Everyone likes having some wicked fun every now and then. If you don’t, you’re lying to yourself. You like fun. Now here’s the tough part—in between being the fun version of you, you have to be the student intern version of you. Thus, my dear reader, you need to develop or change certain sub-habits of yours. Why? You’ve got to be as productive and as flexible as possible. You need to learn how to multitask. Ding Ding Ding! It’s important! Below are some simple ‘hacks’ to help you be extra productive so when you’re done being the intern, you can enjoy the fun because you will have earned it through your uber-smart time management skills.
1. Follow an ironclad routine: Pack your lunch the night before, Have your outfit for the day laid out and ready, Get up early, Brush your teeth in the shower, Know the transit schedule ahead of time.
Truly amazing. These will get you out of the house and on the road to your placement faster. Tardiness is frowned upon. Moreover, if you get into the habit of thinking ahead like you would in chess, you’ll create neural pathways which will make juggling such multitude of thoughts easier. You’ll become more productive because you’ll be used to thinking in logical progressions…not just improvising after waking up half an hour late and scurrying about. Think of it like this, when you take action, you develop action-taking momentum. Repetition is the mother of skill too. So if you consistently think ahead, think in terms of being more productive, and minimize distractions and momentum-killing downtime, you’ll be surprised at how much you can accomplish.
2. Use a day planner or calendar, and post notes around to remind you of deadlines.
The best are the mini-calendars in which you can physically scrawl your various appointments, commitments, assignments, meetings…etc. The calendar app on your phone is nice, but those pesky social media apps might distract you. Plus, physically writing things will often help you remember them better. Seriously though, if you have six solid weeks of things to do, you cannot just rely on sheer memory to negotiate the mountain of things you need to attend to and prepare for. This habit will help you plan well ahead and will prevent you from spending tons of time wondering about how to structure your time. You’ll have a clear-cut schedule and direction. Also, your supervisor will be pleased if you take out a planner in a meeting to write down an important deadline. It shows you’re time-conscious and diligent.
3. Take smaller breaks more often and bask in the little victories.
This one is as cheesy as it sounds, but read carefully. One of the hardest things for most students learning time management to adjust to or even conceptualize, is getting used to shorter bursts of fun. It is incredibly difficult to get used to spending less time doing the things that bring you the greatest amount of joy. This is an eye-opener, especially for interns who have to be concerned with productivity. Productivity is actually hindered by protracted bouts of work because you’ll become exhausted and punch-drunk from all of the stress. The remedy lies in little acts to make yourself happy and keep yourself going strong. On little breaks, things like eating dark chocolate, reading a bit of a novel, listening to a calming piece of music, doing a crossword puzzle, or stretching are all things that provide light stimulus and actually make you feel good. They can be indulged in sparingly which is the important thing. Just like discussed in section I., this kind of thing will eventually become ingrained. The little victories and short bursts of happiness will improve your mood and focus.
Remember, noble intern, success is not a single event or occurrence; it’s the result of all of the measured steps and little habits. Once you have a solid track record of little habits which make managing time easier, you’ll find yourself surpassing your own expectations. Impressing your supervisor is great, and doing some stellar research is also great, but impressing yourself is truly awesome.