Getting paid by the hour? Why work faster!?
I've had this discussion with some people before but I thought I'd write it out for those of you who haven't thought about this. When you work at a job that pays by hour, what's the incentive for trying to do your job quickly? Why should you work harder when you are essentially rewarded with less money because you finished your job faster? I never understood this about jobs that pay using an hourly rate.
For my arrangements, I typically charge a set commission price that varies depending on how much work I *think* I will have to do. I start with the price at a higher but reasonable cost and then it's up to ME to make good use of my time to get the most bang for my buck. Lets say I do a project for somebody and I charge them $100 right off the back. Well, if I'm able to bust my butt off and finish that project in just an hour, then awesome! I just made $100 in an hour. However, if I slack off or am not able to come up with ideas as quickly, then I'm only hurting myself. The person who commissioned something from me isn't paying anything extra because I'm using more time. I'm losing money/wasting time because I can't work as quickly as I should! So, in this sense, I have a way higher incentive to get my job done more quickly. Keep in mind, I'm *not* trading out quality to a faster job either. I will still make absolute sure that I'm putting out a great product in the end. It is a great exercise for me to try to force myself to be creative and push through projects if I ever get stuck. This will only help me to become a better arranger in the end, and it will also force me to make sure I'm keeping up with all of my other practices in order to continue to be creative.
I think this is part of the reason why I hate doing transcriptions so much. It's another case where I'm getting paid by the hour. So, there's no reason for me to try and finish the job quickly...but at the same time, I *know* I could do it really fast if I focused hard enough. Why should I focus really hard and finish a tune in just a few hours if it's only going to net me like $40? Like before, I would have more incentive to finish a project if the price was already set and I was working against my own clock after that.
Doesn't that make more sense!? If anyone else out there is still reading, I'd love to hear your thoughts!
For my arrangements, I typically charge a set commission price that varies depending on how much work I *think* I will have to do. I start with the price at a higher but reasonable cost and then it's up to ME to make good use of my time to get the most bang for my buck. Lets say I do a project for somebody and I charge them $100 right off the back. Well, if I'm able to bust my butt off and finish that project in just an hour, then awesome! I just made $100 in an hour. However, if I slack off or am not able to come up with ideas as quickly, then I'm only hurting myself. The person who commissioned something from me isn't paying anything extra because I'm using more time. I'm losing money/wasting time because I can't work as quickly as I should! So, in this sense, I have a way higher incentive to get my job done more quickly. Keep in mind, I'm *not* trading out quality to a faster job either. I will still make absolute sure that I'm putting out a great product in the end. It is a great exercise for me to try to force myself to be creative and push through projects if I ever get stuck. This will only help me to become a better arranger in the end, and it will also force me to make sure I'm keeping up with all of my other practices in order to continue to be creative.
I think this is part of the reason why I hate doing transcriptions so much. It's another case where I'm getting paid by the hour. So, there's no reason for me to try and finish the job quickly...but at the same time, I *know* I could do it really fast if I focused hard enough. Why should I focus really hard and finish a tune in just a few hours if it's only going to net me like $40? Like before, I would have more incentive to finish a project if the price was already set and I was working against my own clock after that.
Doesn't that make more sense!? If anyone else out there is still reading, I'd love to hear your thoughts!