There were times when I was a freelance translator when (I think) I had a healthy work/life balance. And there were times when I definitely did not. It’s never static, especially when, as freelancers, we have the issue of feast or famine—when sometimes you’ve got too much work, and at other times you have none.

After talking to some aspiring and new translators in the Japanese to English media industry, I’ve noticed most people have the attitude that they need to say yes to everything, that they need to work all hours of the day, and have to be able to handle 10,000 moji (Japanese characters) each and every day.

Woah! Stop! No you don’t!

Here are some tips to improve your work/life balance so you don’t instantly burn yourself out.

 

It’s Okay to Say “No”

I know you want to say yes to every possible project that comes your way, especially if it’s something super exciting. But if your schedule is full, it’s okay to say no!

As a PM if I contact you with a potential manga translation, I would rather you say you’re unavailable upfront than for you to say yes and then message me a few weeks later saying you’re unable to meet the deadline.

You might be afraid that client will never contact you again, but there’s a simple trick to turn someone down while also increasing the chance you’ll be contacted again—recommend a colleague!

If you’re too busy offer the contact information for potential alternative translators who might be good candidates for the project. It helps out the PM and makes you look good!

What if you said yes but then things change?

Sometimes your schedule is open and you’re available to work on a project, but then the project is delayed by a few months and then everything comes in at once! What do you do?

Be honest! Tell your project manager “I was able to do this amount when we originally discussed the project, but since the schedule was delayed, I have other work booked and can only do this amount.” You can always negotiate schedules and workloads.

 

Underestimate Your Daily Word Count

Did you know the average literary translator translates an average 800-1,000 words per day? If you’re working from Japanese to English that’s around the equivalent of 1,500 moji. (Literary translators also tend to have second jobs because literary translation doesn’t pay the bills.)

The average for full-time Japanese to English translators in media is about 3,000 to 4,000 moji a day. You might be able to translate 5,000 moji on the first pass, but editing and reiterations after the initial draft will drop this average down. Telling a client you can translate 5,000 moji per day might initially seem reasonable, but then you risk not giving yourself time to edit and polish.

Freelance translators also often have multiple projects on the go. All of a sudden that 5,000 moji per day is split between two projects and becomes 2,500 moji per day per project. If you’ve told both clients you can do 5,000 moji and they scheduled for that, then you need to do 10,000 moji daily to meet your deadline! And that’s before editing!

I am always skeptical of, and honestly concerned for people who claim to consistently translate 10,000 moji per day. It makes me think their quality can’t be very good because they’re spend all hours of the day trying to hit that target. Faster does not mean better.

It’s always best to underestimate how much you can handle. That way you give yourself enough time to edit, and if you finish early then you’ll look good! This is particularly great when working on large projects because then you can request more work from the client.

 

Schedule Weekends (Even if It’s Not the Weekend)

Any client who expects you to work seven days a week should be shot into the sun.

Just like any other job, you should have time off. It doesn’t even have to be on the weekend, just take two scheduled days off to give yourself time to recoup.

Translating is very brain intensive work. It’s okay to take breaks! It’s okay to have a weekend! You should not feel guilting for letting your brain rest and recharge and play some games or watch Netflix. THERE IS NOTHING TO FEEL GUILTY ABOUT.

If anything, I would be worried about people who work seven days a week straight. They’re going to burn out eventually, which makes them a liability on a project.

Include weekends into your schedule and let your clients know. The best thing to do is to include your work hours on your email signature, and/or set up an automatic e-mail reply. That way your client has no excuse if they contact you outside of business hours and don’t get an immediate response.

 

Find the Time That’s Best for You

I am an early bird. My brain works best in the morning and tends to peter out sometimes around 3-4pm. As such, when I freelanced, I worked from 8am to about 3-4pm with a lunch break in the middle.

But I’ve met people who work three hours in the morning, spend the afternoon chilling, then hit their second wind at night and work for another four hours later in the evening.

The joy of freelance work is you don’t have to work the 9-5 unless you want to.

But the trick to good work/life balance is to not work when you’re not working. Give yourself a cut-off and enjoy your free time! Don’t look at e-mails. Don’t think about your work. Get some rest!

 

Track Your Time

You probably have no idea how much you’re working. You just start working and then you stop at some point. But do you know how much time you’re spending on a particular project? How much work you’re doing?

Time trackers are fantastic tools for freelancers because it helps us be aware of how much time we’re spending on work. You can then use that data to work out what times of the day work best for you.

You can even use it to determine how much time you’re spending on a project. This is particularly useful because it helps you work out how much you’re earning per hour of work which you can use to prioritize clients who pay better.

 

How to Establish Work Life Balance

It’s easy to fall into the trap of “must work all the time or I’m not being productive”, but it’s important to have a balance so you don’t burn yourself out and can produce quality work!

Take time for yourself, switch off from work, schedule and pace yourself, keep your clients informed of your work hours (in an e-mail signature), and be clear about your capabilities and schedule.

 

The podcast Smart Habits for Freelance Translators likes to call this “work/life clarity”. They argue that it’s impossible to get the perfect work/life balance and instead you should be realistic about where to put your energy at any given time. Sometimes you will have the energy and time to focus more on work, while at others you might swing towards life.

Their episodes are great, and I highly recommend listening to all of them, but their discussions on work/life clarity are probably the most interesting as it impacts all translators.

 

I hope these tips help you think about how much you’re working and that it’s okay to stop, have breaks, and enjoy your free time so you can have a healthier career in freelance translation!

 

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by Jennifer O’Donnell
edited by Wesley O’Donnell

How to Establish Work Life Balance as a Freelance Translator

Jennifer O'Donnell

Jennifer is a Japanese to English translator and Localization Director for a video game company in Japan. With an MA in translation from the University of London, she specializes in creative, entertaining translations for media, and has a passion for improving the entertainment translation industry for translators, vendors, and clients. (No AI or machine translation in creative works!)

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