It has only been a week and a half and I am already feeling like I need to improve my time management. My schedule is 9-6 everyday and it is hard to fit everything into the day. Regarding my daily management, I will use this blog post to reflect on and re-evaluate my time management thus far.

To begin my day I typically wake up around 7:15-7:30. I have around a 30-35 minute commute from my homestay to the office so I tend to leave around 8:20. Most days I give myself just over about an hour to get ready in the morning which tends to be enough but I still feel a little rushed. I also would like some time in the morning to do things for myself, such as journaling, reading, stretching, or something relaxing to begin my day. So moving forward I might try to give myself another 15-30 minutes every morning.

I then head on the Metro to the office. I typically try to read or listen to a morning podcast in Spanish. On my first day here I went to a bookstore and bought a very interesting book that I am coming close to finishing. I enjoy the commute and the time I have to sit and relax. I then get off at the Lucero stop and have about a 10-minute walk to the office.

Once I arrive at the office I typically give myself around 10 minutes to check email or any messages I may have gotten overnight or this morning. This typically works well as my supervisor will be doing the same or talking to another coworker. After this, I will generally be given some sort of task to do by my supervisor that I will begin.

One strategy I noticed works best for me and after talking with my supervisor about her strategies is to focus on one thing at a time. Especially for her, there can be a bunch of things to do but it is best to slowly shorten the list with one thing at a time. Focus is important and you can’t fully focus with multitasking. I have begun to implement the same strategy and have noticed it to be very helpful.

On some days I will have to go to various units to do inventory, help clients, meet a technician or painter, or perform a checkout. These tasks are much simpler to manage and it just requires a little bit of planning on the map to evaluate the best route based on the time I need to be there, how long it will take, and the location relative to the office. Of course, it is best to plan an efficient route that doesn’t go back and forth.

A little later in the day, I will have my 1-hour siesta or lunch break. Since the weather has been nice I tend to walk over to the park across the street to eat my lunch and relax. This is perfect because it is so close and I can spend as much time as possible sitting down on the benches.
I then return to the office to wrap up the day. Sometimes I will have somewhere to check on my way home, so I will leave the office around 5 to get to the location and have time to do whatever is needed and end by 6.

Then I will take the metro home and relax for a little. Dinner in Spain is typically a lot later in the day than in the States but luckily for me, my homestay likes to eat early as well. We will typically eat around 8 which is almost perfect (I am very hungry at 8 and wouldn’t mind closer to 7 but). Then after dinner, I have been going to the local park and did exercises with a friend I met. He is Colombian and recently moved to Spain as well, just a week before I did. We will typically work out for a little over an hour and hang out.

This is a very full day and I tend to be very tired and promptly go home to shower and get to sleep. In terms of improvement to my time management, I would like to implement a few things. 1. Wake up a little earlier, and go to sleep a little earlier as well. – This will allow me not to start the day feeling rushed. 2. Make a list of my tasks for the day – Especially during my internship making a list of everything I have to do and then ranking them based on priority or deadlines will allow me to have a much better understanding of what I need to get done and start with. 3. Take some dedicated rest – Working in a new place and a new language can be tough and exhausting, it is better to take proactive rest periods to not burn out and become unproductive.