Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Snark-Positive Thread/Time Out Corner

I freelance, so this is a real problem for me. Mind you, I'm NOT good/fast at everything, by a long shot...but in my areas of skill, I am very fast.

I quit two university jobs because they couldn't keep me busy enough; I ended up surfing the web 15-20 hours a week and feeling like a criminal.

Now I freelance, as I said. It has its pluses and minuses. Last year one of my clients paid me a big lump sum at the end of the year because I had not billed anywhere near the amount she budgeted for me in her grant (it just didn't take me that long to do the work).

I can't bring myself to pad my hours. (I know--the answer is to charge more per hour. But then my rates look way too high.) And yes, in nonfreelance jobs, it aggravates other people and does not make them happy.

The person who replaced me at my old job (the one where I surfed the net 20 hours a week) is constantly complaining that she has way too much work and can't possibly handle it all. Ironically, the system has been "streamlined" since I left and an entire element of my job is now outsourced elsewhere.

(Wow. I never talk about this. The only person who fully comprehends this about me is my husband, I think.)

Ultramarina, I had the same problem when I started freelancing and a former co-worker who knew my abilities told me to estimate and bill as a lump instead, that helps get around the discussion of how long it takes or doesn't take. Once clients know you, they understand the higher hourly rate is worth it rather than paying someone less efficient half the price for a quarter of the results.
Unfortunately for me, estimating and selling my services are not my strengths.

I had this problem when I worked as an attorney where billable hours rule. If I efficiently got a memo done in 2 hours and someone else took 4 hours, the person who took 4 hours ends up with more billables and is a better associate in the eyes of the firm. Obviously, if someone was super slow they would eventually be let go but I'm talking about smaller differences that add up over time. Also, as my superiors realized that I could produce quality work quickly, I became their associate who put out fires. I ended up having to mop up after other people and getting involved in crises that I didn't create. I found the whole thing very frustrating and stressful. It was one of many reasons, including not having a life outside of work, that got me to quit. Phew!

Oh that is so true Grinity, its good self-therapy to look at your 'buttons'.



Yes! This is me. Since its the snark thread...

I get annoyed at people who agressively self-promote. Sometimes I feel 1) like I know more about it than they do anyway, and 2) guilty and conceited for thinking 1. I also get annoyed that so many people believe it!

I'm not quicker though. In the memo example it takes me 3 times as long because I'm rereading it 12 times trying to get every possible interpretation and seeing if its 'right'. If it doesn't take me as long as someone else, I must be doing it wrong!

Add that I have very limited experience in any business environment, and the fact that I can't see why people would pay me when surely they could do it themselves, and this is why I'm raking it in. (Sarcasm is allowed on this thread, right?)

Wow, one of my main gripes at work also! I'm a veterinarian and the other vet is very slow at both surgery and outpatient appointments. I get paid less because of the faster surgery time, and then I have to help pick up the slack when there is a waiting room full of appointments. I have to do my appointments as well as the other's. ARGH! Plus, I have to deal with the grouchy clients who have been waiting a long time to see their regular vet and then finally "give in" and see me instead. Blah. Efficiency is not valued and I'm tempted to give it up!

Ok this snark thread seems to have turned into a work anecdotes thread...I suffered from the same productivity problems mentioned back when I worked for large organisations... Now that I work for myself I have more trouble with my inner perfectionist leading me to do things the slow careful way and take twice as long as my peers who will do things quick and dirty. I just can't let software do poorly what I could do well... it leads to a similar problems with pricing of work.

Something that I find interesting is that I do think my strengths and weaknesses balance does make for uncomfortable fit with fellow workers. My DH on the other hand doesn't interview well and recruiters have trouble figuring out how to peg him, and thus how to place him. But he very quickly becomes the lynch pin of his team, department or organisation (depending on organisation size), generally gets on really well with workmates, and employers LOVE him. In fact almost every employer he has ever had have hired him back at least once, or tried to. Or have begged him not to leave. He's had one employer tell him that his current job description was to just not get another job as they would need him soon and it would be a disaster to loose him while they were finding finance for the project...

It would be interesting to analyse what it is about each of our strengths and weaknesses, personalities (and possibly gender) that leads to this difference in the work place. Oh and our IQs are likely very similar, I might have a point or two on him, but nothing major. I run rings around him organisationally and I would say also in terms of productivity. Maybe speed and efficiency really just aren't cool, though he's no slouch (at certain things anyway).

Mechanics get around this issue by having standard labor rates based on what they call "Flat-rate hours". These are not the actual clock hours the mechanic worked on your car, but are based on the average time an average mechanic using standard hand tools would have taken to do the same job. Efficient mechanics can earn a higher number of flat rate hours per week than inefficient ones. Doctors and insurance companies deal with this problem by assigning "Relative Value Codes" to procedures, which take into account the time and level of training needed to perform it, and then set "reasonable" billing levels based on the regional cost for physician services requiring similar levels of time and training - essentially the medical equivalent of the flat rate hour. Maybe veterinarians and lawyers should adopt similar billing practices, or at least similar employee compensation practices.

Didn't get back to this until now, to answer your question.

Trading. You make the money you make. As fast or slow as you make it. But it is hard for a woman to trade. Women tend to be risk averse. So they make see the trade but have a hard time picking up the phone and executing. Or pushing the button.

But there it doesn't matter how fast or slow you are, only how much money you make.

Perfect for the gifted.

Ren

I wonder if the industry and the workplace make a difference? Each workplace has its own culture, that might fit better than others.

I think it depends on the law firm. For instance, in patent law, with fee caps, you generally want to complete the work as quickly as possible to avoid running over budget. And, since there was plenty of work, it wasn't a problem. I generally cut my own hours to get in under the cap.

Back when I was doing patent law, well before the market collapse, there was generally a pretty solid supply.

These days I do contingency fee work with no billable requirements, so hours aren't an issue.