10 Steps to Kick Start Your Work Life 20247 min read

Dear Intern/Trainee/Junior Executive, welcome to work life, a completely new phase of your life. Soon, your work will not only be your earning source but an integral part of your daily routine.

It’s almost like being admitted to the school for the first time.

New environment, new learning, introduction to teachers (supervisors), classmates (colleagues) with a time of Tiffin (lunch break) and exactly don’t know what is going to happen.

Unlike school, you’re expected to have some basic knowledge here of a particular subject matter.

And you won’t be taught how to manage your work-life.

10 Steps to Kick Start Your Work Life

1. Know the Company Profile

Before joining the firm, you might have some rough ideas, but now you need to know the details, the ins and outs of the company.

Not only the products and services but also the organizational culture, organization, departments, policies, and features.

Place yourself in the organogram and you’ll have an estimation of whom you’ll report to and what responsibilities you’ll have. The organogram will also be useful for cross-functional teamwork.

Study the company profile they have, either on a PowerPoint slide or in a proposal written for customers.

Since the first week goes by flexibly and with almost no work, you can spend time researching the company via internal and external sources.

2. Learn the Basics

Every company has a certain process for getting each task done. Try to get to know them. The first time you learn about these, the process may sound complicated and get a little jumbled in your head.

Better note down the process for your own sake. However, once you implement the process yourself, you will eventually find it easier.

Also, learn the basic methods of printing and scanning documents. If your office has centralized printing and scanning jobs, get to know it; make sure your PC has access to them.

This is very important, as it will always help you as long as you are in the office.  Just like this, learn the basic procedures of your office. Those are easy, but significant too.

3. Connect with your supervisor

Your supervisor is the one who assigns you to work and guides you towards work. You can already guess why it is important to connect with your line manager.

But he remains busy too, as he is assigned work by his consecutive supervisors.

Try to observe his way of working, you may understand what he is expecting from you. Don’t hesitate to talk to him just because he is your boss.

You can ask him about the company profile and the office. You might talk about his experience, too. Learn how he learned to do his job. It might be your inspiration.

The power distance in any culture is being flexible day by day, thanks to globalization. The supervisor-subordinate relationship is not as strict as it used to be in previous decades.

Thus, it’s okay to talk non-business with your managers.

4. Be proactive!

The first weeks are usually not loaded with work. You have enough free time to do anything. Proactively seek work from your line manager. Be eager to work.

That will help you to be dynamic in your workplace. Bonus: You’ll be able to give an impression that your willingness to work is high.

Well, for those who are loaded with work right from the first few days, it’s very normal to get stuck and confused. Don’t hesitate to question the direction to do work.

Do not just nod in fear while you don’t understand the steps at all. Ask proactively for directions and guidance.

5. Keep a notebook

This is one piece of advice almost no one tells you in the office. The office provides you with stationaries where the notebook is included. Even if you don’t get one, keep one to yourself.

You can use either a digital notepad on your phone or tablet, or you can keep a manual one in an old-fashioned way, whichever you’re comfortable with.

Note down all the things you’re introduced to—the procedures, the product or service features, the daily tasks, the meeting minors—anything you realize is significant.

It is better if you keep a separate mini notebook for a to-do list. On each page, write the date and list down the daily tasks you need to do.

At the end of the day, cut off or tick mark with a different color pen for all the tasks you’ve completed.

This way, you remain organized, and you might retrieve your pending work anytime. You might be confident that you can remember without writing, but soon you’ll have so much work that you’ll tend to forget.

So, it is better to record it either digitally or manually.

The famous Hollywood actor Ashton Kutcher, also a venture capitalist and an investor, starts his day by noting down all the tasks to do for the day, not by seeing emails first. [Source: Inc. magazine]

6. Organize your desk

Although there are facts that many people accomplish their work in disorganized and lazy ways, it doesn’t quite harm to keep the desk organized. It helps you find documents or things faster.

Also, you rarely tend to lose things if you do so. There are no specific ways to keep your desk neat. Everyone has their ways.

While the work pressure is less and you’ve got free time, you can arrange or rearrange your desk according to your style.

7. Rest a while, Walk a mile

Just saying. You don’t have to walk a mile. It is healthy to take 5 minutes to break now and then in your work routine.

It might be a tea or coffee break, it might be some conversations with your colleagues (which don’t have to be work-related), or it might be a walk around the office and calling family or friends too.

Additionally, sitting on the desk, inclined to your laptop or desktop, is bad for your spine and posture too. That is why it is better to get out of bed and walk sometimes. You may try some simple office desk exercises too.

8. Socialize

Some people find it a real struggle to socialize, and then some can win the hearts of everyone from the very first day.

Your colleagues are just not your work-related peeps, they are like classmates in school. Some of them can be friends, and some can be like your elder siblings.

Every colleague is your potential helper to make the adjustment process in the office easier. Socializing with them will increase your adaptability.

Socialize with your supervisor. You may hang out sometimes or go out to eat somewhere with your colleagues.

9. Organize your emails

There are several ways to organize your emails. Whether it’s Outlook or Gmail, you can group your emails into folders: the important ones, the starred ones, and the promotional ones.

Archive your emails regularly, or your mailbox will be full and you might lose the important ones too.

Edit your signature so that you don’t have to write the same ending for each email. Furthermore, you can customize the mail settings too.

10. Customize your routine

It is good to have a disciplined routine, but it is good to have changed too. Following the same routine might result in monotonous days. Set your specifics according to your requirements.

Your desk, your time management, and your way of working might need some changes after a certain interval of time.

A few minutes of planning how to accomplish your task is never a waste. But learn to stick to your plans too.

Epilogue

Your work might take most of the hours of your day, but make sure to balance your work and personal life. Success in the workplace can be achieved without being a workaholic.

You can always find time for your family, friends, and even yourself. You will get a lot of assignments and work ordered by superiors, but your routine is your own.

You have the flexibility, to a large extent, to design it. A lot will change since your commencement in work-life, but your dynamic spirit and a kick-start will help you to maintain positivity.

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