Nothing much to report from today. I was sleepy pretty much all day. There was a glimmer of hope for work, but it ended up falling through.
It annoys me when the prospective clients contact the work guy at fairly ridiculous times and have unrealistic expectations in terms of a deadline. Today's so-called offer came in at around 3pm and was supposed to be ready by 9am tomorrow. The work amount was the equivalent of 10-12 hours. So I said, I can't do that - 12pm tomorrow could be doable. Okay, the work guy took that offer back to the client. Who decided to wait yet another 3+ hours before confirming. At that point I simple said I can't do it, because I can't promise any quality. Plus, if I'd give up (the fact I actually considered it is probably also problematic) my entire night's sleep for that translation, then I'd expect the price to be 1.5x or 2x but it would be just as if I'd be translating at noon.
I think I made the right decision, even though in this 'client is king; lots of competition' type field everytime you say No, you feel a low key jolt of discomfort travel through the body and mind. Nevertheless, the damage I'd do to my already weird sleeping situation is not worth the money I'd be getting for the effort.
Also figured out that, okay, if I accept work and it turns out to be more difficult than I initially thought it would be - then working into the night and/or waking up a lot earlier than usual would be fine with me. I've also done that plenty of times. But I can't voluntarily sacrifice my sleep. Those consequences I'd feel long after the translation has been completed.
Boundaries. Self-care and -preservation.
I think I'll spend the rest of my evening reading. There's been a storm outside the entire day. Really-really strong winds and lots of broken branches behind the apartment building.
Hope everyone had a productive day. Unless there's work at some point tomorrow, I'll do a focussed day of research, i.e. sifting through the data systematically. Can't wait to see what gems I might discover
End of Day 219. I did not drink today.