Getting into a top MBA program isn’t a simple feat, and the challenge doesn’t stop with admissions. After starting the program, MBAs are faced with a myriad of difficulties including the seemingly impossible challenge of balancing school, work and life.
For Aleena Karamally, an MBA student at the Rady School of Managment at UC San Diego, surviving her MBA program has taken “an abundance of ambition, drive and determination to tackle papers, projects and readings.” To help other MBAs in a similar position, she wrote a blog on the Rady website offering five tips for finding balance.
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Create a Support Network
According to Karamally, choosing to pursue an MBA isn’t a solitary decision. It won’t just affect you, but it will also affect the lives of your loved ones. An MBA is a huge time and financial commitment and if you don’t ensure that you have your family and employer’s support before committing to the program, you can find yourself in a world of trouble trying to find balance.
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Schedule Time for Everything
The only way to find balance is to schedule the necessary time for everything you need to handle. Karamally suggests that you allocate hours to every relevant category of your life to “help you stay on track and to force you to get your work done instead of procrastinating.” She says that you can make time for studies and for your loved ones, equally.
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Balance Course Difficulty
To ensure that you don’t get stuck spending to much time on your studies, Karamally recommends balancing the challenging courses you take each semester. To do this, talk to your professors beforehand to get an idea of what’s expected in the course and then, take a mix of heavy and light time-commitment classes for a better work, school and life balance.
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Make Healthy Lifestyle Choices
You can manage stress through healthy lifestyle choices, according to Karamally. She recommends studying outside and taking breaks to exercise. She reminds MBAs that San Diego is a beautiful city with lots to enjoy.
“Take a run on the beach, a stroll through the city, a swim in the ocean or a hike in the mountains.”
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Be Honest with Your Limitations
No matter how well you try to balance your life, don’t expect everything to work out and be perfect. Don’t be afraid to say “no” to extra work or to request extensions when life gets away from you. The more open and honest you are about your time commitments, the better you’ll be able to handle your MBA career.