5 Reasons Why I Utterly Refuse to Give Up on Freelancing 坚持做自由译者的15个理由 Freelancing is hard. 做自由译者很难。 Not only do you have to face feast and famine cycle, do everything yourself, struggle to maintain a good work/life balance, and have a plan in place for emergencies–you might have to deal with difficult people. 自由译者不得不面对稿件时多时少、要独自处理所有工作、挣扎着维持工作于生活的平衡，还要预先计划好可能出现的紧急状况，有时候不得不和难缠的人打交道。 Whew! 唉！ Is it any wonder that some freelancers fail? 很多自由译者转行了，奇怪吗？ We’ve already explained why freelancing may not be for everybody. 我们已经说过，自由译者可能并不适合所有人。 I’ll never give up on freelancing, though, for reasons that are personal, professional, and people-related. Here’s why I won’t give up: 但我绝不会放弃自由译者这个职业：因为个人、因为职业、因为我的人际圈。 5 Personal Reasons I Won’t Give Up on Freelancing 坚持做自由译者的5个个人原因 A small confession–I feel bit guilty about my personal reasons for loving freelancing. I hear my non-freelancing complaining about all of the points below (regular hours, traffic, buying work clothes, tiny cubicles, etc.) and I feel a bit guilty and selfish for having chosen a life for myself where I don’t have to wrestle with these problems any more. 小小坦白一下，对于热爱自由翻译的个人原因，我觉得很有负罪感。我对不做自由翻译的生活有很多抱怨：死板的上班时间、工作装、逼仄的小隔间，等等。我觉得愧疚，也觉得自己自私，因为我选择了再也不用解决这些问题的生活。 Here are five personal reasons that keep me freelancing: 一直以来激励我坚持做自由译者的五个原因是： Setting my own hours–Even though some companies have adopted “flex-time” for employees, most companies still maintain a core of hours when you are expected to do your work. As a freelancer, not only do I get to decide when I work I also get decide whether I work. If I need a day off for an appointment or just for fun, I take it. No need to get a manager’s approval. 1、时间自己管理。尽管一些公司采取了灵活的员工时间制度，但大多数公司仍然有严格的员工时间安排。而自由译者不仅自己决定什么时间工作，还能选择是否工作。哪天我想休假赴约或就是休息休息，我大可以不接稿，根本不需要向什么经理请示。 No commute–Commuting is a double whammy. Not only does it take an hour or more out of your day each and every working day, you also have to pay for the privilege by either buying gasoline or purchasing a public transportation pass. Don’t even get me started on the stress that heavy traffic can add to an otherwise peaceful morning. 2、不用通勤。通勤是件祸不单行的事儿。不只是工作日要浪费一个小时或更多时间往返，自己买车的话还得买汽油或者买线。交通拥堵的压力又让人大早上就没有好心情。 Shopping during the day when lines are small–Most of the working world runs errands during the weekend or tries to cram chores into their lunch hour. No lines for me, though. I make a point of buying groceries during the day when practically no one is at the store. Likewise, when making appointment with my doctor or my accountant I avoid the popular lunchtime or late afternoon times. 3、可以在白天人少的时候购物。大多数上班族得趁周末完成任务，或者在午餐时间忙完家务事儿。但对我来说不需要排队，因为我专挑商店里一个人都没有的时候去买食品杂货。同样的道理，我预约医生或会计师也能避开人满为患的午餐时间或晚上。 No dress code–While I’m not one to sit around in my underwear or my pajamas, I do appreciate being able to wear jeans and tee shirt (or sweats) to work every day, if I want to. Not only is it more comfortable, it’s also easier on the wallet. (I do maintain a few more professional outfits just in case I have to meet with a client in person, though.) 4、穿衣随意。我不是那种只穿内衣或睡衣的人，我喜欢穿牛仔或t恤衫工作。休闲装不只是舒适，还省钱。当然我也有几件职业装，只在亲自会见客户的时候才穿。 Control your environment–For years, I did my work from a variety of tiny little cubicles (usually about 8′ by 8′, sometimes smaller). Most of the time, I had no window to look out of, There was absolutely no way to keep from overhearing conversations and phone calls made in the next cubicle. Now, I have the quiet I need to perform and a nice window to look out of every once in a while. 5、选择环境的自由。好多年里我都是在小隔间里工作的，通常也就8英尺见方，有时候更小。多数时候没有能往外看的窗子，也绝对没有办法避开相邻隔间说话打电话的声音。而现在，我有能让我安心工作的安静环境，还有扇能不时向往眺望的窗子。 5 Professional Reasons I Won’t Give Up on Freelancing 坚持做自由译者的5个职业理由 Not only has freelancing been good to my personal life, it’s also been a boon to me professionally. In many cases, I think that freelancers grow professionally more quickly and are more knowledgeable on a wider range of topics than their corporate counterparts. 做自由翻译不仅对我的个人生活有好处，对我的职业生涯也益处多多。我认为相比专职翻译，很多情况下自由译者职业化成长更快，知识面也更广。 Here are five professional reasons that keep me freelancing: 激励我坚持做自由译者的五个职业理由是： Choose the best projects–When I was an employee my boss assigned my work to me and no matter what it was, I did it. It didn’t matter whether it was challenging or even whether it was a bad idea, my work was chosen for me. As a freelancer, I do the choosing. If a project doesn’t challenge me or seems like a really bad idea, I don’t have to take it. 1、能选择最合适的项目。我给雇主打工的时候，无论老板给我什么任务我都得完成。无论我对任务有没有兴趣、或者这个任务本身就有问题都不重要，因为我是被迫接受任务。作为自由译者，我有选择权，如果我不感兴趣或者感觉有问题，我可以选择不接单。 Set my rate–Employees have one good chance to negotiate their income–that’s when they’re hired. After that, pay may be revisited (usually annually), but it’s unlikely to change much. Freelancers, on the other hand, have complete freedom to determine how much they earn. They do this two ways: by choosing their rate and by choosing how many hours to work. 2、自己定价。雇员在被雇佣的时候，还可以和雇主谈谈报酬。之后虽然他们可以商量报酬（通常一年一次），但报酬不大可能有太大变化。而自由译者却有决定自己收入的完全自由。他们可以自己定价，也可以选择工作时长。 Fewer meetings–Companies are known for holding long, unproductive meetings that they require their employees to attend. While you may not be able to completely avoid meetings as a freelancer (a few clients will ask for them), you can limit how many you must attend. It’s particularly easy to get out of an unneeded meeting once the client realizes that you are charging them for it. 3、会议少。都知道，公司喜欢要求员工参加冗长而低效的会议。虽然自由译者也不能完全避免会议（个别客户要求），但能控制参加的次数。你可以告知客户，出席会议也要收费，这样就能轻松地推掉不必要的会议。 Learn new things–If you’re like most freelancers, your work varies depending on what your clients need. You also have a prime incentive (getting new projects) to keep up with technological advances as they occur. These factors mean that you’re probably going to learn more new things as a freelancer than you did as an employee. 4、能学新知识。多数自由译者的工作依靠服务客户需求，新技术出现的时候也要不断学习，这样才能争取到新的项目，这也算一种激励。相比作为雇员，这些因素决定了自由译者可能需要学习更多的新知识。 Can’t get fired–Alright, an individual client may reject your work or even take you off a project once you’ve started, but you’ll still own your business. While that experience may hurt, your other clients will probably still stick with you. Plus, you’re still free to continue to seek out more work. 5、不会被解雇。当然，客户可能拒绝给你项目或者你开始项目的时候终止合作，但你依然是自己的老板。虽然前面说的情况可能让人伤心，但你的其他客户可能继续与你合作。而且，你有寻找更多工作的自由。 5 People-related Reasons I Won’t Give Up on Freelancing 坚持做自由译者的5个人际原因 The top reasons why I stick with freelancing are probably people-related, though. Freelancing gives me the life-balance freedom that I crave in order to balance the demands of my career with the needs of my relationships with the people around me. 坚持自由翻译的首要原因可能是人际原因。做自由译者给了我渴求的生活平衡，让我的职业需要和人际交往需要找到平衡。 Here are five people-related reasons I’ll never give up on freelancing: 坚持做自由翻译的5个人际原因： Quality time with a child–Freelancing allows me to spend quality time with my children. Even as I type this, it is spring break and I will be taking some extra long lunches this week in order to interact more with my child. Freelancing also allows me to pick up my child immediately after school and I can take off a day to chaperone a field trip if I want. 1、有时间陪孩子。做自由翻译给我更多的时间陪孩子。写这篇文章的时候是春假，我会用特别长的时间陪孩子吃午饭。做自由译者也让我能在孩子放学的时候接着去接他们，他们郊游的时候也能休一天假去陪游。 Care for someone who is ill–Shortly after I began freelancing my parents became critically ill. When needed, my flexible schedule allowed me to work mornings (and sometimes late nights) and spend afternoons in the hospital. When my dad moved to hospice, I took off an entire month just to be with him before he died. 2、照顾病人。我开始做自由翻译不久，我的父母病重。因为我的工作安排灵活，需要的时候我就早上工作，有时深夜工作，这样就能空出下午的时间去医院陪护。我父亲住院的时候，我休假一整个月去陪他，直到父亲病逝。 Time for friends–While I often take a short lunch or eat at my desk, several times a month I make it a point to take long lunch and meet with someone (usually outside of the freelancing world) from my personal social circle. These “two hour lunches” would probably be frowned at in a company environment, but personally I find that I return to my work refreshed. 3、有时间陪朋友。虽然我的午餐时间很短，或者有时候就在写字台旁，每个月我还是会特地和朋友(通常是自由翻译圈之外的，个人社交圈子的朋友)一起吃个饭。 Time to help others–Do you have a cause that you care about passionately? I’m a big believer in volunteerism and the freelancing lifestyle gives you the freedom to structure your schedule so that you can spend time on the cause you love–whether that cause means volunteering at your local soup kitchen, saving the environment, or rescuing a mistreated pet. 4、有时间帮助别人。你有没有特别关心的事情？我就是一个积极热心的志愿者。自由翻译的生活方式有时间安排的自由，让你能够花更多时间在想做的事业上，比如在当地慈善机构做志愿者、参加保护环境的活动，或者救助受虐动物。 The people you meet–Last, but not least, freelancing is great because of the people that I’ve met. What can I say? From my clients to my readers here on Freelance Folder to the peers and friends that I’ve met through social networking–you’re all great and you keep me going. I would not have met you if I had stayed in the corporate world. 5、结识朋友。最后这一点也很重要。因为我遇到的人让我觉得做自由译者真好。为什么这么说？从我的客户到我的博客读者，再到我通过社交网络结识的朋友，都促使我坚持下去。假如我继续在公司工作，我很难有机会遇到这些人。 |
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