Poll: Which of these do you find most stressful? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Which of these do you find most stressful?".
View the poll results »
| | | | Julian Holmes 
Japan
Local time: 22:45
Member (2011)
Japanese to English
Where is this option?
Finding out that what ostensibly looks like a fairly straightforward job turns into a nightmare.
This happened with the last academic paper I translated. The Summary and Conclusion were reasonably well-written, and everything else was appalling. And, guess who based his decision to take this on by reading the Summary and Conclusion? The rest was so bad  that it took almost 3x the ant... See more Where is this option?
Finding out that what ostensibly looks like a fairly straightforward job turns into a nightmare.
This happened with the last academic paper I translated. The Summary and Conclusion were reasonably well-written, and everything else was appalling. And, guess who based his decision to take this on by reading the Summary and Conclusion? The rest was so bad that it took almost 3x the anticipated time.  ▲ Collapse
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Several of the above, namely working against short deadlines, chasing late payments, negotiating with (some) new clients, getting too many project offers at once, getting no project offers for a while… not forgetting the situation described by Julian Holmes!
| | | | | Software issues | Mar 16, 2018 |
I entirely agree with my respected colleagues above.
If I have to choose the MOST stressful, then it has to be software issues. Funnily enough, I also found it very stressful when my husband had software issues yesterday... while gloating a little and willing my own computer to go on behaving itself!
After a routine update his machine lost the sound. I find the sounds annoying, except when I use the headphones for video clips or the like, but he likes the small plings a... See more I entirely agree with my respected colleagues above.
If I have to choose the MOST stressful, then it has to be software issues. Funnily enough, I also found it very stressful when my husband had software issues yesterday... while gloating a little and willing my own computer to go on behaving itself!
After a routine update his machine lost the sound. I find the sounds annoying, except when I use the headphones for video clips or the like, but he likes the small plings and bleeps when something happens. He ran around for a couple of hours, talking to Skype, poking and muttering... and finally decided that his 10-year-old driver had probably given up somewhere. Everything else seemed to be working fine.
He never uses the sound, but it has to be there... And of course, he never knows what else will go down. Extra backups and a new computer, more stress on the horizon, I suspect. ▲ Collapse
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| For me there are two: | Mar 16, 2018 |
1. Late payments
2. Having to read long instructions
Everything else is piece of cake 
| | | | EvaVer (X)
Local time: 15:45
Czech to French
+ ...
| I would say new SW... | Mar 16, 2018 |
except that I have got to a point where I refuse to learn any new SW (close to retirement...). So it's late payments.
| | | | Kay Denney
France
Local time: 15:45
French to English
Just reading the list stressed me out!
I loathe admin but it's not stressful.
I never accept stressful deadlines.
Computer issues are probably the worst because it's what I'm least prepared for.
My laptop seized up last month (a month after the guarantee ran out, and just after my kitten sat on the keyboard, although he is apparently not to blame) and it took several weeks to sort out, during which time I had to refuse stuff that my old desk... See more Just reading the list stressed me out!
I loathe admin but it's not stressful.
I never accept stressful deadlines.
Computer issues are probably the worst because it's what I'm least prepared for.
My laptop seized up last month (a month after the guarantee ran out, and just after my kitten sat on the keyboard, although he is apparently not to blame) and it took several weeks to sort out, during which time I had to refuse stuff that my old desktop couldn't handle. Luckily I didn't have to refuse any of my direct clients. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Sheila Wilson
Spain
Local time: 14:45
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
| Anything at all techie | Mar 16, 2018 |
I just go to pieces when anything on the technical side doesn't work, like Windows 10 updating itself just yesterday, and today Abbyy PDF Transformer won't work  ). Unfortunately, my husband is at least as bad - and would cheerfully throw the lot at the wall if I gave him the chance. Strange really, as we met in 1979 when I was a trainee programmer and he was the project leader, and today our son runs an IT company. I guess we lost... See more I just go to pieces when anything on the technical side doesn't work, like Windows 10 updating itself just yesterday, and today Abbyy PDF Transformer won't work ). Unfortunately, my husband is at least as bad - and would cheerfully throw the lot at the wall if I gave him the chance. Strange really, as we met in 1979 when I was a trainee programmer and he was the project leader, and today our son runs an IT company. I guess we lost control of it all somewhere between the punched card and digital eras. ▲ Collapse
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Jasa Pipan
Slovenia
Local time: 15:45
French to Slovenian
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| Anything even remotely related to marketing... | Mar 16, 2018 |
...honestly, if I could pay someone to market and advertise me, I’d do it in a heartbeat but, unfortunately, that’s what I signed up for when I started freelancing as opposed to working in a company where these issues would be taken care of for me and what I don’t like either is when I get no projects for a while because my head goes into that place where it starts wondering if it’s the beginning of the end or if it’s ju... See more ...honestly, if I could pay someone to market and advertise me, I’d do it in a heartbeat but, unfortunately, that’s what I signed up for when I started freelancing as opposed to working in a company where these issues would be taken care of for me and what I don’t like either is when I get no projects for a while because my head goes into that place where it starts wondering if it’s the beginning of the end or if it’s just a simple dry spell! So far, though, I’ve managed to get myself to the other side just fine every time *knock on wood* and I just hope it goes on the same way... ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Short deadlines and unpleasant surprises | Mar 17, 2018 |
Definitely short deadlines. I find that one of the biggest causes of short deadlines is my underestimation of the task.
Julian Holmes wrote: Finding out that what ostensibly looks like a fairly straightforward job turns into a nightmare. This happened with the last academic paper I translated. The Summary and Conclusion were reasonably well-written, and everything else was appalling. And, guess who based his decision to take this on by reading the Summary and Conclusion? The rest was so bad that it took almost 3x the anticipated time.
| | | | | I chose "Chasing late payments", because that can take years... if you ever get paid. | Mar 17, 2018 |
The other options:
Working against short deadlines - I never accept jobs with tight deadlines
Getting no project offers for a while - I almost always have projects to do (if not, I rest or do other pending things)
Getting too many project offers at once - Can't get enough of them!
Resolving hardware or software issues - My husband is a very helpful computer administrator
Marketing / Finding new clients - I frequently look for them, but it's not a pain
N... See more The other options:
Working against short deadlines - I never accept jobs with tight deadlines
Getting no project offers for a while - I almost always have projects to do (if not, I rest or do other pending things)
Getting too many project offers at once - Can't get enough of them!
Resolving hardware or software issues - My husband is a very helpful computer administrator
Marketing / Finding new clients - I frequently look for them, but it's not a pain
None of the above are stressful for me - Yes, Chasing late payments
Starting with a new CAT tool or other software - I love to try new things, so I will master something in a short time
Administrative tasks - My husband is the administrator
Negotiating with new clients - We come to a mutual agreement or I don't work for them ▲ Collapse
| | | | Mario Freitas
Brazil
Local time: 10:45
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
| Several, but no work is the worst | Mar 18, 2018 |
Several (or most) of these do stress me a bit.
The worst one is no job offers for two or three days. Although running after late payments is pretty heavy in that ranking, too, I usually receive several e-mails from clients every day, including the weekends. So two or three days without a job proposal is a bit of a stress.
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