Monday, 21 March 2011
As almost any freelance translator can tell you, working for yourself at home can be a lonely old business even if you have your family around you. I've been my own boss for more than 5 years and am fortunate enough to work in both a language combination and a field in which the demand/supply ratio is pretty healthy. What is rather less healthy, however, is the fact that (until recently) I would shut down my computer on a Friday evening, down a restorative whisky, and realise that I hadn't set foot outside the front door since Monday morning. Quite apart from this obviously resulting in a near total lack of exercise for most of the week, I figured it was similarly damaging to my mental well being. I decided to do something about the former problem by buying a Wii-Fit, which helped me lose over half a stone and get back to a (slightly flattering) "ideal" BMI figure. I also find Twitter quite effective at banishing the isolation blues (virtual company is better than no company at all), and I now follow, and am followed by, a veritable army of similar work-from-home types spread across all parts of the globe. Feel free to trawl through my inane ramblings at @mytrans.
Having said that, 140 character snippets are no real substitute for a good natter over a cup of coffee & a cake, and in my case, salvation appeared in the form of "Jelly Days", where anything up to a couple of dozen freelancers get together and spend the day working in each other’s company. This concept, like many others, originated in the USA, but is now spreading rapidly on this side of the Atlantic. I am now one of the regulars at the Coalport Jelly, held once a month in a beautifully restored Industrial Revolution era building in the Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Site. The surroundings are stunning - there is a tangible sense of history all around you - and the 20 or so folk who come together every month work in fields as diverse as you could imagine. I'm the only translator (so far) at ours, but our numbers include a few IT consultants and web designers, business consultants, an events organiser, an alternative therapist, a healthcare specialist, a stained glass artist, a masque creator, a jewellery maker, an easy read information designer, a solicitor… I could go on. This naturally leads to a very rich and interesting mix of topics of conversation, and I have made some good friends since I started attending, friendships that have been further cemented in our now regular Friday night pub get-togethers.
Enterprise HQ (http://www.enterprise-hq.co.uk/), our "Jelly" host facility provides a sumptuous working environment, free Wi-Fi, unlimited tea and coffee and a lavish "brown bag" lunch that is so substantial that I have yet to finish one. The cost for this luxury? £10 for the whole day. It is, quite simply, the best tenner I spend each month.
There is the question of how productive one can be when surrounded by the inevitable distraction of good company, and I would estimate that I generally translate 60-70% of my usual volume. This is a sacrifice I'm more than happy to make, as my Jelly days go a long way towards maintaining my sanity. So much so that I'm considering spreading my wings and making it a twice-monthly occurrence, especially as this would allow me more indulgence in my main hobby - a 1700cc Yamaha that roars into life with depressing infrequency. In fact, my home county of Shropshire is so well served with Jellies that I could attend more than once a week at venues all over the county if cabin fever ever really set in.
I know of one or two other translators who are already Jelly devotees, and if you feel that a change of scenery and a day of not talking shop is what you need, then have a look at http://www.uk-jelly.org.uk/ to see where and when your nearest Jelly is held. If you happen to be in a Jelly-free zone, think about setting one up yourself. Have a look at the “Get In Touch” page for advice on how to do so. People will love you for it, and your social life can only improve. I had to miss this month's Coalport Jelly for work reasons, and I felt a genuine pang of sadness on the day, knowing that I couldn't be a part of things for once. It’s very much a part of my monthly routine now, and hope it will continue to be so for a long time to come.
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| The Iron Bridge - just along the road from Coalport |
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