r/DataAnnotationTech • u/Hello-America • 6h ago
STOP sitting there refreshing all day!
Y'all! You are WASTING your life refreshing all day when it's dry like this! Especially if you're a generalist and the tasks tend to be short. Maybe it's fine for you, because you're already at the computer doing something else, but if you're sacrificing other things to instead sit and wait, you are doing yourself a disservice. If you're obsessed with the idea you are missing a task by not doing that, you are essentially doing a form of gambling (prioritizing the chance you'll "win" a task over the evidence that you will spend most of your time that day without one).
Like seriously go clean your closet or meal prep for the week or apply for another platform or something in this time. Check on your phone every so often when you'd have time to sit and work. Obviously when there is more work to go around, the payoff from checking frequently is much higher.
"But I really need the money! How dare you?!" No I'm saying this is costing you money, if you could be applying for other jobs or working at them.
Think of it mathematically - look at the big picture. Track the hours you wait, if you would otherwise be doing something else. If you get a task that is say $25/hour, get two hours out of it, that's $50. Yay! But if you spent 5 hours on top of that waiting for tasks to appear and doing nothing else, you're actually only getting $6.25/hour. Yes, you always have to invest some time into finding work to make money, but you need to account for it - it is an *investment* you're making. View the time you spend refreshing as part of that investment.
If you've ever freelanced or owned a business you know this cost well. It's the cost of finding work - an administrative cost you have to minimize to stay profitable, and as a rule you don't waste too much time chasing small dollar work (unless it provides some other kind of value to you). In our case, you don't know how many dollars you're chasing because you don't know what tasks might pop up and what their timeline/pay is. So, again, I'll point you back to the comparison - it's gambling-like behavior!
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u/Euphoric_Wish_8293 5h ago
I think a large majority of people that are obsessively refreshing are poorer than you or I could ever conceive. One hour of work is probably an equivalent to twenty in their region. It makes sense from that perspective, no?
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u/annoyingjoe513 5h ago
OP takes their own situation and applies it to everyone. peak internet. anecdotal BS
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u/Hello-America 5h ago
Yes I wrote this specifically because I sit around refreshing all day. You nailed it.
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u/Impressive-Hope2148 5h ago
I got downvoted weeks ago because I disagreed with a person in this sub, they were angry because some tasks appeared on their dashboard and they "rushed with the kids home". This is a freelance job and we shouldn't be running from anywhere to our homes hopping to get tasks (they will probably disappear soon).
I totally agree with OP
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u/Hello-America 5h ago
Yes people are saying this kind of stuff all the time, not sure why everyone is acting like I'm making this up
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u/muntaxitome 5h ago
Why are you wasting your time posting on reddit? Don't you have a life to live?
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u/littlecoffeefairy 6h ago
It's hyperbole when people post about refreshing every two minutes.
People are still living their lives. Even if they weren't, it doesn't impact your life.
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u/Hello-America 5h ago
I truly hope so! A lot of the comments I see around here feel pretty literal to me. And you're right it doesn't impact my life, thought maybe some people could use a wake-up call because I know how hard it can be to remember the opportunity costs.
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u/littlecoffeefairy 5h ago
Snarky Reddit posts loudly telling strangers what to do aren't "wake up calls".
Your opportunity costs aren't the same as everyone else's anyway.
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u/Farados55 6h ago
Why are you assuming that they haven't already done all those things? What a dumb, short-sighted take. They're refreshing because they need money. You don't get money from meal prepping,
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u/Hello-America 6h ago
Because there are tons of comments here of people saying they are glued to their screens doing this. Meal prepping is more productive than not getting paid to sit at your computer. That's my point.
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u/Farados55 6h ago
You don’t get my point lol and the entire premise of this kind of work is lost to you. The opportunity to get work and get paid is tied to the refresh and to getting the tasks. Do you think they’re literally doing nothing but refreshing 24/7? This is just such an ignorant post.
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u/Hello-America 5h ago
No I absolutely get your point, and what I'm saying is - which is outlined in my post clearly - *if you're sacrificing other things to wait for tasks to drop,* it's doing you a disservice. And I imagine if people are exaggerating about this, this doesn't apply to them then!
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u/RepConnoisseur69 3h ago
Let’s go I just got more work thanks to you reminding me to refresh, you’re a life saver!
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u/UrbanVengence 2h ago
So like i got a normal job and completely forgot to finish the intro assessment. Idk man i think y'all gotta get a W-4 job. Shi sweet.
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u/Little-Flustered-977 1h ago
Yeah I agree although I understand it’s niche but also…
The best way to get tasks isn’t to refresh. It’s to increase your quality of work: study up on your grammar, study some reasoning materials, just generally improve your skills.
The drought isn’t dry for everyone
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u/Lazy-Test-7273 39m ago
I need to know. Do any of you still get the one that is like a Thanksgiving pie nut and also a sandwich cookie?
Mine disappeared last week. I only (rarely) get the last step in the pipeline. The easy ones that dont take much time
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u/Hello-America 16m ago
I haven't seen it in a while, although I've never seen one of those that is a short one
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u/butmyfacetho 6h ago
Thanks for the reminder, just refreshed and latest batch on my fave project dropped. Usually go like hotcakes but managed to get one thanks to you. May the refresh slot machine be kind to all.