Poll: How do you handle urgent work when you’re feeling exhausted? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "How do you handle urgent work when you’re feeling exhausted?".
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I’m not fond of rush jobs and my long-standing customers know that. Even so, I can’t say no to some of them. In that case, I’ll take a short break, drink an espresso and power through…
| | | | | Depends entirely on the client. | Oct 7, 2025 |
Barring emergencies, it's up to my client - if they're okay with an extension, then I'm relieved as it means less of an uphill battle. Brainpower is still what this profession is about (regardless of what we see in the press), so the opportunity to recharge can really pay off. Of course, if there's no flexibility, then I do the short-break-and-power-through option, but it's not ideal.
| | | | Philip Lees 
Griekeland
Local time: 03:07
uit Grieks in Engels
I don't accept urgent jobs when I'm feeling exhausted.
In fact, I rarely accept "urgent" jobs at all - except from long-standing clients. The word "urgent" is a red flag for me: it suggests somebody who is badly organised and probably not reliable.
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Mario Chávez
Verenigde State
Local time: 20:07
uit Engels in Spaans
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| Urgent jobs? What's that? | Oct 7, 2025 |
The notable phrase A lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency for me applies. And we have applied it successfully in my workplace, which is a children's hospital. Sure, things like discharges are kind of an urgent thing we translate, but not every day and not every hour. We dropped the “72 hours” and the “ASAP” time frames in our online translation request form, and our internal requesters got the point and adapted to the longer time frames we are now using.<... See more The notable phrase A lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency for me applies. And we have applied it successfully in my workplace, which is a children's hospital. Sure, things like discharges are kind of an urgent thing we translate, but not every day and not every hour. We dropped the “72 hours” and the “ASAP” time frames in our online translation request form, and our internal requesters got the point and adapted to the longer time frames we are now using.
There was a time when young translators thought that translating urgent texts as fast as possible was the way to make money (or ends meet) as a translator. What braindead people taught them that?
So, no, I don't spend time in urgent jobs, except discharges, and I don't particularly rush them. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Daryo
Local time: 01:07
uit Serwies in Engels
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| Sounds to me like a variation on ... | Oct 7, 2025 |
'What do you do when you have painted yourself into the corner?'
to which my boring unimaginative answer would be
'How about avoiding painting yourself into the corner in the first place?'
Longer version ways too long for here ...
| | | | Angie Garbarino
Local time: 02:07
Member (2003)
uit Engels in Italiaans
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| Let me rephrase | Oct 7, 2025 |
How DID you handle urgent work when you WERE feeling exhausted?
| | | | Oscar Núñez Alfaro
Costa Rica
Local time: 18:07
Member (Oct 2026)
uit Engels in Spaans
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| All the options are valid for me! | Oct 7, 2025 |
Depending on my mood, I could decide any options mentioned before. But, taking breaks and drinking coffee is surely my alley
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IrinaN (X)
Verenigde State
Local time: 19:07
uit Engels in Russies
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| Looks like I've been living in a parallel world | Oct 7, 2025 |
I wouldn't jump to any conclusions about necessarily disorganized, irresponsible, pushy clients. My world has always been very dynamic, quite often I worked as both a translator and an interpreter for the same projects where something was being constructed, flown, moved, fixed as the days went along; somebody from the client's side was always on the road, juggling daily routines and surprises. In other words, things were happening in real time more often than I could count.
So... I... See more I wouldn't jump to any conclusions about necessarily disorganized, irresponsible, pushy clients. My world has always been very dynamic, quite often I worked as both a translator and an interpreter for the same projects where something was being constructed, flown, moved, fixed as the days went along; somebody from the client's side was always on the road, juggling daily routines and surprises. In other words, things were happening in real time more often than I could count.
So... I just handled it ▲ Collapse
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