Before I started graduate school, I was a worker bee at the manager level, helping to edit and produce a monthly legal magazine. I was busy, clocking late nights and long hours. I was doing a lot of the work, but not getting very much of the glory. Such is life for young people in the working world.
Back then, I thought I was busy. Then I came to grad school and really learned the definition of the word.
Acquiring my master’s at Medill has proven to be the busiest year of my life. It’s a full-time job plus night classes, homework and weekend interviews. The practical nature of the program is certainly one of its greatest strengths, but now in my final quarter, the fast pace has also become my biggest challenge. To top things off, I’ve taken on a weekend internship at The Baltimore Sun, which means I’m working seven days a week with very little down time. With my focus beginning to shift to the impending job search, time management is essential if I want to make it through school successfully and line up my dream job in the meantime.
Here, I share my most helpful time management tips – tailor-made for busy journalists balancing sources, deadlines and maybe even today’s daunting job search. These tips may seem simple, but they’re tried and true. Put them to work, and you just may land yourself your next job; but relax– after a year in grad school, a job will seem like a cakewalk.
- Prioritize. You have a lot to do, and no matter how much of a super-journalist you are, you’re not going to get it all done today, or this week, or maybe even this month. The truth is, there are things that are going to remain undone for a long time, and that’s okay. The key to navigating a successful journalism career begins with deciding what is most important and what can wait.
- Make lists. Research has shown that people who write down their goals are more likely to achieve them in the long run. Whether it’s your weekly to-do list, a collection of possible sources for a story, or even your long-term career goals, write them down. There can be a lot of peace in looking at a list of everything you have to do. All of a sudden, it doesn’t seem quite as out of control.
- Find time where you didn’t think you had any. Everyone is busy, but the successful journalist jots down stories ideas while riding the Metro, glances through online news while talking on the phone with Mom and networks when grabbing her morning coffee. It’s more than just multi-tasking; it’s the only way to survive in this industry these days. Today’s successful journalist is juggling three things at a time, and the key to doing that right is creating time where it doesn’t exist. If you normally take the train everywhere but driving to this one particular story is going to save you an hour each way, do that instead. If staying on top of 15 different news sources seems overwhelming, follow them all on Twitter or set them up in a Google Reader subscription to make the information easier to consume. Even when your schedule is full, smart choices will help you find time in your day to tackle additional tasks– or better yet, enjoy some down time for once.
- Fill your calendar wisely. The fastest way to resent the people in your life is to overcommit yourself. You may want to attend every birthday party and weekend camping trip you are invited to, but learning how to say no is an important lesson for young journalists who are already bogged down with research and writing. The same thing applies to your work; while it’s important to interview all of the wonderful and interesting sources you find out in the field, it’s more important to know which sources to choose when doing your research. You only have so many hours in a day– don’t fill them up with events and appointments that will just leave you anxiously regretting the decision to be there.
- Remember: You can only do one thing at a time. Whenever I feel panic setting in, I remind myself that I am human and I can only do one thing at a time. School is hectic and life is hectic, and that’s just a simple truth. Attempting to do five things at once inevitably results in five failures. But when I reprioritize and focus on one thing to start, that’s when I can accomplish one thing successfully. And one success and four not-yet-started’s are much better than even one poorly written story or damaged relationship with a source. Once you begin to get accomplishments, however small, under your belt, beginning the next task will be much less intimidating.
Diane Rusignola, who is set to graduate from Medill in December, volunteered with AmeriCorps in New Orleans for two years after college, where she was newspaper advisor and taught journalism at a middle school. Diane later worked as an editor for a legal magazine in Washington, D.C., for five years. She wrote this opinion piece for Washington Reporting 2.0., an occasional column about the experience of reporting.