the distinction between rush jobs and regular translation assignments and competition at the entry level pushes down prices for accelerated work, freelancing can seem like a never-ending sequence of high-stress projects. Of course, running a business involves responsiveness and commitment to prompt service, but what happens if the resulting work pressure becomes the “new normal” of freelance life?

Drawing a distinction between urgent and important, Dwight Eisenhower once noted that “[…] important is seldom urgent, […] urgent is seldom important.” The difference between the two concepts holds the key to shifting the perspective of your freelance business.

Working in ‘urgent’ mode

In urgent mode, you tackle the first task that comes to your attention, typically an email or another type of message. After arranging the submission details of a project offer, you jump right into the translation work. In between, you’ll probably check other messages, respond to social media posts, and absentmindedly attend to personal matters. Working in this mode is not only highly stressful, but also associated with unhealthy habits, such as skipping exercise, eating at your desk, and spending too many hours hunched over a keyboard.

While there may be few alternatives in the early stages of a freelance business, it is a good idea to periodically assess whether your work mode is still serving you in your current business situation. If your business has survived the critical first few years and you essentially have a steady flow of assignments, now is the time to make the transition to a long-term perspective.

Working in ‘important’ mode

In contrast to focusing on the task of the hour, working in important mode addresses the long-term strategic objectives of your business. Building a sustainable business requires daily attention to marketing, making business connections, managing finances, keeping up with knowledge in your chosen specialty area, and staying proficient in technology. Neglecting such background work because you are “too busy,” blocks your own advancement options to specialty areas with better working conditions and pay. In addition, a deliberate long-term perspective allows for better work-life balance decisions and frees up much needed personal time.

Here are some thoughts about making the shift from urgent to important:

1. Start the day with a little planning

Don’t allow others to start the day for you. Take control of your time with a few minutes of thinking and planning before you open your inbox and answer the first message (“Urgent! 23K words needed by tomorrow…”). Consider the details of the day’s milestones, including fixed appointments as well as exercise and social activities. When can you do your best and most difficult work, and when are you likely to feel tired or get interrupted more often? It doesn’t matter whether you record your planning on sticky notes or in apps, as long as the format is effective for you.

2. Prioritize challenging tasks

We all postpone to-do items that seem difficult or problematic in favor of easier, more rewarding ones. For example, it may be much more fun to concentrate on translation work than to deal with invoicing and account figures. Marketing can seem confusing and hard, so why not accept another assignment instead, even though it’s not very interesting or pays poorly?

Tasks of the “I really should” or “I can’t believe I haven’t” variety are easier to address in the first 30-60 minutes of your workday. Updating a profile or writing about your business fall into the ‘important’ category that ensures long-term business growth. Not only is your brain more creative in the morning, but the sense of completion also boosts confidence and has been proven to enhance productivity for the remainder of the day.

3. Establish ground rules

Time planning and completing difficult tasks are constructive ways to avoid stress. To further shift away from ‘urgent’ mode, consider establishing a few specific rules that draw the line between freelance work and private time. Instead of working whenever you can, clearly state (to yourself and others) when your work hours are. Ask yourself when you will say no and which conditions have to be met to make an exception. Stating an existing rule (“I don’t work on weekends”) is much more effective than coming up with an explanation.

4. Set up a quarterly or annual review

Periodically set aside a little time to review how your business is doing. That may involve looking at clients who ordered the largest volume and those who were less enjoyable to work with. If you added new clients in the review period, how did they hear about you, and what are the implications for your marketing efforts? Perhaps you worked with new topics that may interest you as a specialty or you noticed a shortcoming in your tools or technical setup. Above all, did you have enough free time to live your life outside of the business?

Of course, not all rush orders are the result of someone’s failure to “order yesterday.” Unexpected situations, such as policy changes, lawsuits, or illnesses can create a sudden need for language translation-and that’s where translators come in. Making a difference for a client by jumping in and providing a fast translation is a special experience – provided the associated extra effort is recognized and not simply taken for granted.

If you enjoyed this post, you can find more of Dorothee’s practical time management advice on her blog, Twitter or Facebook.