Getting "over loaded"

Kalamareader · Post by **Kalamareader** » September 24th, 2020, 10:45 am

I really don't know how to approach this topic, but here it goes. In my 'short' time here it seems that sometimes some people have a tendency to 'over-extend' themselves as far as commitments to LV go. At the current time I am waiting for answers to posts ('claims', PLs, Spot PLs, responses to questions about a recording) in a number of threads for from six to fourteen days. In the meantime I am sitting awaiting contacts so I can finish up those recordings so I can start others. I even canceled one claim I had had in for four days for a major part without any response at all. I cancelled it because I found a part a would rather do and didn't want to be committed to two parts so as to leave one project in limbo while working on the other. I would have done the first if I had been contacted, but no one did, so they are still looking.

I know life happens, but with the ability to check others posts, one can see that people have been posting on other projects, but are so committed that it leaves other people hanging, waiting to hear from them. I love to record, but I like to be timely in my contributions so as to not let a project hang. In my 'Reader View', I currently have 22 projects in which my part is done, but are awaiting the contributions of others. And ten of those are "Fully Subscribed".

Thanks for listening,

Wayne

KevinS · Post by **KevinS** » September 24th, 2020, 11:56 am

I take on a lot. I'm the first to admit that. (I wonder if I am ADHD sometimes.)

I try very hard to PL things quickly---or at least in a timely manner. (I know I am not perfect in this, but I only let this delay happen when I see a project is just not moving forward.)

I do have some solos that are 'languishing,' but I try to be honest about it and try to add to them at least once a month.

But as for contributing to a collaboration, I just record and go forward. I just move on. I hope it's not selfish of me to say, "not my problem," but I can't depend on others to always come through and it rarely bothers me. Things eventually get done. (Sometimes things get abandoned, but even then we see them come back to life, so to speak.)

Even when BCing a collab, I have learned to be patient. When a part can be officially orphaned, someone else---or me---will pick it up.

Post by **Rapunzelina** » September 24th, 2020, 12:06 pm

In all my time at Librivox, I only recently felt "over-committed" for the first time! My main activity is proof-listening, and I've seen projects in the launch pad that I would LOVE to take on as DPL, but I just didn't have the time to commit.. I think with the lock down, all Librivox activity has increased and probably a lot of BCs, DPLs etc are swamped. Compared to other years, I could for example easily DPL ten group projects, but now with all the extra new readers, and multiple sections being uploaded every day, I can barely keep up with three...

But yes, as Kevin said, don't worry about your recordings, they will eventually be listened to and catalogued

Post by **TriciaG** » September 24th, 2020, 1:09 pm

If you're waiting on acknowledgment of a claim or a submitted section, and if the BC is posting in other project threads, I don't think it would be out of line to send them a quick PM after a few days (5 or 6 maybe?) to say, "Hey, I claimed/submitted a section, and it hasn't been added to the MW yet. I'm letting you know in case you overlooked it. It happens.

" You know - just a friendly reminder.

Same goes for questions about a section, that's holding you up from recording. A short, nice PM is an option.

Post by **philchenevert** » September 24th, 2020, 1:47 pm

Wayne. Definitely send PMs checking on things like you mention. Those seem a very long time to be waiting for responses. I never mind getting nudges from readers who ask me to check on their claim because sometimes I do overlook stuff. So, follow up! post another reply in the thread or something. This might be a good topic for our Zoom meetings especially now. What do you think. Join us this Sunday Noon (USA central time). The invite is in my signature.

Post by **Availle** » September 24th, 2020, 4:40 pm

Please don't send pms for these kinds of things - project-related stuff should be handled in the forums as much as possible, also to have a kind of public record. As an MC, if I see a lot of "where are you" posts in a thread, I might myself follow up with the BC/DPL or look for a new one. No way of knowing that if you only send them pms (I only check group threads when there is activity).
And it's more efficient too: Instead of replying to 5 pms for the same project, the BC/DPL can simply make one post in the thread to catch up.

I think waiting a week for a response is reasonable. We never expected anybody to be here 24/7 and we are all volunteers, no matter on what level we choose to be involved. Yes, the world has caught Corona, and some people have now more time to record or PL, but others may struggle with a boatload of extra responsibilities they never wanted to have (homeschooling anyone?)... People have different lives.

I agree that there is a lot more going on since Corona hit - just look at all the newbie tests.

I myself felt a bit burned out when too many of the projects I wanted to read for filled up in a shorter time than usual, and I had to play catch up. Even though there is a 2 month deadline for recordings, I hate "holding up" projects, so I had a lot to record in a short time. I do prioritise things that are "fully subscribed" to get them finished, and others might do that too. Inevitably other projects may have to wait a bit longer for me then. But then again:

KevinS wrote: ↑September 24th, 2020, 11:56 am [...] I only let this delay happen when I see a project is just not moving forward.

which of course is dangerous - if everybody waits for somebody else to move first, there will be no movement at all.

KevinS · Post by **KevinS** » September 24th, 2020, 5:04 pm

Availle wrote: ↑September 24th, 2020, 4:40 pm
KevinS wrote: ↑September 24th, 2020, 11:56 am [...] I only let this delay happen when I see a project is just not moving forward.
which of course is dangerous - if everybody waits for somebody else to move first, there will be no movement at all.

Yes, but what I wrote sounds better than my admitting being a lazy bum. Haha!

Kalamareader · Post by **Kalamareader** » September 24th, 2020, 7:52 pm

I appreciate all the input. My attitude is to find one project, do my part in that in a day or two, then find another one and get that one done in a timely (to me) fashion. I have time at times and like this week not too much, but others more and want to be productive in those times. I guess one thing that spoiled me is I just finished a Solo, and I could just keep trucking along. I have to admit that during that I did a couple of small dramatic roles, but 20-50 seconds of recording didn't interrupt my Solo work much.

I guess I just have to be patient and wait for a week for someone to respond to my offer to do a fairly major part, especially when that one is the last one to be filled of many.

Wayne

P.S. Kevin, thanks again for your help. Very timely PLing.

DACSoft · Post by **DACSoft** » September 25th, 2020, 11:54 am

TriciaG wrote: ↑September 24th, 2020, 1:09 pm If you're waiting on acknowledgment of a claim or a submitted section, and if the BC is posting in other project threads, I don't think it would be out of line to send them a quick PM after a few days (5 or 6 maybe?) to say, "Hey, I claimed/submitted a section, and it hasn't been added to the MW yet. I'm letting you know in case you overlooked it. It happens. " You know - just a friendly reminder.

Same goes for questions about a section, that's holding you up from recording. A short, nice PM is an option.

After a certain period of time, about a week to a week and a half, or longer if I'm not in any particular hurry, I'll send a friendly PM. At this point, I'll do it privately, as I usually do not want to involve an MC or administrator, nor publicly "out" the recipient. If I don't receive a response, then I'll follow up posting a friendly query in the project thread.

As a reader, my DPLs and MCs generally know there can be long time periods between my solo chapters (I'm a low-volume reader, multi-organization volunteer

). As a PL/DPL, I generally post to the project if it will take me more than a few days to a week to PL a section.

FWIW,

ej400 · Post by **ej400** » September 25th, 2020, 2:21 pm

Hello Wayne,
Please don't feel discouraged (if you do), about not getting responses from the BC. As you said, life does happen, and although I fall under that category of not responding sometimes, it is still unfair to the reader that they're claim may take two weeks to get through and also have a month and a half to record from that point. So I do see where that applies to sort of an "issue," but because librivox is run entirely by volunteers, some "extra" time for claims to get through should be expected. For anyone, to prevent this, I usually do the following as BC:

* Make sure I've checked librivox for at LEAST 10 minutes during that last three days. This means replying to claims as these are probably the most important things to get too (especially for newbies).
* If I haven't replied within a week, I AM not being considerate at all. Some people can only check LV every three days, and if they are behind maybe 5 days. So give them a little time, but it shouldn't ever be more than a week that a claim waits. If this happens, usually the MC steps in.

I feel like BCing is the easiest thing to "get to." If a claim comes in, it only takes about 5 minutes to reply and put the claim in. So honestly, if someone doesn't have time to record (like myself sometimes

) they should be getting to their BC tasks at least.

Another suggestion is that maybe these comments push people to get back to librivox and understand our frustration.

Good day!