Having such a short time to experience another country while contributing as an intern to a start-up company often leaves me conflicted on how I should best spend my time. I would like to visit every corner of the city, and take time to experience all that there is to see in Seoul, but that is unfortunately not realistic because of work requirements. 

Four days a week I wake up around seven to prepare myself for work. After getting ready, I spend around fifteen minutes reviewing the assignment schedule outline before I head off on my daily hour and a half long commute on public transportation to the office building. The buses I take require me to stop directly in the center of the city where there are an unimaginable number of people on similar journeys to mine. I often find myself on buses so crowed that I am surrounded and pushed around by countless people. Even coming from a large city with its own subway and bus system, the number of people and the scale of the stations is almost unimaginable. After one transfer and dozens of stops I have a short walk to the office building where I gather my thoughts and plan my ideal structure for the day. I try and plan exactly how long each task I have to complete before lunch should take me. 

When I enter the building, I am greeted by my supervisor, who shares comments on previous work, and assigns me tasks or revisions that should be completed in the next few days. I take a short time to review her comments by myself, noting if there are any commonalities of things that I should improve on for future submissions. After the review, I put in the time that I allocated for each task, and switch to the next task, even if it is unfinished. At around noon, all of my co-workers migrate to the cafeteria for our hour long lunch break where we share lunch and are able to learn more about what everyone else is doing. After lunch I allocate exactly one hour to the morning unfinished work, and then begin the tasks that I was assigned to that morning. At 5:30 we are all dismissed, and I do my morning commute in reverse. 

I found that structuring my work days in this way is the best way for keeping myself accountable for the work that I need to do. In the morning, I have a fresh mind to begin the work that I could not finish the day before and am motivated to get it done before the deadline. After lunch, I am slightly refreshed, and I am motivated to work hard so I do not have to do work when I get home, or stay at the office after I am dismissed. Because my role consists mostly of reviewing large sets of clinical data and reading long scientific journal articles, I found that switching between tasks can help me stay more fresh and make my tasks feel less repetitive and daunting. I benefit from specifically designating time to each task because the lack of flexibility that I give myself can help me avoid becoming distracted, allowing me to submit higher quality work in a time effective manner. 

One of the most beneficial company policies for me is being able to work remotely on Fridays. On these days, I follow a similar structure; I stay at home and review my work longer, and then during the time allocated for lunch, I hop on the train or bus and find a cafe to do my work in for the rest of the afternoon, something Seoul is known for. I use the change of scenery as a mental reset, helping me have a clear mind, allowing me to finish up all my remaining work for the week. I’m so grateful I was given this opportunity because I feel as if I can see the city and experience culture, while still being productive in dealing with my workload. 

I believe that this arrangement and structure is most beneficial because it allows me to have a great work life balance. When I am at work, I can remain motivated without feeling like I am missing out on being a tourist, and while I am outside of work, I do not feel swamped with responsibility for work. Finding this midpoint has been incredibly beneficial to my experience as I am able to gain impactful experience in the pharmaceutical and public health industries, while being able to explore my interests in a foreign country.