Poll: How many hours are there in a reasonable freelancer's work day?
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
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Jun 17, 2017

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "How many hours are there in a reasonable freelancer's work day?".

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Julian Holmes
Julian Holmes  Identity Verified
Japan
Local time: 08:09
Member (2011)
Japanese to English
Other Jun 17, 2017

As many as you need, want or like

 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 23:09
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Other (reasonable work day?) Jun 17, 2017

I’d say 5-8 hours, but we all know that the freelance workflow can be very tricky to manage. So, I work as many as I need to considering the deadline...

 
Gianluca Marras
Gianluca Marras  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 00:09
English to Italian
Other Jun 17, 2017

As much as I want, need, like.

So a reasonable work day, is whatever a freelancer thinks is appropriate for him/her.


 
Platon Danilov
Platon Danilov  Identity Verified
Ukraine
Local time: 01:09
English to Russian
+ ...
Exactly! Jun 17, 2017

Julian Holmes wrote:

As many as you need, want or like


 
Yetta Jensen Bogarde
Yetta Jensen Bogarde  Identity Verified
Denmark
Local time: 00:09
Member (2012)
English to Danish
+ ...
5 - 8 Jun 17, 2017

for me ideal is 6 hours on weekdays and 3 hours on weekends - but being a freelancer you are flexible.

 
Edith van der Have
Edith van der Have
Netherlands
Local time: 00:09
Member (2016)
English to Dutch
+ ...
Reasonable to adapt to your life circumstances Jun 17, 2017

Julian Holmes wrote:

As many as you need, want or like

So true! Fulltime is the reasonable choice for many, but I would hardly recommend it to young parents, for example. I am quite happy with my current mixture of time spent per (week) day, varying from 2 to 10 hours - in total approx 30-35 hours/week. I have a good income and can spend sufficient time with my young children. Probably I will work 5-10 hours/week more when they are both in school, that will be the most reasonable choice then.


 
Reed James
Reed James
Chile
Local time: 20:09
Member (2005)
Spanish to English
Depends what you mean by hours Jun 17, 2017

I use a timer app called GTD. I set different timers according to the day and the specific tasks for the day.

My conclusion: 6 solid hours of work plus 2 hours of breaks that include lunch and rest.

It makes no sense to work an insane number of hours if you're not actually productive.


 
Mario Freitas
Mario Freitas  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 20:09
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
8-10 (as flexible as it can be) Jun 17, 2017

I think the regular working hours would be 8 to 10, from Monday to Friday, which is more than enough to have a financially and physically healthy life. I work less than 8 hours per day regularly, but simply because I don't have enough work to do in such days. I also work regularly more than 10 hours a day, on Saturdays and Sundays many times. And that's because sometimes I have large projects, which are worse the sacrifice.

If a person is able to work less than 40 hours a week and m
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I think the regular working hours would be 8 to 10, from Monday to Friday, which is more than enough to have a financially and physically healthy life. I work less than 8 hours per day regularly, but simply because I don't have enough work to do in such days. I also work regularly more than 10 hours a day, on Saturdays and Sundays many times. And that's because sometimes I have large projects, which are worse the sacrifice.

If a person is able to work less than 40 hours a week and maintain their life style, congratulations: you have reached the ideal situation we all wish to reach. If you work more than 50 hours a week, and still don't have enough to improve your lifestyle, sorry, but you're doing something wrong or working for peanuts.

P.S. This is considering my case, as the sole income to pay all the bills. When you split this income with your husband/wife, of course this standard changes a lot. I didn't consider that when I typed my answer above.

[Edited at 2017-06-17 19:00 GMT]
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Muriel Vasconcellos
Muriel Vasconcellos  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 16:09
Member (2003)
Spanish to English
+ ...
Other Jun 18, 2017

I voted for 5-8, but then I realized that that isn't enough to pay the bills. I have a pension from my in-house job, and my leisurely days of 5-8 are just about right, but often I'm under tight deadlines, and then I sometimes work more than 10 hours a day.

I'm getting old, beginning to think there are better things to do with my time ... St. Peter won't be asking me how many hours I worked, how many deadlines I met, or how much money I made.


 
Erzsébet Czopyk
Erzsébet Czopyk  Identity Verified
Hungary
Local time: 00:09
Member (2006)
Russian to Hungarian
+ ...
SITE LOCALIZER
as many as your customers need Jun 18, 2017

I would reverse...
and the number can be increased up to ... you know.


 


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Poll: How many hours are there in a reasonable freelancer's work day?






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