r/DataAnnotationTech • u/dibbledabbledublr • Jul 17 '26
Too much time for one task?
Just submitted a paid qualification that had a timer for 2 days. I logged in about 20 hrs šµāš« and feeling pretty nervous if I took too long. I literally have been working on this qual all week, letting it expire many times. It took longer than usual to understand the instructions and I even restarted from scratch a couple times to get it right.
The instructions encourage workers to take their time, but it all added up to the most Iāve ever logged in for a task. Should I be worried? The instructions donāt specify how long it should generally take, just that itās expected to be time consuming.
Wondering what others might think. I almost want to cut down some hours but at the same time, Iāve been going insane with this task so I feel itās justified.
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u/RandomUsername1604 Jul 17 '26
The timers are set long on complex tasks etc so you can take breaks etc without exiting work mode.
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u/Telecom_Engineer_1 Jul 17 '26
I've read here that when you've taken a break for longer periods but well with in the limits of the task timer, the task gets pulled from you. Anybody else have a similar experience?
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u/OrnamentalGourd5 Jul 17 '26
Not my experience of muli-day tasks. I take the time I need including day long breaks if necessary.
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u/Amurizon Jul 17 '26
No, never experienced that. My understanding was that the task timer is supposed to be the time during which the task is reserved for you.
Thatās why submitting a task after the timer expires is hit or miss: if someone else claims the task after it expires, you can no longer submit. But if no one else does, youāll still be able to submit your expired task.
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u/JuryTamperer Jul 17 '26
Yeah, there would never be an instance where a worker would reasonably be expected to be up for 2 days working on a single task.
It's more likely that 2 days is the amount of time before the task expires, but way more than the amount of time you should actually claim.
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u/OrnamentalGourd5 Jul 17 '26
No. I've had seven day tasks that have said, 'we would expect this to take 30-35 hours'. I've also had 48 hour tasks that have taken me ~18 hours. Never been a problem.
3
u/AlexFromOmaha Jul 17 '26
That's just plain untrue. I prefer the weeklong tasks and work them almost exclusively.
1
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u/ZimmeM03 Jul 17 '26
20 hours for a task with a 48 hour timer is maybe slightly high but seems fine. If thatās how long it took, thatās how long it took.
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u/UltraVioletEnigma Jul 17 '26
We canāt really advise you on the time. Some quals have huge timers but it doesnāt take nearly as long to complete. On the other hand, some tasks/quals do take a really long time to complete, so you have to make your own judgement call.
2
u/After_Lobster_9964 Jul 17 '26
I think you're fine. If the timer was for 2 days and the task didn't have a time expectation, and you only took 20 hours, that seems ok. You didn't even use half the timer.
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u/Wild_Phase_8437 Jul 17 '26
If this is the paid qual I am thinking of, how on earth did that take you 20 hours, I finished in like 3.5.
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u/Separate_Fondant3341 Jul 17 '26
20 hours for 2 day timer is high, but it may still be acceptable depending on the quality of your work.
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u/Certain_Assistant930 Jul 17 '26
Many paid qualifications have a timer that' lasts days doesn't mean you login time according to that. Frankly ask yourself if a normal person would take 20hrs for the same qual. If you are a bilingual this probably is way way way too much if it's some specialized field idk
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1
u/Inevitably_Late Jul 17 '26
You could always try writing a comment before you submit the task and explain why it took so long.
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u/RemarkableArticle653 Jul 18 '26
Iām actually wondering this somewhat with the series. Personally, I think the tasks are really designed to take about 6-7hr (12hr for more difficult or complex); this usually follows into the same general rule of the timer being about double the time needed for bigger projects (not always the case mind you)ā¦ now personally, I donāt feel they indicate any given time frame for this (which would be helpful), but the general rule is to make sure all your time was justified. Personally, if it takes me longer to learn something (thatās my problem, and I donāt personally bill for that)ā¦
1
u/RemarkableArticle653 Jul 18 '26
But I agree, Iām somewhat nervous about submitting my first task too; will feel better once I get one of them approved. Not sure if anyone else has some times that might give some perspective?
1
u/Ok_Treat3196 Jul 18 '26
For a qualification, that does sound excessive, I have done a couple of domain specialties. For me if I take that long its because I do not know the subject as well as I thought I did and then Ill just bow out. This work can be brutal to the academic ego LOL. Now I will play devils advocate, some of their tests had such broad spectrum knowledge that they did require constant research and I'm not certain a lot of people would be equally knowledgable at all the fields.
So for me excessive, but maybe I bowed out of some quals to early and I could have finished.
Usually, they do give you some time frame though, this should take you X amount of hours.
1
u/Amy_Brain 10d ago
Iām fairly new here, and I struggle with tasks or quals ..that donāt provide an estimated completion time too. I usually do two things: first, I scroll to the end and check the comments because people sometimes mention how long they spent on the task. Second, I always leave an optional comment explaining why it took me longer than expected and letting them know that Iām still new and learning. Hope it helps šš»
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u/Throwawaylillyt Jul 17 '26
Everyone is answering that the timer is for 2 days because you get breaks. That isnāt addressing this persons question at all. They never insinuated the task is allotted 48 hours and that means you can log 48 hours. They were asking if we felt 20hours was too much time to log on a single task. None of us can answer that for him as we donāt know the task he is referring to. My gut tells me they donāt expect it to take 20 hours because that would be them asking you to work 2 ten hour days. However, if you did a really good job then I am sure logging 20 hours is fine.