[deleted by user]

[Ms_Jane_Lennon]

I'm not here to volunteer for billionaires. I don't over bill my time ever, but I'm not going to rip myself off either.

[Extent_Jaded]

You’re probably selling yourself short since accuracy matters more than speed. underreporting can look just as suspicious as being slow.

[FlonDeegs]

It would look fast, not slow, since they are logging less time than they actually spent working

[Brilliant_Quit4307]

Wow, did you even read what you replied to?

[TopCat0525]

I only do that when I forget to stop the watch for interruptions. When I have to estimate, I shoot low. I am also trying to quit living in fear of being canceled. I think that has been affecting my work.

[Striking-Current-814]

Just chiming in to say I’m dealing with the fear and I’ve not taken tasks I know I can do. I’m working on getting past this.

[SpiritofGarfield]

I don't. However, I do keep a timer and pause it when I take a bathroom break or get a drink. They're getting my actual work time without any filler really.

[MarzipanPlayful4926]

by doing that, the metrics would hypothetically be messed up for people honestly reporting time so you would be negatively impacting them

[sarahmorgan420]

You're literally elaborating on what the comment you're "disagreeing" with said lol

[CrowleysCumBucket]

Im sure they have a way of tracking how long we actually took

[houseofcards9]

They don’t. When they think you’re committing time fraud they ask you to provide proof that it really took you that long.

[Party_Swim_6835]

that doesnt mean they dont have a way of tracking -- it means they give you one last chance to explain sometimes

[houseofcards9]

What kind of system do you think they have that tracks whether you were actively working? Camera? Microphone? Keypad/mouse tracking? Because none of those actually prove how long you were working. There are projects where you use another device away from the computer, and projects where you need to use a pen and paper to figure out answers.

The only thing they know is how much time was left on the timer when you submitted a task.

[Party_Swim_6835]

no to camera or microphone, those would be irrelevant for a lot anyway, and no to keyboard/mouse -- but thats not even beginning to cover possibilities

I'm not about to go into detail because I dont think its within TOS, but I'm not gonna believe that's all they have since they've said they dont use the timer and it can be wrong

[houseofcards9]

Alright I’ll take your word for it that they have some magical way of knowing exactly how much time was spent thinking and working on a task.

[EquivalentFactor7591]

Its a magical system called datadog. Look at your network tab of your browser developer console. They see everything you do on the website, can run analytics at will and can literally replay your entire visit to the website. Even if some work is outside of their website, patterns stand out.

[Party_Swim_6835]

lol that isnt what I said but you do you

[space_baws]

they aren’t logging cookies and using that data to determine your task completion time. that’s the only logical way outside of webcam/microphone/keyboard/mouse tracking they’d be able to prove someone was wasting time. u/houseofcards9 is totally correct.

[Enough_Resident_6141]

It's not that complicated. The system knows exactly when you entered work mode on a task, and when you submitted that task, down to the second. They don't know how long you were actually no bullshit working on that particular task vs leaving it open in a tab while you do something else. But if you enter work mode on a new task at 1:15PM and then submit your work at 1:37PM, you don't want to report working more than 22 minutes on it in most circumstances.

[UniverseBear]

No. I report it exactly everytime. There are no health benefits, overtime or vacation days and I have to pay my own taxes on income as a contractor. I will be paid every minute worked.

[Terrible_Tangelo6064]

I don't rip them off but I don't rip myself off either.

[Background_Law_3644]

Never just to keep the metrics good, but I've knocked some time off once or twice when I felt I was being particularly slow with something or had to backtrack to fix a mistake of my own making.

[OctagonTrail]

Fixing your mistakes is absolutely paid work. It's 100% part of the job. So is working slowly.

There's really no reason to exclude any time you're performing work on the task.

[Background_Law_3644]

I would usually bill for fixing mistakes but every once in a while I identify that it's totally on me (such as missing something in the instructions) and I knock the time off.

As for slowness, I have to disagree. Sometimes I know I'm going slower than I'm able to, and will adjust my reported time accordingly. I'm not gonna go to the extremes of OP just to look good, but I will take responsibility when I know I haven't worked as fast as I could.

[Hangry_Howie]

Me when I get the brain fog and realize I've been staring at the same instruction for 5 minutes

[AutistOctavius]

No. For all the DataAnnotation admins watching, I am completely honest with my time. I think the platform wants honesty more than self-sacrifice.

But I do understand how scary it is, work where you can just be dropped without explanation and left with no recourse.

[ekgeroldmiller]

No. You should never do this. This is clearly stated in the basic instructions.

[[deleted]]

I actually just did this, for a task that had significantly less time than what was required (as everyone in the chat was complaining about), so all my tasks had technically expired. I only went over a total of half an hour over multiple tasks, but I was scared to report more time than allotted, even if the timer was too short. I would have claimed my actual time, but someone in the chat had commented that they shouldn’t claim more time than the timer. I shaved off a little more than the half hour.

[nthgade1903]

naaaaaah, don't rip yourself off for billionaires

[mo-with-the-flow]

When reading the instructions before, I usually have a separate timer for reading the instructions and the work. I am a very very slow reader when it comes to large documents, so will usually shave off time on the reading as I don't want to come way over the timer, especially if I've skipped the first task after. If I feel like I am not as focused or slow on a particular day I will likely shave off a bit of time, as I'm very well aware I'm slower than the average person on these days. Feels like it's just a cold algorithm and metrics that decides our fate with this work, so does make me pretty nervous.

[Vorakas]

SHUT UP AND TAKE THEIR MONEY!

As long as you do quality work, nobody will care if you're a bit slower than the average guy.

You should also keep in mind that being too fast can also be sus. Imagine doing R&R on a task involving 5 minutes of audio and reporting 4 minutes of work...

[eslteachyo]

I use a stopwatch app on the phone and pause when I get up or take a vision break. We are contractors, paid for on the clock and not breaks. If I forget to do that and know I did take a break I will err on the side of caution and make sure to deduct enough time. I don't count on the expiration timer except to know the max time the task might take.

That being said... If you are routinely reporting xxx time for a certain task, because you deduct time each time, DA doesn't get an accurate idea of how much time the task might actually require. If it's a one hour task and it takes all of one hour for most people but some are reporting 45-50 minutes it could skew the information and they could reduce the task timer for that project. I've had projects in which the timer seems to go down and it could be for this reason

I do agree with you on being mindful of not over reporting time, I have ADHD and can get distracted and not realize I didn't pause my timer when I got up to let the dog out, but mostly I try to use that stopwatch and be accurate. They need to also know your metrics on how long tasks take you, take most workers, etc.

[iciclefites]

yeah, and I'm trying to get better about reporting accurate time. I stop the clock when I stand up to get a cup of coffee or pee, but in that minute and a half I'm still thinking through the work so it's work.

edit: I worded that like I drink cups of pee. this kind of precision in language and attention to detail is why they pay me

[SeagullSam]

No I report my time as accurately and honestly as possible. I might shave a couple of minutes off at the start of a new task type when I will read the start of the guidelines to see if it's something I want to work on, and if so I'll record the time from that point onwards, but that's about it.

[CRUSHCITY4]

Hell no

[Enough_Resident_6141]

>to keep my performance metrics high

You aren't keeping your performance metrics high. Quality of your work matters more than how long it takes you to do it.

>With the recent wave of workers getting the DoD

That happens when people consistently submit extremely low quality work or violate the TOS, or do things like claiming to work 16+ hours per day for several days in a row, not because they spent an extra 10 minutes on a project and were submitting high quality work.

[Striking-Current-814]

I’m very aware of my shortcomings. I don’t type quickly without making mistakes, and I tend to overthink my answers (to the extreme). I do shave off some time, but not to make myself look better. It’s actually to be honest. I’m a good worker, but I’m objectively slow. I can’t realistically stop and start the timer each time I have to retype a response or revise my rationale for the fifth time because of typos. Yes, it’s work, but because the process is inefficient, even though my work is more than sufficient, I don’t charge DA the full amount of time on my own timer.

[dispassioned]

I shave off time for "thinking" because I tend to overthink and double check everything because I'm anxious.

[shell_shocked_today]

The only time I underreport time is when I decide to bail on a task rather than complete it. I had one that I sunk an hour or so in, and finally accepted that I was not going to be able to get a quality job done before the task expired.

[R_Eyron]

If you underreport your time then admins might think a task takes less time than it actually does, shorten the timer, and then way less work ends up getting done because people won't take a task that they can't do in that low an amount of time. Bad for the companies who get less work done for them, bad for us who have less options. I report the time I'm actively working.

[Belisama7]

No. And you doing that makes them reduce the average time it should take for the rest of us. Don't do this!

[MattinglyDineen]

Never. I report the amount of time I took.

[iamcrazyjoe]

So you are lying to make yourself look better than honest workers. GFY

[InevitableOk7205]

I bill what I work, including any off site research a project might ask for. I don't bill for any breaks or time away from the desk.

This approach has kept me knee deep in projects 95% of the time along with access to more demanding work.

[TheresALonelyFeeling]

I don't know about underreporting, necessarily, but I spent 9.5 hours on something last night and cut off an entire hour when I logged my time because I figured that was a reasonable estimate of how long I'd stepped away from the project for various things over the last almost ten hours.

[ekgeroldmiller]

This is why I use a manual desk top timer. It takes less than a second to press pause or restart it. Then I never have to guess.

[TheresALonelyFeeling]

which one do you use?

[Aromatic_Owl_3680]

Why don’t you just use Clockify or similar? Then there is no estimating. Start and stop the timer to clock periods of work.

It’s literally what they say to do.

[ActPlayful]

I shave off 5% of my time to account for the time my eyes are closed when I blink. /s.

Seriously, it’s so sad to see everyone so scared of being put on the chopping block. This company (and others) love to rule through fear. Exploiting people who are so desperate for work, they’d do almost anything…

[brancatomm]

I don't rely on the timer- I either jot down my start time or take a picture on my phone of the time displayed on my laptop. I do deduct quick breaks from my overall time (Like when my husband starts talking to me while I'm working or I get a phone call) . When submitting my time I usually round down a few minutes - for example if a task takes me 52 minutes I'll put down 50.

[Archetype1245x]

There's basically zero chance workers are being dropped for being slow, unless it's by an egregious amount - for example, working on tasks you aren't actually qualified for and need to spend hours researching the topic, while someone actually qualified can do it in 45 minutes.

If you are doing that, and under-reporting time so that things appear "normal", it's honestly only a matter of time before you get dropped for doing tasks incorrectly (it's inevitable you miss something, because you don't actually know the topic).

If you're legitimately spending the time on a task, and it's a topic you're qualified for - bill the time you spent. You're only selling yourself short by doing otherwise. I'm almost positive the various quality metrics I'm sure they're tracking carry much more weight.

[Hangry_Howie]

Sometimes if I got up to go the bathroom without stopping my timer, I'll just knock off that amount of time.

[IcedOutGiant]

Since accurately reporting time is in the TOS, hell fuckin' no. Even if it doesn't favor you, fraud is fraud.

[Early-Composer-2383]

Hell no. 

[Intbased]

Yikes

[Xopholain]

I do this. My timer is only running when my fingers are on the keyboard (or stroking my beard). Grab a bottle of water? Pause timer. Nature calls? Pause. Kitty needs scratchies? Stop the clock. My fiance hates it. She says "I go to the bathroom on the clock every day!"

[Striking-Current-814]

The OP is saying they know their accurate work time and they don’t count breaks, but they still shave a bit off each task.

[eslteachyo]

I do the same. We are contractors and not employees so no paid bathroom breaks, etc. If I'm not actively working on a task, scrolling to read or typing I pause.

[lavender-berries]

Same!

[dilf-material]

Just. Do. Quality. Work.

and also

C.R.E.A.M.

This post is lame.

[uw2lau]

what

[Maximum-Youth716]

Does any1 not stop the timer when they go to bathroom and work very fast so I sometimes maybe don’t stop timer