Poll: Do you think freelancers get sick more, or less often than other professionals?
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
SITE STAFF
Sep 20, 2017

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you think freelancers get sick more, or less often than other professionals?".

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Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 09:41
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
No idea! Sep 20, 2017

Personally, I rarely get sick but when I do it's bad...

 
Gianluca Marras
Gianluca Marras  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 10:41
English to Italian
No idea Sep 20, 2017

I do not know,

what I know is that a freelancer usually keeps on working unless forced to rest (broken arm, forced in hospital...)


 
neilmac
neilmac
Spain
Local time: 10:41
Spanish to English
+ ...
Other Sep 20, 2017

What I do know is that there is a common saying or joke among the self-employed in Spain that we can't afford to get sick. I usually try to keep working until it becomes physically impossible, even when hospitalised.

 
Michael Harris
Michael Harris  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 10:41
Member (2006)
German to English
No idea Sep 20, 2017

But having children also helps to strengthen you.
I have not had any serious problems for about 10 years now. The occasional cold is difficult to avoid, but other than that - touch wood.


 
Paulinho Fonseca
Paulinho Fonseca  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 06:41
Member (2011)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
No idea, Sep 20, 2017

However, it would be interesting to see some figures about that.

Long ago, I used to have regular backaches and headaches, but right after I became a full time translator, interpreter and carer (for my lovely mother). I did not have time for pain. Of course, workout has always been an important attitude in my life.


 
Mario Chavez (X)
Mario Chavez (X)  Identity Verified
Local time: 05:41
English to Spanish
+ ...
Um, I dunno… Sep 20, 2017

Let me ask other professionals I know and I'll report back.




 
Christopher Schröder
Christopher Schröder
United Kingdom
Member (2011)
Swedish to English
+ ...
I might not know but I know someone who does Sep 20, 2017

See Figure 11 here:

https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/labourproductivity/articles/sicknessabsenceinthelabourmarket/2016

Of course, this is sickness absence. I would imagine that, on average, translators actually have more health problems than others due to o
... See more
See Figure 11 here:

https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/labourproductivity/articles/sicknessabsenceinthelabourmarket/2016

Of course, this is sickness absence. I would imagine that, on average, translators actually have more health problems than others due to our occupation's sedentary nature, the lack of exercise, the social exclusion, increased stress, etc.
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Elizabeth Tamblin
Elizabeth Tamblin  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:41
French to English
No idea Sep 20, 2017

... but it's easier to carry on working when you're sick and at home. Nobody can see you crawling to your desk, dragging yourself up onto your chair, in your dressing gown, no make-up, clawing away at the keyboard.

 
Mario Freitas
Mario Freitas  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 06:41
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Surely less Sep 21, 2017

Less contact with other people and other environments, less temperature shocks, less contact with pollution, less consuption of food in external establishments, and a few other factors. Although, considering psychosomatic illnesses, it may be worse for us.

 
Melissa McMahon
Melissa McMahon  Identity Verified
Australia
Local time: 20:41
French to English
Less contact Sep 21, 2017

Mario Freitas wrote:

Less contact with other people and other environments, less temperature shocks, less contact with pollution, less consuption of food in external establishments, and a few other factors. Although, considering psychosomatic illnesses, it may be worse for us.


This is my thinking too. Working from home means you are less likely to pick up things from the Great Unwashed, mental illness on the other hand... :-0


 
Enrica Brancaleoni
Enrica Brancaleoni  Identity Verified
Belgium
Local time: 10:41
English to Italian
+ ...
Less ... Sep 21, 2017

I know it may sound as sort of a provocation but, let alone serios and objective illnesses, being sick is mostly a state of mind.

If we can, we may be tempted to say "I don't feel well today, I'll call in sick". Point is freelancers really can't because most of the times there is no social protection for a cold, and you just lose money or make your clients unhappy.

I've been freelancing for almost 10 years and never rejected a job or missed a deadline because I was sic
... See more
I know it may sound as sort of a provocation but, let alone serios and objective illnesses, being sick is mostly a state of mind.

If we can, we may be tempted to say "I don't feel well today, I'll call in sick". Point is freelancers really can't because most of the times there is no social protection for a cold, and you just lose money or make your clients unhappy.

I've been freelancing for almost 10 years and never rejected a job or missed a deadline because I was sick. But if I had had a corporate job, I must admit that certain days I would have certainly called in sick!

So, IMHO freelancers are not healthier than others, they're just more resilient!
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John Cutler
John Cutler  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 10:41
Spanish to English
+ ...
Exactly Sep 21, 2017

Melissa McMahon wrote:

Mario Freitas wrote:

Less contact with other people and other environments, less temperature shocks, less contact with pollution, less consuption of food in external establishments, and a few other factors. Although, considering psychosomatic illnesses, it may be worse for us.


This is my thinking too. Working from home means you are less likely to pick up things from the Great Unwashed, mental illness on the other hand... :-0


I interpret the word sick as being things like the flu and colds. I came to the conclusion that I rarely contract things like that because I simply have less contact with people who are sick.

I suppose translators have the same likelihood of repetitive injuries as any other profession where the worker is stuck in front of a computer all day.


 
Diana Obermeyer
Diana Obermeyer  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:41
Member (2013)
German to English
+ ...
less Jan 19, 2018

Maybe it's similar in the first year of freelancing as compared to the first year in a job.
But a person who gets sick a lot simply won't stay in business, so there will be a good bit of "natural selection".


 


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Poll: Do you think freelancers get sick more, or less often than other professionals?






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