Guest post: Keeping our well-being as freelancers

Posted in Guest post by Carol's Adventures in Translation

Dearest readers, here we are again with yet another lovely guest who has kindly taken the time to write something interesting and really useful to us, freelancers. It is not all about productivity, feedback, quality and stuff, but also about quality of life.

Welcome, Laura!

Zen and the art of translator’s maintenance

Being a professional is hard in this day and age. Being a sane, well-rounded professional (and human being!) is even harder.

As independent workers we often face high levels of stress, having to deal with deadlines, customers’ demands – and the occasional slump, when work suddendly slows down and we are left worrying and wondering about the “if” and “when” of the next assignment.

As people often working from home (and thus mostly alone) we are indeed free to set our own hours, arrange our work environment as we please, and even decide to go working someplace else (a café, a park, a co-working space), if we feel like it. The possible downsides are a sense of solitude and isolation; the long hours spent sitting; a certain laziness which tends to creep on us and leave us unfit, tired, with a (long) list of aches and pains, from the back to the wrists to the neck.

All these things take a huge toll. Especially when you happen to be a professional translator in your late thirties (very late: I will be 40 in a few months!), who is been doing this job for about 15 years.

I love being a translator, and I don’t think I could do anything else. But a few years ago I came to realize that, if I wanted to keep doing this as long as possible, and conserve my sanity, and the use of my limbs, in the process!, I would have had to do something, and fast.

Obviously I am not an expert. What follows is simply a recount of my experience, which I think could be beneficial to our colleagues – and to anyone who is an independent professional and is forced to work long hours in front of the computer.

What seemed particularly apparent, and thus urgent to counteract, were the effects of the job on my body. First of all, I was getting fat and unfit. There were periods of time when I indeed went to the gym, to do weights, or some classes (which I didn’t particularly like); but those twice or thrice a week outbursts didn’t seem to do any spectacular difference. The simple truth I didn’t actually grasp at the time was that they simply couldn’t: I was too un-active, much more so than the average person, who at the very least has to leave home everyday, take a walk to get to the office, to get some lunch, to reach a bus stop. Things I didn’t do, for obvious reasons.

So, going to the gym a couple or even three times a week had costed me (in terms of time, effort, willpower, and also money), without making any perceivable difference. Understandably, I would get discouraged, and stop. And then, after a while, I’d feel lazy, heavy, guilty, aching, and start again. In a sense, the very definition of madness 😉

How did I break the circle? Three years ago, I started running, almost by chance, following a very well-known interval plan for absolute beginners, called C25K.

I loved it from the start: it was easy, it gave me structure (which I very much need), and I saw progress right away.

Initially the intensity wasn’t high enough to give me results in terms of weight loss, or real physical fitness: but it didn’t matter, because for the first time I loved what I was doing. I would go running three days a week, sometimes even more often, just for the sake of it: not because I had to, or to obtain some kind of result (which was way too soon to get anyway), but because I wanted to. And this made the real difference.

Fast forward to a couple of months later: I easily ran 5k without any walking break, I started to tackle longer distances. It was pure bliss. Running regularly I finally got to counteract those long hours in front of the computer. I wasn’t un-active anymore: I was a runner!

After a while, I started to see the difference in terms of my body changing. But I also realized running had become my go-to method to sort problems out, work-related or otherwise: I went out the door all stressed out, my brain swirling with things to do, decisions to make, upset with a customer, or with the feeling I couldn’t manage a particular issue. And I came home perfectly calm, my mind finally at rest, and more often than not with a clear solution for that “insolvable” issue.

After a while, I decided to combine running with Pilates: something low-intensity (or so I believed…), which gave me the opportunity to train the whole body, and get more flexible. For a couple of years, I trained five or six days a week, happily alternating the two disciplines.

About a year ago, my love story with running, sadly, came to a halt, due to a pretty serious injury. For a while I tried to ignore it, but obviously that was not the way to go. I was devastated (and I don’t use the term lightly): I was addicted to running, I missed it badly – and I had to rethink my whole training plan.

The upside: I realized I couldn’t stop doing physical activity regularly. Not only because I didn’t particularly fancy the idea of becoming fat and lazy again (!), but also because it was now part of my life. In a way, running was my gateway drug!

I tried a few things, made some experiments, mixed and matched different activities. Now Pilates is a big part of my routine, including a one-hour-a-week-one-to-one workout with my instructor and the aide of a few torture instruments – like the reformer (!); together with a few shorter, high-intensity cardio workouts. Oh, and I also go out for a run once in a while: luckily, endorphines don’t know the difference between 20 kilometres and 2 😉

Bottom line: I am happier, more productive, less stressed out, more able to deal with all the daily challenges of our profession, physically and mentally. Added bonus: I now have a standing desk, so… no more sitting for me!

… And the translator lived happily (and fit) ever after?

Not exactly.

As I was saying, all this activity had a pretty good influence on my mood and my state of mind, but in a way that was quite ephemeral. Maybe as a consequence of getting old(er), I felt the need to take care of my mind in a more deliberate way, and I found it in meditation: more specifically, in an app (if you’re curious, it’ s called Headspace).

Yep, as you can very well imagine there’s an app for that. This could sound counterintuitive, and I know it’s perfectly possible to take on meditation without anything of the sort (without anything, really!): but as I said I am the kind of person that needs structure, a plan, and some guidance, to form a habit – and Headspace gave me just that.

Again, I am really new at this. I have been meditating steadily for just a month now, starting with 10 minutes a day and progressing to 15 and now 20. I was skeptical, to be honest. I am really NOT the kind of person you think about when you picture someone who practices meditation; quite the opposite! And maybe that’s exactly why I should not have waited so long to try it…

The first 10 to 14 days, I got a few odd reactions. Strange, localized aches and pains which came and went in half a day or so. One morning I woke up with a swollen eyelid, without any soreness or pain; the swelling was gone the same evening.

I was a bit baffled to say the least. I can’t be sure, of course, that was indeed my body releasing tensions and stress; but it was definitely strange (and it’s completely gone now).

I also won’t say that I am a different person – that I am calm, enlightened, mindfull all the time. Far from it.

But I do feel a difference. I feel that this practice is indeed beneficial for me, that I am making progress (even if it’s not quite the right term to use in association with meditating!). I catch myself being lost in thoughts during the day, and trying to be more mindful; when working, when talking to a client, replying to a particularly upsetting e-mail, reacting to a problematic situation with an assignment – and the same applies to personal relationships.

I have the distinct feeling that I am indeed “training my mind”. Nevertheless, I wouldn’t be able to pinpoint exactly which are these benefits, how specifically meditation is beneficial for me, when in particularly I have seen my new, “trained” mind put to the test.

I am very much glad to have started it though, and I am looking forward to continue practicing in the future. Also, it’s not a training I will have to stop anytime soon due to an injury, or so I hope! 🙂

Looking back, I am starting to see I have been following a kind of path. It certainly would have been better if I had started taking care of myself sooner, but all in all I am pretty happy. And I hope I’ll be able to keep on translating (and standing up!) for many many years to come.

What’s your way to take care of yourself, body and mind? Do let us know in the comments!

“Time and health are two precious assets that we don’t recognize and appreciate until they have been depleted” – Denis Waitley

Thank you, Laura, for accepting my invitation and kindly taking the time to write about what worked out for you to our readers! Working as a freelancer can be really dangerous, because we can simply get used to staying at home, sitting in front of the computer all day (and night) long, eating like a pig… However, sitting for that long can be really damaging to our health, and we have to do something before it’s too late. I’m also addicted to running and going to the gym, and I have learned to take good care of what I eat as well. 🙂

We would love to read what your healthy daily routing is: what sport do you enjoy practicing? What healthy activities/practices have you adopted to mitigate potential health issues? Do you follow a healthy diet?

About the author
Laura Dossena has been working as a professional translator into Italian since 2000; she is madly in love with translation, and also has a passion for technology, writing, and minimalism (and running, and Pilates). She’s always on the lookout for new ways and new tools to increase the quality of her work and the level of satisfaction of her customers. You can find her on Twitter and on Facebook. Her web site (and blog) can be found here: http://www.elleditraduzioni.it.

3Aug2015

Greatest Women in Translation: Lucy Brooks

Posted in Interview series by Carol's Adventures in Translation

It’s with a great pleasure that I introduce to you our first interviewee nominated by our very first lovely interviewee, Marta Stelmaszak: Lucy Brooks. Who guessed right? Well, I certainly didn’t!

You know what I’m loving about this series? I get to know other determined, inspiring and sophisticated women I didn’t know (or at least not that well). I get to find out other wonderful influencers who are worth following and also learn more about them on the process. It is a pleasure to research about the person in order to find more about their personal and professional backgrounds to ask relevant questions. I’m loving it, and I hope you are too.

Now let’s hear from our second Greatest Woman in Translation.

Welcome, Lucy!

1. Why don’t you start telling us more about your background and what caused you to create the eCPD Webinars?

Before I start, I’d like to thank you for inviting me here, and Marta Stelmaszak for nominating me – though I am sure I don’t deserve it. I’m just an ordinary person who has adapted as life has happened – and I made quite a few mistakes along the way.

I started my working life as a bilingual secretary, having trained at a commercial college in London. I studied German and French to a pretty high level – I would say it was degree level but without the literature – and also learned law, commerce, and shorthand and typing (that was a very good skill to have). After college I had many jobs: in law firms, in a London news bureau, in advertising, tourism, a secretarial bureau. All of them gave me valuable experience. In 1991 I decided to become a freelance translator and worked hard at developing this new turn in my career. During that time I was a volunteer for my professional body (CIOL) and was involved in organizing seminars and workshops for fellow translators. They were all based in London and we used to receive complaints from members that we were too London-centric. It was hard for us volunteers to arrange events outside London, so I investigated the idea of holding webinars – a new idea at the time. And that, briefly, is how eCPD Webinars was born.

2. Speaking of which, I saw you have presented two webinars for eCPD and you also have contact with a wide variety of presenters there. I know all of them are great and the topics useful, but is there one webinar/course/video in particular you highly recommend?

As you say I have personally presented two webinars for eCPD, and hosted several other events. I have also moderated over a hundred of our presentations and courses that are tailored especially to translators or interpreters. I actually recommend them all – well, I would, wouldn’t I? – but the thing I am proudest of at eCPD is our expansion into more in-depth courses. We started in 2013 with Marta Stelmaszak’s Business School for translators, but since then have offered many other courses such as creating corpora, using Excel, writing clear English, IntelliWebSearch, and even a course for Italian translators about translating tourism texts. Trainers on the courses can take the time to delve a little more deeply into a subject and I am proud that we started this trend in professional development. Our current courses are available at this link.

3. You have more than 30 years of experience – practically my entire existence! Back then things were totally different from what they are today. What mistakes (big or small) have you made over these 30 years that you suggest other women small translation business owners avoid? Or, if you prefer, what lessons have you learned?

My entry into the freelance life came about because I was hating having to commute a long distance to work, leaving my small son in the care of someone else. I started a secretarial business from my home, and shortly after I began, was invited to look after the affairs of a local Council, which I could also do at home. This was the time that computers were really coming on the scene and I was already trained in the use of the word processors of the day. A part of my business soon developed into training people on the new-fangled technology. I found myself literally taking newly purchased computers out of the box, plugging them together, and setting up their owners’ office systems on them. I got quite good at it!

As you say, after about seven years of this I launched into translation – something I had always wanted to do but never had the confidence or the contacts to try.

The main thing to remember when you become a freelance translator is that you are an entrepreneur. You are the boss, you set your rates, you decide the direction in which you wish to develop your business. For my first client I did the worst thing you can ever do and ask them (an agency) how much they pay. Of course they will try to trick you into the lowest rate they can get away with.

It’s really hard when you are starting out, but you have to ditch the low payers as fast as you can and gradually move up the scale until you are earning what you are worth.

I believe you should say “no” to a job if you think it’s going to be outside your comfort zone, or is going to be mind-numbingly boring. Boring jobs pay the rent, but if you are trying to develop a niche for yourself, probably best avoided. Mind you, having said that, one person’s boring job may be another’s idea of heaven. I like translating terms and conditions of business and other business contracts! But I am often a pushover and even today, sometimes find myself translating something I am hating.

4. Only after 7 years you decided to start your own small translation business. What was the most intimidating difficulty you encountered?

At the time (1991 or thereabouts) there was no Internet to speak of. There were no networks of fellow translators to help you get started. The two main professional bodies in the UK were finding their feet with helping their members to run their businesses. I was pretty much alone. I used to consult my own library of reference books and often visited the library because Internet research was not an option. I think some of my early translations were less than perfect. But gradually I gained confidence, knowledge and expertise. When CAT tools came along, my working life changed for the better. CAT tools and the Internet. I don’t really know how I managed before they came along.

5. You work from three languages (German, French and Spanish) into British English. Most people I know work with an average of two, so that is a differential. How did you end up learning them? And do you (want to) learn any others?

I learned French and German to A-level (that’s school-leaving standard at 18 years of age) – continuing them both to a much higher level at college. But I also did a course of Spanish at school, taking that to O-level (a slightly lower school-leaving standard). After I left college and had worked for a few years in London, I decided to go to Spain to live and work. It was logical really, because I was given the job on the basis of my German, French and English. Of course I had a good start with my O-level Spanish and quickly became fluent in my new language.

In recent years I have tended to buy a teach-yourself book before visiting a country where I don’t speak the language. So I attempted Russian before a visit to St. Petersburg, but I am afraid I dropped it after our holiday there was over. More recently I decided to learn Greek. But languages really need to be learned when young. My brain no longer absorbs vocabulary like it once did. Still – at least I can now decipher words in Russian and Greek, now that I have almost mastered the alphabets.

6. Freelance translators tend to either fiercely compete or generously collaborate with one another. What is your approach?

I am a bit of a loner and don’t often ask advice. I am happy to give it if I can though.

7. Now it’s your turn to nominate an amazing woman in translation who you think should be interviewed next.

There’s a lady I used to work with at eCPD. Before we worked together I had been following her on social media and already admired her from afar (she’s in Australia). Working with her made me admire her even more. She was an inspiration to me during our time together. Her name is Sarah Dillon.

Thank you, Lucy, for promptly accepting Marta’s nomination and my invitation, and kindly taking the time to answer the interview questions. It was lovely to get to know a bit more about you and your great experience.

Sarah Dillon has also kindly accepted Lucy’s nomination and my invitation, so she will be our third interviewee in early September. Stay tuned.

You can already access Sarah Dillon’s interview here.