things my internship has taught me about adulting

I made it through the first two weeks, and I'm basically running the place.

I jest.

But I was surprised about how many little tidbits I have picked up on regarding being a real-live adult from my short reign time at Deseret Book.

Sitting at a Desk for 8+ Hours
It's HARD. whinewhinewhinewhinewhine. By the end of the day, I am SO stir crazy and restless that it's not even funny. Let me tell you, the human spirit (and body, for that matter) was not made to sit in a cubicle for hours on end. Yet that's what most of us do...interesting. Anyway, I welcome the (albeit short) walk to the Trax stop and then from the Trax to the FrontRunner when it's time to go home. It's like heaven.

Also, unless you have ballerina-perfect posture (which I most certainly do not), you'd better believe that your back, neck, and shoulders will be tense and sore by the end of the day. Especially when you're an editor and have a tendency to hunch as low as possible over the manuscript you're working on.

Lunch Breaks
Surprisingly, the thing that usually drives me to take my lunch break is NOT hunger—it's restlessness. Lunchtime means that I can go walk around and get some blood pumping through my veins. After spending so much time on my tush, I prefer to spend more of my break taking a lap or two around Temple Square or just wandering Downtown SLC. Food is an afterthought. Because food is available at my desk. Walking around is not.

Isolation
I work alone. Like completely alone. There are two desks right next to mine (one that is actually attached to mine and isn't even a separate cubicle) that are completely empty. So I pretty much go hours and hours at a time without any sort of human contact. And that's strange. IT can be kind of lonely, really, because  no longer have work friends. I'm sure that it's not like that for all adults in offices, but given that I'm an intern who is at least five years younger than the next youngest employee (who in turn is 10+ years younger than the majority of the team), I'm kind of the odd man out. All my coworkers are married, most have kids, and some even have grandkids. They've all been working in the professional world for years now, and I'm just getting my feet wet. So, yeah, it can be kind of lonely. But it's worth it. Having few distractions has taught me a lot about how to be more focused and to have a more self-driven work ethic, which are both lessons that I know will come in handy in any job I ever have in the future.

Heavy Lifting
Anybody who says that office work is never physically taxing has obviously never worked as an editor at a publishing company. Just in the two weeks I've worked here, I've had to lug around two copies of a ridiculously large manuscript TWICE. We're talking 1,770 pages here. I mean, I know I'm a weakling and all, but that's pretty dang hefty.

Consistency
Despite all the changes in my life lately, I've found that transitioning into adulting hasn't been as much of a slap in the face as I was expecting. I'm still me. I still edit. I still have the urge to crawl under my desk and take a quick nap in the early afternoon. (Don't worry: I've never given in to that urge.) I still relish the opportunity to make lists or charts or color code things. It's still kind of weird, but I think I may be cut out for this adulting thing after all. Just give me a little more time.