Here are 17 reasons why translating is the best job in the world for me. This can apply to any freelancer, not only to translators.
No boss, No Annoying Colleagues!
I have my own office, which I can furnish as I desire, and in which I can also listen to music without disturbing anyone. And when I feel lonely and need to socialize, I can just pop-over to the living room and spend some nice time with my wife or my daughter watching movies and cartoons.
Heck, I can just open Twitter or Facebook, and I am already in the middle of a “large office” filled with some of my nicest colleagues, with whom I can exchange experiences or ask them if they want to get together at the coffee shop for some time off. And when I’ve had enough distraction, I just “shut the windows on Twitter and Facebook” or my office.
Great Customers, Which I Can Choose Myself
If a customer stresses me out, I simply end cooperating with him or her without having to account for it to anybody. Best of all, I don’t have to talk to the customer in person when I need to end the cooperation.
Great Texts, Which I Can Also Choose Myself
I can simply reject texts from topics that are beyond my knowledge and interest, and which would put me at risk if I take on them as opposed to working full-time for a boss where you have to swallow up everything they serve you.
Instead, I am working on texts that I care for: medical, IT, biology, marketing… And I am constantly learning new things with every topic making customers happy with translations that I enjoyed working on.
Performance-Related Payment
No begging for a salary increase. If I have enough money, I simply work less. If I need more, I work more. If I have worked a lot for a while, I slow down a bit as long as I need to rest without having to ask anyone for leave or reduction of my working hours.
No Accountability
Of course, I am committed to my clients to deliver good work, but I do not have to explain to any boss why I would rather go to the barber than sit at the desk from 8 AM to 4 PM as long as I meet the deadline.
Work When I Want To
Sometimes I like to take a day off during a weekday and instead work in the evening or on the weekend. Why? Because I can and it’s convenient for me to adjust my working hours as I please! And no one looks over my shoulder or bitches about it.
Absolute Flexibility
I have no idea how mothers and fathers manage to take care of their kids while going to their full-time jobs. I have been a freelancer for 10 years now (2 of which while taking care of my daughter) and have always had time to spend quality hours with my kid or take care of it while it’s sick. Full-time working parents have my absolute respect!
When my child needs anything, I am always home to tend to its needs. I do not have to organize anything and ask for leave hours, and I don’t have to be afraid of a boss. I can work anyway. If not in the morning, then in the evening.
Individual Responsibility and Absolute Freedom
If I want to develop further, I do. If I need a new software, I buy it myself. And if I prefer a new desk or a new office chair, I just go and order it without having to plead to any boss to approve such an investment.
If I have a great project idea, for example, writing an article, no one is there to break my enthusiasm by constantly watching over me. Nobody’s talking to me, and I don’t have to explain myself to anyone. I can do anything I like.
And if a project fails, no one will reprimand me. I take full responsibility and try to learn something out of it without someone being angry at me.
No Traveling to Work
It saves a lot of time when you don’t have to drive to work when working from home. The best thing about it is that you are saving the environment too!
No Dress Code
How many of you can say that you can work in your pajamas or even underpants? Not to mention how much money it saves me on buying new “classy” clothes that I don’t need in reality at all. Well, at least not every day. Or the whole day.
Enough Time for Different Activities
My office is always accessible to me and I don’t have to use it specifically just for translating. I can do other things there too all in the convenience of my own home. Or, if I don’t have a project to work on, I can simply pop over to the backyard and do some house work, create a new vegetable patch, try out a new recipe etc. Nobody looks over my shoulder! Well, except for my wife, god bless her.
Creativity
I can play with words and work on formulations when doing a translation or writing an article, I can communicate without really having to talk to someone. I can read and accumulate new knowledge every day.
No Stress
Well, of course, sometimes I have a lot to do, which inherently creates stress, but not the kind of stress you get when your boss tries to be a smart ass.
There is a degree of stress, but not on the long run. I can always control it by simply rejecting projects that stress me out. When I look at so many chronically overworked people, who don’t have time to even see their children, except when they come home in late hours to get them to bed, and then off to work again in the morning, I am infinitely happy and grateful that I don’t have that kind of a problem.
No Personal Customer Contact
No business travel, no conferences, no weird situations. An e-mail here and there, maybe Skype a little… It’s all the communication I need when contacting customers. And since I am my own boss, I make my own rules which I don’t have to justify before anyone.
No Worries About Being Fired from Work
Losing a customer can hurt of course, but I certainly won’t get fired. I have other customers, and will have more in the future, so I have no fears of unemployment.