Have you ever heard the expression, “Make sure you keep all your balls in the air!” You’re going to be juggling a lot of tasks during your summer internship. While having a lot of assignments on your plate may be stressful, it’s also an indicator that your manager and co-workers have faith in you to get a lot done. You’ll be a stronger intern when you carry more of the company’s weight, so here are 5 tips on how to manage your workload.
1. Make a list.
- At the end of each day, write down all the assignments you hope to complete the following day.
- Write down the meetings and events scheduled for the week.
- Organize the day’s assignments from most important to least important going down the page so you complete the most important tasks first.
- Estimate how long it will take for each assignment so that you will know how to divide up your time throughout the day.
- Write down the week’s goals and assignments, and make sure you’re on pace to finish them by the end of the week.
There’s nothing more satisfying than checking off the assignments on your list as you go through the day. Wunderlist, Things (for Mac), and OmniFocus (also for Mac) are useful task-management tools.
2. Discuss your schedule with your manager.
Ask your manager which assignments are most important to the company. Get advice from your manager on how to balance your time. Express that you want everything you produce to be excellent.
3. Strive for quality over quantity.
At the end of your summer internship, your co-workers are going to remember the few extraordinary projects you blew out of the water, not the high number of tasks you completed.
4. Stretch your capabilities.
As long as you’re doing quality work, challenge yourself to see how much you can be responsible for during your summer internship. Your enthusiasm to take on more assignments will impress your manager and encourage your co-workers.
5. Get to work early.
A recent study posted on the Harvard Business Review showed that university students are more productive and confident when they get up early. The majority of jobs work on a 9-5 schedule, so it will benefit you to be accustomed to the morning routine. If you arrive early and stay late, your manager will be more understanding if you can’t complete all your assignments.
Ask yourself this week:
- “What is one thing I could spend less time doing to make my day more productive?”
- “What is one thing I can start working on tomorrow morning before the rush of the day begins?”
- “Where in my work am I striving for quantity over quality instead of the other way around?”
Want to find out more about National Intern Day and how you can win a cash prize? Head over to nationalinternday.com to get the scoop.
