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Poll: How long after you first sit at the computer do you actually start working? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "How long after you first sit at the computer do you actually start working?".
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Thayenga Germany Local time: 20:36 Member (2009) English to German + ... Right away... | Oct 18, 2010 |
because by the time I get online the coffee is already sitting on the desk...so that there's no need for any delays. Btw reading and answering incoming emails is part of the job. | | |
Interlangue (X) Angola Local time: 20:36 English to French + ...
right after a glimpse at the headlines. | | |
Sheila Wilson Spain Local time: 19:36 Member (2007) English + ... Assuming this means ".... first thing in the morning" | Oct 18, 2010 |
After lunch, it's (almost) immediate. But first thing in the morning there's a time that can't really be classed as work, although some is work-related. There are all the emails that have arrived during the night to be opened, read and acted on as necessary. There are the bank accounts to be checked. I do this most days of the week for my most frequently use... See more After lunch, it's (almost) immediate. But first thing in the morning there's a time that can't really be classed as work, although some is work-related. There are all the emails that have arrived during the night to be opened, read and acted on as necessary. There are the bank accounts to be checked. I do this most days of the week for my most frequently used accounts as I like to have some nice surprises in the morning, and I like to avoid nasty surprises that arrive too late - if some payment has gone out that I'd forgotten about, best to take action immediately. Then, I like to have a quick look at what has been going on here at ProZ while I've been busy sleeping. By that time, I've finished my cereal and the tea is there waiting - down to work! ▲ Collapse | |
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Managing your time efficiently | Oct 18, 2010 |
At a management session recently, brainstorming on how best to use our time (and avoid interruptions), one of the pieces of advice which most caught my attention was NOT to open you e-mails when you first sit down at the computer every day. Instead you should get on with what you have got pending, thereby fending off yet another interruption. But I tried it and although it is true that I seemed to be doing things according to priority, it had a nasty effect on my anxiety levels, an... See more At a management session recently, brainstorming on how best to use our time (and avoid interruptions), one of the pieces of advice which most caught my attention was NOT to open you e-mails when you first sit down at the computer every day. Instead you should get on with what you have got pending, thereby fending off yet another interruption. But I tried it and although it is true that I seemed to be doing things according to priority, it had a nasty effect on my anxiety levels, and I eventually gave way and went back to my normal practices after having discovered that a very urgent e-mail had been left unattended, to my disfavour, because of this system. Of course the person who sent me that e-mail should really have followed up the e-mail with a telephone call to ensure that I had received the information (or put a "opened" alert on the e-mail). So now I'm back to my usual habit of checking my e-mails first, and sometimes getting really sidetracked from the matters which should be in hand. The most tempting and most distracting and probably least justifiable is Proz.... Noni ▲ Collapse | | |
Simon Bruni United Kingdom Local time: 19:36 Member (2009) Spanish to English
I find that simple tasks like reading e-mails and planning the day are better suited to the short period before the coffee kicks in. The cognition-intensive translation process can be a struggle in half-asleep mode. And like Noni mentions, there might be that urgent e-mail that needs seeing to. Simon | | |
Michael Harris Germany Local time: 20:36 Member (2006) German to English
by working, do ayou also mean checking E-mails, etc. or do you mean beginning with the actual translating task itself? | | |
First things first... | Oct 18, 2010 |
normally I open the newspaper to check what is going on in the outside world. One never knows whether it will be worth it starting working at all!!! Have a nice day! Sonia | |
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John Cutler Spain Local time: 20:36 Spanish to English + ... 10 to 30 minutes+ | Oct 18, 2010 |
If "work" is defined as the current document I'm working on, I'd say 10 minutes to half an hour. It is a bit of a battle to decide whether emails are worth answering first thing in the morning or not. I usually do though, and that's something I think clients appreciate. An exception might be that I like to scan El País to find out what´s going on and keep up on Spanish vocabulary. | | |
within 10 minutes | Oct 18, 2010 |
wake up, breakfast and news, start working. Otherwise waking up early would be pointless. | | |
Within 10 minutes | Oct 18, 2010 |
Which means that I set my clock to half an hour before I actually have to start working (so that I don't miss the early morning deadlines): fifteen minutes for pressing the snooze button + a few minutes for preparing tea + a few minutes for reading e-mails/news. So it's about ten minutes after I start my computer and actually sit down (this may vary). Most of my clients are in the same time zone (or a few hours behind), so most of them are not even awake to send me e-mails so early. | | |
If I have work to do why should I waste time? | |
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Sheila Wilson Spain Local time: 19:36 Member (2007) English + ... Is this from when I switch the computer on? | Oct 18, 2010 |
If it is, I'd have to add at least 15 minutes for it to wake up! Every day it seems to whirr for a little longer before it's ready to respond to anything I do. | | |
checking the outside world first | Oct 18, 2010 |
Sonia Maria Parise wrote: normally I open the newspaper to check what is going on in the outside world. One never knows whether it will be worth it starting working at all!!! Sonia exactly | | |
Anthony Baldwin United States Local time: 14:36 Portuguese to English + ...
Various factors play a role here. I will clean the "lint" out of my inbox, read messages, respond to clients (I suppose some of that IS work), first, then usually spend some time reading the weather an dnews. However, if I already have a large project working, continued from the previous day with a quickly looming deadline, of course, I am more likely to get started quickly. | | |
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