As an intern at Presto Ventures, a venture capital firm based in Prague, managing time effectively is crucial. With a fast-paced environment and numerous tasks to juggle, prioritizing responsibilities is essential for success.
Throughout my entire life, I have been decent at time management, I have always turned in assignments on time and finished my chores. However, when I got to college, I was accountable for myself and my schedule. My time management skills began to dwindle and I became a chronic procrastinator. Going into my internship I knew I could not continue my bad habit of procrastination.
A method I used to combat my procrastination was to give myself a little reward/break after completing an assignment whether grabbing a piece of complimentary chocolate they had or taking a walk around the building. After doing this I combatted my procrastination problem to an extent.
Aside from the issue of procrastination, at first, managing my time was a struggle. I was given many tasks to complete and different deadlines to get them done by. At first, I would just go down the list completing each task one by one. This method was effective to a certain extent, however I would still miss certain deadlines. That’s when I learned to prioritize my work on urgency and importance. What was the most important and what needed to get completed the quickest?
Even after prioritizing my work I still found myself struggling, thinking I had much more time to finish a project than I actually did. I ended up realizing I did not take into account the amount of meetings I would be attending in a day. So the other way I managed time effectively as an intern at a venture capital firm was to create a daily or weekly schedule outlining all tasks, deadlines, and meetings I had for that week. By having a clear plan in place, it became easier for me to prioritize tasks based on urgency and importance. This allows me to stay organized and focused on the most critical assignments.
Another strategy for managing time effectively is to communicate with supervisors about workload and deadlines. By discussing priorities with mentors or team members, I gained valuable insights into which tasks should take precedence and adjusted my schedule accordingly.
In addition, utilizing tools such as calendars, task management apps, or project management software helped me stay on track with my responsibilities and ensured that important tasks are completed on time. By practicing these strategies for prioritizing tasks and managing time effectively, I could make the most of being an intern for Presto Ventures and contribute meaningfully to the success of the firm.
Outside of work managing time is a lot harder for me since there are no deadlines for other tasks. For example, doing my laundry, applying for other internships for next summer, grocery shopping, cooking, traveling, spending time with my friends, and spending quality time alone is difficult for me. Working a regular 9-5 takes away most of the day and when I come home I feel exhausted. I feel tired and do not want to complete my tasks.
However after my first week of interning, I have gotten used to schedule and have become more energetic. With this extra energy, I have done better with keeping up with my chores. For the past couple weeks, I have been implementing a schedule for all my chores. Making sure I do laundry every Sunday, applying to 3 internships a night, and spending an hour spending time with my friends, and an hour of self-care for myself. This schedule has helped me complete everything I needed to do while still being able to go to sleep early and not be tired the next morning.
Even though I have gotten better at managing my work and personal time, I am still not great. Although I complete all my work tasks on time, I still struggle when it comes to duties outside of work, especially when all I want to do is lay in bed and watch 5 episodes of my favorite T.V show instead of cooking dinner.
As the first couple weeks have passed by I have realized that time management becomes easier the more often you practice the good habits of, not procrastinating, using a planner/calendar, and staying organized and disciplined. The more I became used to this the easier it became to complete everything I wanted to do in a timely and efficient manner. Living and interning abroad has been helping me improve my work habits tremendously.