Disclaimer: No, I’m not burnt out yet
Today marks my fifth day at my Host Organization as an Atlas Corps Fellow. When they saw my face on the first day, they all pretty much said the same thing: “Oh we are so happy to have you back – we have tons of things that we want you to do!” Sure enough, emails and meeting invites are flooding my inbox and I’m trying to remind myself what the tasks are using web tools like Trello and Flow – I’ll update you on how those worked out.
I have been interning with my Host Organization, GlobalGiving, for more than a year before I started my fellowship. Because I love this organization so much, I have decided to take this fellowship. But even with the organization that I really enjoy working in – I burnt out in the end. It was obviously the combination of trying to do a great job as an intern while finishing graduate school that kept me super busy, and in the end, I felt like my brain refused to work.
So as I began my one-year fellowship, I set these goals:
*Focus on finishing one task, instead of trying to respond to small requests sporadically (don’t be distracted by FB every 10 min)
*Finish things you are meant to finish today, today.
*Prioritize tasks.
*Take time to be creative and start a project on my own
*Take a walk during the lunch break – don’t sit in front of the PC all day!
*Always aim to finish work at 5.
*Don’t check emails during the weekend – instead, enjoy time with my family and friends!
It is so easy to be consumed with work, and set your standards way too high until you can’t do it anymore. Though one year fellowship is short, my goal is to productive, motivated, and be happy throughout the year. Let’s see how I will do!