Learning from Mistakes

Yesterday, I have shared my experience as a beginner in translation freelancer click here to check it out. Somehow, I managed to complete first two tasks. First task was delayed a bit so, I thought I would not get other opportunity. On 19th Dec, I was given the third task. I got an email but she mentioned on it that it is urgent and required by Wednesday. I just checked the file roughly and counted the rows, those were around 650. I informed her that will revert by Thursday.

I thought of doing 220 rows in a day which means I can easily submit the file in three days. She again reminded me to stick with the given timeline. I was a bit relaxed that it won’t be a big one as I already did 2000 rows in three days so, I took it lightly once again. For the motivation, she informed me regarding the cost of last two tasks. I was happy with the amount which I will be getting after a month or so as it takes time in getting approval from Finance.

Unfortunately, due to workload in office and some personal issues, I was unable to open the file on Monday and Tuesday. Wasted two days. Wednesday, I took off from work to start working on this file but again, I got a bit sick and delayed translation work, even not opened the file yet. Wednesday, at noon, I pushed myself to get up and opened the file. When I started translating the first row, it took me 10 min to complete it. I did some 4-5 hours continues work on it but just completed 50 rows.

Once again, I was in a big trouble. I just counted the rows and missed to check the whole file. There were columns till Z. It means this file was massive. All columns were not filled though, half of them were blank. Still, if you multiply 10 columns with 650 rows, it’s around 6500 sentences to translate. OMG! This time I was like I am done with it. I won’t be getting this done by next morning. I was feeling sick but this would be the worst excuse to share with the concerns for the delay. I took a little break and starting thinking how to complete it within deadline.

Looking at my face, @shrazi knew that something is wrong. He insisted to share the reason of my sad face. I was so much stressed out, I explained him everything. It was all my mistake, first he guided me and then asked to share the file, I felt better and asked him to do as much as he can from the up, I will be working from down. I left a message to the concern that I am unable to submit it by tomorrow as it is a very big file. I continuously worked on it till 3 am. I got too much tired. Honestly, I cannot tell in the words how bad I was feeling. I tried to take a little break and suddenly fall asleep. Woke up in the morning and went to the office. I was hoping not to have much work in the office so I could complete this file.

She was very upset with me, she called me and asked me when I can share the completed file. I was blank and excused, apologized for the delay. I am not liking it all, very disappointed. She committed to the party on my behalf and was in very awkward situation. She further gave me extra 12 hours and asked to submit by midnight. Also motivated me through sharing the cost, I clearly said, I am more into completing this task rather than money. I never talk about the cost to you, what is most important is the quality and commitment.

Thursday 22 Dec was the most hectic day of my life. I was feeling low. I worked whole day and night but still unable to complete it. On Friday, she realized that it is too much pressure on me because the file was a massive one. So, she asked me to share three specific columns by Friday night and rest later. I was typing like a machine, @shrazi supported me in this mishap. She asked me to revert it by 10 pm. I non-stop worked on it and shared it by 9 pm. I got her message with relaxed tone, thanking me for the support and said you can share the complete file by day after tomorrow, no more pressure now. I felt so relaxed but I was not happy with my performance. I continued to work on the sheet without taking any lengthy breaks and shared the complete file very next day. She replied me with the handsome amount for this task.

Nothing is more important that reputation and I was not up to the mark, I am not satisfied with my way of working, taking things for granted and non-seriousness. This freelance work highlighted some major faults and weakness in me, pointed out some negative areas where I have to work and improve myself. These things are very important in daily life as well, not just limited to some specific work. @shrazi also gave some useful advises. Learning from mistakes is essential for growth, accepting the mistakes is always helpful. I repeated the same mistake twice but the lesson I get from it will help me to recover and get rid of that mistake hopefully. I am not sure if I will be getting more work from them, but I learnt a lot from it. Money do matters but there are things above it for which we should work and keep improving. I could have justified and start argument with the concerns on this massive file, I am new to this, but she wasn’t so she should have known how much time it could take to complete the task but that is not the right thing. It was my decision and my words. I felt sorry for the mis-commitment and have realized my mistakes.

So far, I had the best experience from this work and will definitely continue if I get further opportunity but will make sure to have right measures before taking any decision. Hope for the best!!!!