Dear Danielle, I’m about a month into my international internship with The Intern Group and I’m loving it so far. I truly feel part of the team, and am working on various important tasks that challenge and excite me at the same time. The issue is that I feel a bit overwhelmed, and am struggling to find time to complete everything on my to-do list. Do you have any tips to help with time management at work?– Emma from The Intern Group Dublin
Hi Emma, I’m so happy to hear that you’re loving your internship experience so far! As a fellow international intern myself, I totally understand where you’re coming from. You are not alone in your struggle to grab a handle of your time management at work. In fact, this is an issue that even the most experienced employee will come across. Here are a few tips that help me when I’m struggling with time management at my internship:
It’s easy to get stressed out by looking at the big list of things you need to do, and the little amount of time you have to do them. While a little bit of stress might be good to help you stay focused with an approaching deadline, too much stress will overall impact your productivity in a negative way. Remember to breathe, stretch, or take a little walk if you’re feeling overwhelmed. You’ll come back to your desk in a new, refreshed state of mind.
The easiest way to get overwhelmed with lack of time management at work is completely forgetting about a task you need to do in the first place. Sometimes we have too much faith in our own memory, convinced that we’ll remember things that we in reality will easily forget. Writing things down will help you to stay on top of it, and will become your number one tool for time management at your internship.
Looking at a giant to-do list is anxiety inducing, for sure. It’s hard to wrap your head around where to start, if you don’t have a clear understanding of what needs to be done first. In order to prioritize what you’ve written down, read through your list, then read through it again. Give self-prioritization a shot, and see if you can manage the deadline dates for things you weren’t otherwise given a deadline for. I organize my tasks by day, week, and month.
If you aren’t already doing so, I recommend creating a time to regularly check in with your boss. Maybe it’s once a day, or even once a week. If your boss hasn’t already set aside time, take initiative by setting up a meeting with them. Remember that it is okay to ask for help. It’s even better to ask for help once you’ve created the rough draft version of your to-do list with deadlines, because your boss also has their own time management at work to tackle as well. As a result, they might have insight as to which deadlines could be adjusted.
Creating a place to store your to-do lists and deadlines is crucial for time management success at your internship. Some people prefer the old-school organizational methods of pen and paper. Others would rather store information digitally on an app or website such as Momentum or Timeful. Play around with a couple, figure out which method works best for you, and stick to it.
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