When my friend suggested I take MBA classes while establishing my own startup, I thought he was crazy. Completing just one of those tasks is daunting enough on its own. I worked just enough to get myself through my undergraduate, but being an entrepreneur is no part-time job.
But your education isn’t something you can necessarily put on the back burner. So how does one balance both education and entrepreneurship? Is it even possible?
I wasn’t too optimistic. I felt that if I really wanted to pursue an MBA, I’d have to put my startup on hold, or vice versa. As I looked into it and researched my possibilities, I learned a few tough lessons. Tough, but hopeful. If you’re like me, and you’re trying to figure out how to balance everything successfully without losing your mind, keep these things in mind.
Prioritize prioritize prioritize!
We get it; you want it all. The successful business, the perfect GPA, and while we’re at it, why not throw a social life in there? Entrepreneurs are nothing if not overachievers.
However much you’re trying to juggle in your life, ask yourself this question: how does this guide me to my goal?
Sean Covey, co-author of 4 Disciplines of Execution, explains in his book that when we forget about our long-term goals, we get caught in a sort of “whirlwind.” It’s easy to get caught up when we feel overwhelmed present and momentary tasks. When we keep our long-term goals in mind, (Covey refers to them as “wildly important goals”) it’s easier to remember what truly matters and why we’re doing everything that we’re doing.
Ask yourself where this task will get you, why you’re doing it, and if it’s the most important thing in helping you get where you want to be. Maybe contacting that potential client of yours is more important than achieving the perfect 4.0. Or maybe it isn’t! Set your own goals and figure out what it’ll take to get there.
Organize a schedule for yourself
OK, maybe this is just a given for you. But it definitely wasn’t for me. I often get overwhelmed with everything I have to do and 24 hours in a day is just never enough time. (Tip: cherish those 8 hours you have to sleep every night. Do your best not to cut into those hours with other responsibilities. Lack of sleep = lack of success.)
Schedule your time throughout the week that you can devote specifically to one thing at a time: Maybe Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays you devote to class and studying and the other days you can focus on your business. Or maybe you need to break up each day and hour more specifically. Sometimes you might find your days so busy that you struggle to find 15 minutes to get a meal in. But find that time! Scheduling it ahead of time can make it so much easier when the time comes. And even if you’re just as busy with the schedule, you’re less likely to want to pull your hair out when you’ve given yourself time to focus on just a few things at a time – rather than tackling everything at once.
We’ve all been there: success takes blood, sweat, tears, determination, sacrifice, and a whole lot of passion. Perhaps that passion is the most crucial characteristic of a successful entrepreneur. So if you’ve got that, tackling entrepreneurship and an education simultaneously will all be worth it.
The idea of pursuing an MBA while organizing my startup is still daunting, don’t get me wrong. But I’m a little more optimistic, now. If you’ve got the passion, everything else will fall into place.
by: Emily Brady
Emily Brady received her Bachelors at Brigham Young University Idaho where she majored in Communication Sciences with an emphasis in journalism and professional management. She has written for Scroll News and Deseret Digital Media and is currently a freelance writer. In her free time she enjoys hiking, reading and swinging in her hammock.
