Adjusting to Work Life

In college, you become used to managing your day based on the classes you have. This allows you to plan ahead in regards to assignments, work schedule, and free time. One day you might have five classes and one day you might not have any classes. In the working world you work for eight hours each day every day with an hour lunch break if you are lucky. Your free time is only after or before work, which gives you little time to enjoy the things you may have done in college on a daily basis. One thing that many college students may underestimate is the ability to take an hour power nap after your morning classes before you head for the home stretch of your afternoon classes. At work you have to find ways to reenergize after an already long day.

Your time at work isn’t your own but the companies, so it is imperative to find ways to keep busy and productive. Meetings may pop up and unexpected problems may arise that eat at your energy levels as your stress increases. Working is about maintaining a consistent level of energy throughout the day to maximize productivity, and developing ways to manage your time so you are always at least a little busy. The one thing that is worse than being overloaded with work is having no work to do. Finding the middle ground is essential to being productive in the workplace. Also, procrastination cannot exist at work. It is not possible to cram before a deadline and think that you are going to do a good job on your assignment. Give yourself plenty of time to work on assignments and go back and forth between projects to ensure you don’t fall behind.

My final thought is that I expected working to be harder than school, but in many ways I find it more enjoyable and easier. For one thing the work is more enjoyable. Even the most mundane task at work I find to be more enjoyable than any of the assignments I’ve done at school. Also, I’ve found that although I may be more tired at the end of the day, I seem to be able to maintain my energy easier by switching between tasks. Lastly, when finishing a project in school I was overcome with a sense of relief, but at work when I finish a project I feel a sense of pride and accomplishment in a job well done. Working at Dwellworks has been an enjoyable change from college life.

 

-Kevin Mullinger

Valuation Services Intern