Benji Gluzman

Professor Koller

International Internship Summer 2022

May 30th, 2022

Time Management

I am now roughly two weeks into this program, and it is crazy typing that out as time is already moving so quickly.  I would say I am definitely settled into Berlin at this point.  I have my commute to work down, general sleep schedule, and feel comfortable around my friends in this program.  I am really enjoying my time at plista as they are genuinely putting me to work, giving me the opportunity to experience all parts of marketing within social media as I now know of the eight week outline that has been created for me by my boss.  The first two weeks are primarily analytical, week three I am making my very own social media strategy for the company (what!), and starting in week four and moving forward I will be officially creating content for our plista’s social media accounts.  This is exactly what I wanted as I really get to learn and experience the different aspects of social media marketing, and will definitely be able to learn what parts about it I either like or dislike.  On top of that, my boss has scheduled meetings with people from other departments that connect to marketing one way or another, and I really appreciate that as my boss understands I want to learn as much as I can about how plista operates so I can take such knowledge and apply it in future opportunities.  Last week my main project was the complete analysis of plista’s social medias by determining what content on each platform yields the best results from a data-driven point of view.  This week I will be doing the same but for our competitors instead.  I personally don’t seem to love the analytical parts I am working on, but understand that they are crucial to gaining a better understanding of not just the content within plista’s social media accounts, but also understanding what content appeals to this industry to begin with.

Managing my time at my internship will be a continuous process which I will improve throughout the course of this program.  Luckily, my boss has made tasks with a general understanding of which are the most necessary to complete week by week.  This makes prioritization of my tasks much easier as I already have an idea of what my boss values the most in my work week by week.  However, just because I know the general order of how I should complete my tasks does not mean my time management in completing such tasks is great or even good in my eyes.  As someone who always believes in continuous improvement regardless of how big or small they are, I hope to improve my time management every week of this internship.  Examples of this would be understanding what parts of my work I can do in the most effective and efficient manner, so a task that requires multiple parts to complete I will be able to prioritize which sections I should complete that will result in such effectiveness and efficiency.

To delve a bit further into the previous statement, I believe a big part of time management and prioritization of tasks deals with the type of work I am doing.  For example, some of my work consists of things that require deep thinking and creativity.  This is the type of work I plan to complete in the earlier part of my workday as my mind is still fresh and the work from the day has not begun to tire me out yet.  Consequently, in the afternoon as the work day is dying down I plan to complete tasks that require less brainpower and more tedious work so I can complete my work effectively despite being potentially tired.  I personally believe this is the best way to work through your tasks although others may believe getting the quick or easy work out of the way will save more time to complete the challenging tasks in your day.  Regardless, as much as I say this I still struggle staying true to my word in the moment as it is without question tempting to get the little tasks done although I know I am not using my energy in the earlier part of the day as effectively as I could be.  Overall, this is all a work in progress, and as I continue to explore what parts of marketing are my strengths along with weaknesses I will have an easier time determining how I should prioritize my tasks.