By: Emma Kammholz, Promotions Copywriting Coordinator
One of the best parts of the Inigo experience is the opportunity to wear many different hats. Many of my peers, including myself, are full-time students, active agency members and hold other jobs and internships. Although taking on these roles is exciting, there are times when it can be hard to balance. I faced this issue myself when I took on a new role outside of school.
A few months after I joined Inigo for the Fall 2023 semester as a Creative Copywriting Coordinator, I applied for a position as a social media intern at Women’s College Hockey Recruiting, a college hockey recruiting consultancy for young female athletes. I got the job and immediately hit the ground running by creating content, newsletters and other promotional materials to get people engaged with our mission of helping female hockey players reach their full potential.
However, I soon had trouble balancing my responsibilities. At times, I felt like there was not enough time in the day to get everything done and I found myself completely overwhelmed.
As the semester began, I took on more responsibilities and projects, I realized it was possible to do both Inigo and my internship. I began to develop strategies and discover methods that helped me balance my workload a lot better.
Below are a few things that allowed me to better balance responsibilities and reduce stress.
Set goals.
One strategy that has really helped me manage my workload better was setting goals for myself. Each day, I make a checklist of what I need to complete by the end of the day. If it is a long-term project, I set a goal for myself of how much progress I should make each day, and I can stay on track before the deadline. This has prevented me from falling behind on my work and has helped me become consistent in getting my work done.
Another way I set goals is by creating to-do lists. Making a detailed list of everything I have to do for each of my commitments has helped me keep track of everything I needed to get done. I usually make my to-do list in my Notes app on my phone, but others use tools such as Google Calendar or monday.com. I also make sure to include the due dates for each assignment, project, and deliverable to track what I need to get done at certain times.
Stay organized.
Being organized is vital in helping me better manage my academics, my role in Inigo and my internship. Something that has helped me is keeping projects and assignments organized in folders on a laptop, OneDrive or Google Drive. This helps me access certain documents I need easily and helps me to make quick edits or changes if I need to.
Staying organized is important in being successful when balancing your roles. However, it is also important to take care of yourself and communicate with your team members or supervisors if you are struggling to get your assignments done.
Be transparent.
Being overwhelmed with work is not fun and can sometimes impact the quality of the work you produce. I found it helpful to be transparent with peers, advisors and supervisors. Communicating with them about reaching a deadline or completing a project has been helpful as I attempt to balance my roles. For example, I always communicate with my directors, supervisors and professors if I have a conflict getting an assignment or project done and need more time to complete it. Always keep in mind that it is better to ask for a little bit more time to work on something, so you are able to produce high-quality work.
Practice self-care.
When managing projects, assignments and deliverables, it is important to remember to take care of yourself. Getting the work done is important, but not taking care of yourself can lead to burnout. Take a break from your laptop and focus on something that takes your mind away from your work for a short period of time. Something that I have implemented in my daily routine in order to give myself a break is to schedule a period of time where I practice self-care. Whether it is grabbing dinner with my fellow Inigoans at Flaco’s Tacos after class, watching a movie or cooking with my friends, finding time to take my mind off of my work and spending quality time with loved ones has helped me reset.
Cheer yourself on.
Finally, it is important to remember to be proud of yourself and everything that you have accomplished. Balancing multiple different responsibilities in college is difficult, but you have already come so far. Whether you succeed or fail, celebrate your hard work and pat yourself on the back! It’s not always easy, but you are doing the best you can.
Even though being a student in Inigo while having an internship can be stressful at times, it is not impossible to manage which is why it is so important to practice organizational skills
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