Accurately estimating the amount of time needed to complete various tasks comes with experience, which the average intern does not yet have. As they plan their work schedule, newcomers understandably tend to overestimate or underestimate the time they will need for each project. Of those two tendencies, underestimating how long a project will take is by far the more dangerous mistake.
To avoid the terror of suddenly facing a deadline you cannot meet, allow a cushion of extra time to cover unexpected interruptions or obstacles that may develop. Lean toward overestimating rather than underestimating the time you will need to complete a project.
Begin each assignment by asking for an estimate of the amount of time probably needed to complete it. If you cannot get such an estimate, make your own best guess based on experience with school projects or other things you have done so far on the job. Then add additional time for your own estimate, if you can. For example, if your supervisor says, "I think this probably will take two or three hours to do," then allow perhaps up to four hours-just in case there are problems with the assignment.
Let your supervisor know if assignments often take more time than what the supervisor estimated. Explore possible reasons for the discrepancy. Perhaps you need a different approach to your work, or maybe the supervisor needs to have more realistic expectations.
When a new assignment is given, ask how many hours you should need to complete it. If it is a task you have never done before, allow even more time in case the estimate is slightly off or in case the assignment gives you trouble.
Interruptions commonly come from three sources: the office phone, coworkers wanting to chat, and calls or requests from family or friends.
Tame the Phone
Keep a list of all the calls you have to make and, when you are ready, take care of them all during "phone time." This helps reduce the number of interruptions you will have during the rest of the day. If you always make your return calls around the same time of day, soon clients will expect to hear from you at that time. They will be less likely to bother you at other times of the day.
Subdue Chatty Coworkers
Socializing with coworkers helps form friendships and professional advantages for years to come. So, friendly conversations should take place often, but not at the risk of sloppy work or missed deadlines. A line does have to be drawn, sometimes, between lighthearted chatter and serious work.
Every intern should create a personal policy about when and undc r what circumstances office socializing can comfortably be pursued. Some items need more social contact than others; every individual is unique in this way. Know your own threshold of tolerance for chatty interruptions and have strategies ready for discouraging the ones you cannot handle. Wher social interruptions become a problem, communicate that fact in a profe oional manner. Here are a few strategies you can try.
- When someone stops by your desk with unimportant chitchat, smile and let the coworker know you are under pressure. For example, say, "I'd love to talk but this is a bad time; can I touch base with you around noon?"
- If you have an office with a door, signal your unavailability by keeping the door nearly closed when you need to work alone for a while. Coworkers will soon recognize the intended meaning.
- If the office environment is fairly casual, consider displaying a friendly sign during times you would rather not be disturbed. However, avoid sarcasm or antiwork sentiments.
- If someone is unthinking enough to interrupt you during a telephone conversation, avoid responding while also listening to a caller. Most people cannot do both. Check with the coworker right after the phone call, in case the interruption was about something important.
Keep Personal Life in Tow
As you undertake the pivotal transition from student to professional, you may be simultaneously struggling with the demands of parenthood, a lack of financial resources, and perhaps also the unrealistic expectations of friends or family members. Working with a clear head is hard to do when pressures come from home as well as from the office. Sometimes, success is possible only by insisting on the cooperation and assistance of the important people in your life.
Convey to your spouse, parents, teenage children, siblings, friends, neighbors, and roommate the importance of the transition you are going through. Te them that this internship will make it possible for you to land a well-paying job someday soon. Enlist their support. Be as specific as you can about the kind of help you need. For example, ask the people in your life to he p in some of the following ways:
- Mot contacting you at the office except for genuine emergencies
- Understanding that you may not be able to handle all of the household and social responsibilities you assumed in the past
- Providing backup transportation if the car breaks down
- Providing backup child care when your child is sick or the sitter lets you down
- Helping with personal errands, laundry, or shopping
- Assisting with the care of an elderly family member
- Helping you through an unpaid internship with a short-term loan
- Beginning meal preparation before you get home
The following are additional strategies you can try to make the job go more smoothly.
Arrive at the office a few minutes early to survey the day's work, reestablish priorities on your to-do list, and plan whatever schedule works best for the needs of each new day.
To spend less time redrafting documents, try outlining them first, listing the points you need to cover.
When possible, save trips to the courthouse or other work-related locations by combining errands and making two or more stops in a single trip. Take advantage of every automation feature and computer technique that is available. Time spent learning these techniques saves even greater time later-and adds impressive new skills to your resume. If the workload becomes unusually heavy for a short time, see whether some work can be done on your own time, either at home or at your school's law library. Be sure to guard client confidentiality in these non-office settings.
Having communicated your difficulty, your task is now to help fine a solution. Explore the following options with your supervisor or with whoever is in charge in your supervisor's absence:
- Can priorities be clarified for competing assignments? Which is most urgent and which can be delayed?
- Can someone else take some portion of a major assignment t: speed things up and lighten your workload?
- Can one of your assignments be given to another paralegal altogether?
- Can the client's matter be postponed somewhat to allow you more time to complete the project?
- Is there another way to creatively resolve the problem?
