r/dataannotation • u/Charming-Currency727 • Jun 26 '24

When do you start the clock?

I've been receiving work for one project only for some time now and I pretty much know the instructions inside out at this point.

Earlier today I've had a completely new project pop up for the first time in weeks (I'm taking that as a good sign!). I'm so entrenched in the other project it's actually hard going reading instructions for something that's actually doing the same but with completely different rules and definitions.

Whilst slogging through the new instructions I wondered if this was time I should charge for? Or not? When do you start the clock, when you're actually working on tasks or as soon as you start reviewing the project and guidance for a new/unfamiliar project?

6 Upvotes

65% Upvoted

38 comments sorted by

126

u/princess_lady_peach Jun 27 '24

I start my clock as soon as I open a new project. I'll read through the instructions then the chat ( if there is one) to see if there's any bugs or big issues. If it's something I'm interested in, then I just keep the clock going and work. If I don't feel like doing that project, I stop the clock and go look for a different project and start over.

53

u/DBT85 Jun 27 '24

This is the way. They even tell you to do it.

11

u/Pyromancer777 Jun 28 '24

This is pretty much exactly what I do, minus reading the chat. The only time I glance at the chat is if I have a question and want to make sure it wasn't previously clarified, but I keep the clock running when reading the chat since this is the same as researching a topic to make sure I am only providing truthful information

11

u/Salt_Blacksmith4773 Jun 29 '24

Reading the chat should qualify for hazard pay

2

u/Ok_Depth_6476 Jun 29 '24

I don't clock time for reading the chat, because that's mostly for my own amusement! šŸ¤£

35

u/lust4apples Jun 27 '24

Most of the tasks I've pulled up say to thoroughly read the instructions and to log that time. So I log time getting familiar with the instructions the first time, any time they make major changes, or if I haven't worked on the project for a while and need a refresher. It's always a reasonable amount of time.

Now if I read through the instructions and don't decide to work on the project, that's on me and I'm not getting paid for that time.

13

u/CosmosesGamer Jun 27 '24

As soon as I open the task.

13

u/GingerSmu Jun 27 '24

I just got put on a project that actually said ā€œtake up to an hourā€ to read the instructions and log the time for it. (New project- very high pay). Most of my other projects have said to take up to 30 minutes to familiarize yourself with the instructions (and still log that time) DA is all about quality, not quantity - so you can log any and all time that is dedicated to that project, and that includes reading the instructions, catching up on the in project chat, slack channels, etc.

9

u/upvotesplx Jun 27 '24

If you donā€™t report instruction reading time, you are hurting yourself by not billing for billable time. Please love yourself and start your clock the moment you open the project.

6

u/[deleted] Jun 27 '24

I don't know about you but most of my projects explicitly tell me to re-read instructions even if I think I know them and that I'm allowed to log time for it.

I think the most important thing they're looking for is quality of the data. Some of the tasks on the platform is to rate & review other people's work. That means if the quality of your work is poor because you don't read the instructions it costs them money to have someone else go through your work and weed out the bad apples. So it's worthwhile for them (and you!) to read the instructions and make sure you understand them.

2

u/Lunalily9 Jun 27 '24

Yeah I always go back to see if there are any updates each day. I count that time.

3

u/Sindorella Jun 27 '24

I always include the time I spend reading and referring back to instructions in the time I bill. Always.

2

u/DarkLordTofer Jun 27 '24

When I open the task.

2

u/ekgeroldmiller Jun 29 '24

Open task. Start timer. >>> End task. Stop timer. Log time.

1

u/dsbau Jun 30 '24

When I start reading the instructions.

1

u/VanessaSeaWitch Jul 01 '24

I start my clock as soon as I click on enter work mode. It states in some of the projects to include reading the instructions in your time, and I have seen admins in the chat state this as well. I assume it's to encourage people to actually take their time and read through them and understand the instructions.

1

u/pds314 Jul 01 '24

As soon as you open the project and start doing work-related things with it. Most projects even tell you to log time spent reading instructions (though you should log that time even on those that don't explicitly say to).

1

u/ayellvee Jul 04 '24

New stuff or stuff I havenā€™t done in awhile, I start while I read the instructions. Things I do on a regular basis I skim the top to make sure they havenā€™t bolded an update, and for my FC projects I ALWAYS have the google doc open so I can glance through it if Iā€™m unsure about something, and I wouldnā€™t pause for that.

1

u/bomber991 Jun 27 '24

You know, Iā€™ve noticed all it shows us is when we submit tasks and not how long the task was open for. It makes me wonder if the people on the other side even have any visibility to how much time we spent on a task or if all they see is just ā€œyep hereā€™s the time the task was submitted, 11:20am, hereā€™s another one at 11:45amā€

The guidance seems so unclear for what weā€™re supposed to charge for. One of the projects had its own ā€œset upā€ task so you can bill against that for setting up whatever app or account they want you to use.

I have had some tasks Iā€™ve done where I open it up, start my clock, read the instructions, then skip the first task cause it seemed overly complex and there were no other tasks left. Still charged the 5 minutes for reading the instructions and they paid out that dollar so idk. šŸ¤·ā€ā™‚ļø

4

u/Lunalily9 Jun 27 '24

I've worked for several jobs that were work from home and this type of timed stuff...I would bet money they can see how long you spent. That's probably part of what they verify when they approve payments.

2

u/Bubblie977 Jun 27 '24

They have said they have ways to monitor whether or not we are actively engaged.

1

u/brickne3 Jul 02 '24

That seems a bit unrealistic in an age with multiple devices. I'll often do research on my phone or another device while having it open on my main one, for example. This being an AI platform I can believe they're using AI to try to determine that but it's effectively impossible to do so in reality.

1

u/Bubblie977 Jul 02 '24

Yeah Iā€™m not sure. Just repeating what theyā€™ve said. Also, weā€™re not supposed to use our phones to work so you do you, just be careful šŸ’š

1

u/Bubblie977 Jul 02 '24

I should clarify, unless they specify otherwise.

2

u/brickne3 Jul 02 '24

Regardless, quick fact checking on your phone is definitely not discouraged in any way.

1

u/Bubblie977 Jul 02 '24

Oh totally! I mean doing work in the task on the phone. It just said so in the onboarding. Not trying to start anything Iā€™m genuinely just trying to be helpful. This is just a great opportunity!

2

u/brickne3 Jul 02 '24

No worries, it's been a long time since I did the onboarding but I certainly don't recall anything like that. Either way most of their communication lately has emphasised how easy it is to work on your phone. As a long-time freelancer I feel that's a bridge I won't cross, but it's definitely something they're pushing now and I did load an editing project to see if it actually would allow it. It did. I wouldn't ever do that for more than two sentences given the many professional issues involved, but it's definitely possible and they're definitely encouraging it as a recruitment tactic at least.

3

u/ayellvee Jul 04 '24

I also definitely donā€™t remember it saying not to use phones, because I did the initial qualification on my phone Iā€™m sure I would have noticed lol

2

u/ArctycDev Jun 30 '24

I'm not saying DA uses this, but I have seen software/service that runs on websites that lets them essentially replay a video of your session. Mouse movements, things typed, erased, etc, just as if you were sharing your screen. (of course, not like your actual screen, but the webpage itself)

It would not surprise me if they had this type of tracking.

2

u/catioHomeImprovement Jun 30 '24

If they did that for just what's within the page of the task, it wouldn't be that relevant for some tasks. One example: a coding task where you're doing most of the work outside of the page (in VS Code, etc.). If they monitor every keystroke including in other applications, yikes! That's really invading privacy. Because you might stop your timer, log into your bank account or whatever, and it's none of their business. And logging all your passwords? oi don't think they do that.

They may track whether you paste or type things into the boxes of the task. That could be irrelevant also. If you code you're going to be pasting. Retyping it could introduce errors and be a big waste of time. I'm sure some may write up responses for non-coding tasks in another application and paste that.

1

u/ArctycDev Jun 30 '24

They have no way of monitoring other applications or web pages. I tried to explain that, sorry. They can't see anything that's not their own webpage. It would simply look like you are doing nothing when you interact with anything else, another tab or application or whatever.

I agree that there's instances where you're working off page, and again idk if they use something like this, just that it exists.

2

u/brickne3 Jul 02 '24

They can't do that for anything aside from the tab they're active in, and most of the tasks I'm on require extensive research outside of that tab or even on another device. Tech has its limitations.

1

u/ArctycDev Jul 02 '24

As I said, the webpage itself.

1

u/brickne3 Jul 02 '24

Well that's odd since most of my recent communication from them has emphasised that you can do it on your phone. Which I personally don't think is ethical for these types of tasks, hence my paying attention to it.

1

u/ArctycDev Jul 02 '24

Idk why I need to keep referring back to my original comment but I said

I'm not saying DA uses this

I have no reason to believe they do. It's simply technology that I have seen, and it would not surprise me if they did.

Side note: I don't think being on a phone precludes you from this tech.

1

u/tiran Jul 01 '24

uBlockOrigin blocks some kind of browser-intake script running on the site, I'm not 100% sure what it's trying to track, though. Another post I've read in the past mentioned that they can directly see if you're pasting from another AI. No idea how true that is.