Hello everyone!
My name is Laura, and this is a fun throwback to one of my weeks at the office.
At Medical Brands B.V., where I did my internship, they value concentration. I was part of Marketing & Sales, but independently of the department, everyone worked very hard sitting down for many consecutive hours looking at a screen. The essence of a desk job.
From my boss, I learned the pro tip of carrying eye drops with you. But, once your eyes are hydrated and all conditions are optimal, the real challenge begins: Staying focused. Some people struggle more than others to stay in the same place for many hours, but to concentrate while doing so is undoubtedly something that takes practice.
In my workplace, every co-worker had their method, and the boss was very respectful of them. Some would sip a new drink every 5 minutes, and others would always have their headphones plugged in. I was never a big fan of coffee or tea, so I chose the latter. I never knew what my co-workers were listening to but I could guess it was either music or a podcast. Maybe just silence, to block everyone else speaking on the phone. Who knows? What I do know is my own experience, and what I listened to would depend on my task. For example, when I was computing indexes on Google Sheets, a soft piano would be playing.
However, I do remember one specific week halfway through my internship when I was assigned a very repetitive task. It was a simple copy-and-paste that took hours, no, days. You might think this is a good thing because then it’s easier, right? It’s a trap. The simpler the task, the more it tests your ability to keep focus, which is very valuable in an office job as I explained before. Luckily, I found my method, a specific podcast called Kaidan: Japanese Scary Stories.
For some context, I have always been very interested in Japanese culture to the point that I now speak Japanese, and I was in Tokyo a few weeks ago. But I despise horror. An unusual combination, that, somehow, was a match made in heaven. The animosity I have for terror comes from pure fear. Growing up, and even now, I could never stand scary movies. I would empathize too much with the characters and truly feel like that could happen to me. It would keep me awake and vigilant. It sounds like a nightmare, but that is exactly what made it work.
Listening to the podcast kept me in my tip-toes during the entire work day. The adrenaline and cortisol released by my fear kept my mind active, in survivance mode. So, I would leave the office feeling proud of my productivity.
Of course, the consequences would come then, when I arrived home, where I live completely alone by the way. You can imagine the picture. Falling asleep was not easy and I would be scared of the dark and of having nightmares. Thus, I cannot recommend my method, and I am in no way doing so. But it definitely was an interesting week worth sharing with all of you.
Stay safe and enjoy your internships!
– Laura.
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