This week I learned a lot about prioritizing my time and trusting myself before others. At my internship I spend a lot of time doing work off of library computers. Each computer has an automatic timer that last for 2 hours. Once the time is up, the computer shuts down and erases all activity. At the end of the week I was assigned a project by my boss. The project had to do with putting together helpful and useful contacts for one of our clients. After researching and collecting over 250 emails, phone numbers, names, and links I then have to copy and paste the information into an excel file so it will appear on a chart. In all, the process takes about 2 hours to complete and it’s not the most exciting work.
It was Thursday afternoon when I was given the project and it was also the day I lost it. I had decided to stay at my internship for a few extra minutes to get a head start on the project so I wouldn’t have as much work the next day (Friday) and get to leave early. So as I entered in the last contacts the warning for the timer on the computer popped up on the screen to let me know I had 10 more minutes before it times out and erase all the information. I stopped what I was doing and tried to save it to the computer as a PDF file in order to transfer it into my email. Well, of course I couldn’t figure out exactly where I saved the excel file too, so I thought it would be smart to go get the librarian. He was an old white man, who looked like he had worked at the library his entire life. After I waited 5 minutes for him to finish up with a helping someone, I interrupted him and asked if he wouldn't mind just taking a quick minute to help me figure out how to save my work before the computer times out.
So I walked over to the computer and turned around to explain to him what I was trying to do and I saw that he wasn’t behind me. I looked towards his desk and saw that he was still trying to get out of his chair! Well as it turns out the computer erased all my work because the old librarian didn’t make it in time.
The next day, I went in early to try and make up for all the time I had lost yesterday - a full 2 hours. I sped along and completed all the work that got deleted and started doing additional work. I was surprised that I got it done so quickly and was so relieved. Until, a strange box popped up on the excel file. It was messing with the format of the document so I attempted to fix it but couldn’t. I hesitated at first but gave in and had to go ask a librarian for help. I thought it was a good sign that the old librarian wasn’t there but boy was I wrong.
She was a middle aged Russian woman who couldn’t really speak English. She came over to the computer and I knew right away she was going to be no help. She was clicking buttons and trying to save my work in places I didn’t even know existed and before I knew it, she deleted it. Every single thing, including the work I had to make up that morning.
…
I ended up finishing the work on time and done well. But I learned that time won’t stop for anyone and I should trust myself before asking for help.
It was Thursday afternoon when I was given the project and it was also the day I lost it. I had decided to stay at my internship for a few extra minutes to get a head start on the project so I wouldn’t have as much work the next day (Friday) and get to leave early. So as I entered in the last contacts the warning for the timer on the computer popped up on the screen to let me know I had 10 more minutes before it times out and erase all the information. I stopped what I was doing and tried to save it to the computer as a PDF file in order to transfer it into my email. Well, of course I couldn’t figure out exactly where I saved the excel file too, so I thought it would be smart to go get the librarian. He was an old white man, who looked like he had worked at the library his entire life. After I waited 5 minutes for him to finish up with a helping someone, I interrupted him and asked if he wouldn't mind just taking a quick minute to help me figure out how to save my work before the computer times out.
So I walked over to the computer and turned around to explain to him what I was trying to do and I saw that he wasn’t behind me. I looked towards his desk and saw that he was still trying to get out of his chair! Well as it turns out the computer erased all my work because the old librarian didn’t make it in time.
The next day, I went in early to try and make up for all the time I had lost yesterday - a full 2 hours. I sped along and completed all the work that got deleted and started doing additional work. I was surprised that I got it done so quickly and was so relieved. Until, a strange box popped up on the excel file. It was messing with the format of the document so I attempted to fix it but couldn’t. I hesitated at first but gave in and had to go ask a librarian for help. I thought it was a good sign that the old librarian wasn’t there but boy was I wrong.
She was a middle aged Russian woman who couldn’t really speak English. She came over to the computer and I knew right away she was going to be no help. She was clicking buttons and trying to save my work in places I didn’t even know existed and before I knew it, she deleted it. Every single thing, including the work I had to make up that morning.
…
I ended up finishing the work on time and done well. But I learned that time won’t stop for anyone and I should trust myself before asking for help.