Time Management: To Sleep or Start That Paper?
Now that school has begun, my hours at Skillsoft have been lessened. Over the summer, I grew very accustomed to signing on every day and spending most of my week engrossed in my work. Now, I have to balance that work with my full class load…all of which is online. Luckily, my manager is very flexible and accommodating and I have laid out a schedule for the semester that works well for both of us. While it is very feasible that things will come up during the semester and I may have to shift my work hours from time to time, it is important for me to have a standing schedule each week that I can depend on so I can manage my school and personal priorities around it.
To keep myself sane, I made sure that my work hours don’t border on my class times. In addition, I made Wednesdays my catch-up day (which thankfully my school schedule allows). Having this day in the middle of the week to do whatever I need has already been so helpful for me with scheduling meetings for group work in classes, and I know it will only become more helpful as the semester ramps up.
Luckily, there is time to connect with friends during and after class still (albeit via Zoom) and my fellow interns and I can still maintain our weekly coffee break to talk about how our weeks are going.
It is important to manage expectations for yourself during this time period. At my university, we have to learn how to navigate a new learning platform and some of my classes have one or two extra platforms to learn that we will use weekly. My brain is a bit tired to say the least. I have to remember to give myself time to recharge and not feel bad about being a bit extra tired because, to be frank, it is an information overload all behind a screen.
After completing my first couple weeks of virtual school, here are some recommendations I have for those in the same or similar predicament:
1. Try to maximize your time. Block time in your days to do certain tasks. For example, take that hour between classes or work to do a 30-minute workout and take a quick shower. Use that hour to start or complete one of your assignments. If it’s around lunch, use that time to make a meal and sit down to enjoy it. Lastly, use that hour to meditate or do absolutely nothing…sometimes that is exactly what we need. (But if you do that, try to make sure you are blocking hours elsewhere in the day to do those assignments, eat meals, and move your body.)
2. Overcommunicate. This goes for work, school, friends, family, and whoever you are living with. For example, I am living at home for the semester with my parents because paying rent for a place in Boston seemed silly. I am in my room most of the day doing work for school or Skillsoft, always behind a computer screen. Before meetings or classes, I let my mom know, who is working down the hall from me too, that I will be busy. I also let my parents know when I have a lot of homework to do so they won’t disturb me unless it’s necessary. At work, I let my manager know if I have a busy week coming up and need to adjust my hours ahead of time so she can plan for it. In group work for classes, I let my teammates know I also have an internship this semester, so my schedule isn’t as flexible for meetings. My friends already know that my schedule is pretty booked, so they know if I don’t reply to their message right away, I’m just busy. It’s the little things, but they go a long way.
3. Manage your priorities. While internships and work may feel important, school takes precedence and always will. I am lucky at Skillsoft to hear this coming from my own manager as a reminder, but if your employer doesn’t share this with you, make sure they know it. It is a challenge, especially since the past few months for me have been dedicated to all things Skillsoft, but I am trying to treat school like I would if I was on campus and make it my priority. I bought a planner and have put in all of my class times, my work schedule, and try to fill it out every day when my classes end. I am also printing out my syllabi and reading and highlighting the important information. It feels very strange but making everything organized like I would in person is the only way it feels like I am actually in college still. This also helps me prioritize schoolwork and classes over the other tasks I have.
I am no expert, but these are the things I needed a reminder of most these first couple weeks of online college. I am sure that this varies from person to person and school to school, but I hope you find these thoughts helpful. If you have other thoughts and tips, please share them so we can all try to get through this whirlwind of a semester as strongly and simply as possible. Good luck!
