I am now completing the ninth week of my internship, and I wanted to dedicate a blog post to discussing what I've found about what environments and conditions I work best/worst under. These are the main points I've discovered:
1. Moving Around
I need to move around a decent amount. When I'm home I don't often sit down without getting up for more than an hour at a time, so I definitely feel restless if I'm in a work environment where I need to sit in a chair for many consecutive hours. I've been trying to stand up and move around at least a little bit every so often to prevent this, but it's hard to be in a position where the non-dance work is usually contingent on being in front of a computer.
2. Changes of Setting
I don't work well when I'm in the exact same place the whole time. Even being in a different spot within the same room helps to combat this. It's also important for me to have a break from being in the building (usually a lunch break) where I can go outside and see other things. Being at college is nice in that, as a dance major, I change classes and studios pretty frequently. It's a lot more difficult for me to be at a single job that's located in one place for an extended period of time.
3. People
I consider myself to be an introvert, but I've learned that it's important for me to be working with other people. Even if I'm working entirely independently, it helps to have someone else working beside me so I don't feel bored or isolated.
4. Time of Day
Though it's initially an adjustment to get up early, I prefer that over working late. I don't mind being in dance rehearsals late at night, but I wouldn't want to do stationary work past around 5pm.
5. Communication Outside of Work
I'm not someone who enjoys staying in constant communication with anyone, and I routinely like to take time away from my phone. That being said, it's important to me to be in a position where I'm not contacted outside of work hours. Work outside of work is unfortunately incredibly prevalent with the expansion of technology, but it's extremely bothersome to me (and can become unethical in a position with an hourly salary). A lot of people accept it as a reality of contemporary society, but I don't ever want to hold a position that's dependent on it.
These my main findings, and it's been useful to become more aware of them this summer.
Hello, my name is Zoë Greggs, and I found your post to be really interesting. What other avenues besides dance have you considered for future employment? You make a direct connection between dance and the restlessness you feel staying stationary. Has this internship narrowed your future interests in any way?
ReplyDeleteHi Zoe,
ReplyDeleteThank you for reading my post! This summer has definitely made me consider what other avenues I have for future employment, especially since I've realized that full time employment in modern/contemporary dance is rarer than you would believe, and most dancers seem to piece together different jobs with their primary income coming from outside of dance. I now understand why so many dancers are fitness instructors or teach dance to some capacity; it is a smart way to supplement income (usually with decent flexibility in hours), offers you the ability to stay in shape in some capacity, and combats the stationary nature of a desk job. Unfortunately, I don't feel that I'm naturally inclined to teaching dance or fitness, so I don't see myself easily pursing that kind of work.
I don't have a great overall answer to your question right now, but I'm working on coming up with options for myself. Let me know if you have any thoughts.
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