Invoicing & Billing
| S | I want to ensure that all my invoices and billing is mistake free and up to date. |
| M | I will put aside two nights a week (depending on my schedule) to go over, edit, and update my invoices. |
| A | Once I have found days that are regularly available for me to do this I will put the task into my Google Calendar |
| R | Once I start to work it is very important to stay on top of billing/invoices to ensure that I am being paid properly and that I am keeping organized in case of a tax audit in years to come. |
| T | I will work on this for a month’s time and will try to establish a routine in my work to ensure this is a regular activity I am doing. |
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| E | After a month’s time I will check to ensure that my work is not only mistake-free but also that it is up to date (no invoices older than 4 days) |
| R | If I find that 2 times a week is too much and possibly too confusing then I may have to set up one specific day a week to do this. If, on the other hand I find that I cannot stay on top of the work then I may need to increase the amount of times I try and tackle this task. |
Invoicing is a very new thing to myself and any new interpreter. It is important to stay up to date because if there are mistakes being made then they can be easily fixed. I may also take advantage of my future brother-in-law who is a CPA and ask for help if I am unsure of the proper billing techniques required of a freelance contract worker.
Emailing
| S | I want to make sure I reply to emails within 24 hours |
| M | I will put aside time each day, maximum 30 minutes, to go through my emails to ensure that I have responded to all necessary emails. |
| A | As a new interpreter I do not think I will receive a tremendous amount of emails, I expect roughly 10-15 per day. This seems manageable for me. |
| R | Email is the main form of contact between interpreters and the available assignments. By ensuring that I am taking time to actively look at my emails it may instill a better professional practice for years to come. |
| T | Much like my first SMART-ER goal I will try this for a month’s time as I start to get used to working as a professional interpreter. |
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| E | After a month has passed I should have a good feeling in regards to if I am replying to emails in time. If I am missing assignment because I am too slow then I know something may need to change |
| R | If I am missing assignment due to a lack of email replies then I may need to keep the same amount of time to check emails (30 minutes) but do it twice per day (15 minutes x2), or even three times per day (10 minutes x3). |
In the year 2019 we have constant access to our email. In the field of freelance interpreting a lot of communication is done through email. That being said if I inadvertently look at my email and leave messages as “read” without replying to them I run the risk of missing work opportunities. If I allot time to check my emails in a meaningful manner, in that I plan to reply to emails, I lessen the risk of missing emails/work opportunities.
Active Lifestyle
| S | I want to be active every day and record my activities using Google Fit Calendar. |
| M | Being active is the most important and most helpful way to ensure that I am maintaining a healthy lifestyle which leads to better work. |
| A | Being active 7 days a week may seem daunting but the way I put it is to just go out of my way to do something active that I, otherwise, would not have done (can be a short walk, stretching while I watch TV, or going to the gym). |
| R | As I have spoken to many times, when I am living an active lifestyle all other parts of my life tend to improve. My mental being, my mood, my interpreting abilities, and my eating habits. |
| T | I would like to try this for a month’s time. Due to the fact that it is spring and almost summer there is a lot more opportunity to get outside and take time from my day to be active. |
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| E | After a month I will look at my progress and how active I have been. Have I been active every day? |
| R | If I am struggling to be active every day I need to look at the reasoning behind why that is? If I do not have time then I may need to lessen my goal of 7 days a week. If it is an unwillingness to be active I will look at getting someone (a friend or family member) to try it with me because social activity/fitness may be more impactful and successful overall. |
This is not a new smarter goal but it one that I try to maintain. When I live a healthy and active lifestyle I find my quality of life improves overall. Interpreting is a stressful job and if I can relieve even a small bit of that stress through activity then I will benefit from that. I also predict that I will have more success if I get myself a “workout buddy” to face this challenge with me. When you work together with someone else you tend to hold the other person accountable and are therefore more likely to meet your goals. For now though, I am going to try and motivate myself to meet this goal.
Chris Chiarelli - An INTR Journey 
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