How To Handle Your MBA Dream Alongside An Extremely Demanding Job

III) MBA

These were the lines by his boss that acted as a profound confidence dampener for Naveen during his quest to establish a start-up in the much-acclaimed Web-Show 'Pitchers'. Though it is truly a hard decision and though we did rejoice when Naveen came back to his idea of continuing with his start-up, the true test actually is what follows this choice - 'The preparation to achieve the Dream'. And though in the series this gruesome struggle has been shown to great details but the fundamental difference some of us will have with the show is that we will be doing this preparation alongside our job and it is these people who are my target audience for this article and to whom I would like to contribute some insights to handle this stress.

Let me be straightforward, it is not going to be easy, but nothing worth achieving comes easily does it? The main stress would be to live up to the expectation of the project members who are obviously oblivious of your dream of MBA and the effort you are giving towards it and would expect you to give your 100% be it in a morning meeting or a late night call, and you being unable to give the REAL reason behind the failure to do something and would have to swallow it all up. If not handled correctly you will see  the status/respect you had gained though you consistent performance go down the drain, Constant criticism, there might be even days you might wonder if this is truly worth it and should you give up this dream of yours which is draining all your time and hard work and giving you no immediate positive returns. Be it an IT Professional working in a 24/7 shift production project to a mechanical graduate handling his field job, a time will surely  come when you will be tempted by the age old saying 'A bird in hand is worth two in bush', But I would like to point out to you budding aspirants that no great deed was achieved by playing it safe and the person who wrote the previous proverb surely failed to account for this. Being in a fledgling Development project I had faced the same pressure as some of you are now facing starting from meeting that I had to attend on onsite times at morning 8 to whole night office stay on delivery days, But though I went through all the problems that I stated earlier there were some rules that I made for myself that helped me immensely to handle both the lives together and score fairly well in CAT and also maintain my efficiency and status in office. Let me share them with you.

I) Share it with the team member you are most close with:

Although this might seem quite unnecessary at first but believe me this will do wonders in the most horrible days, on days when you have to mandatorily take leave from office due to an interview or in some cases just as a stress buster. This is of course under the condition you have a person close enough like that. Because no matter how much they mean or try to help you neither your parents nor your closest friend can really understand your pressures of work and the problems therein. Such a workplace friend will work not only as a cover for you but also an effective means of which you will be able to assess how you are able to handle the work side of things

II) Create Macro-Targets for QA and VA

If you are one of the early birds(starting around 10 months to 1year before the exam) and plan to first study from a book/Classroom coaching before moving onto the tests and assignments this tip is for you. Go to the index section of the books with all the chapter listed along with the subsections. Mark a bunch of consecutive chapters and put a start month and an end month to it(Do this practically taking some buffer time into account) and make sure that the ultimate end month does not come near to the actual exam date and has at least 3 months in between. If you are unable to manage, leave 2-3 chapters that are unimportant. This will give you an overall schedule and will help you to adjust with your work schedule

III) Create micro-Targets

This should be done in the last 4-5 months when the macro-targets are almost complete. Set target for each day for 6 days in a week(the 1 day is to account for some day that you might not be able to fulfil the target due to horrendous work pressure like an all-nighter) and complete the targets meticulously. This targets should be made at the beginning of each work day when you will get an approximate idea of the workload you have for that day and also keeping in mind the target you completed yesterday and what all is left. This might range from a chapter in DILR to a set of comprehensions and para-jumbles in VA. Do not try to be in the comfort zone and keep increasing your micro-targets every day so that you can gain the maximum benefit out of it. There will be days when your mind will say that we have done enough this week, Let's enjoy today. Do not give into that as it will only increase the frequency of tests. On the days you are truly unable to learn something new, u are completely burnt out, Try giving a sectional test of 1 hours on a specific section.  This will keep your mind on track and also give you the much-earned rest

IV) Do not study in office hours on a busy office day

Remember you have to handle both the worlds carefully and not just the MBA. Studying during a busy office day will only result in you being inefficient in both of them. Better finish the work early, come back home and study. You might change this a bit and put some study in your office timings during your interview phase but never during the exam phase.

V) Find a mentor who faced the same issue

This is an added benefit and can compliment the workplace friend mentioned in Point 1 very well. Learn from him how he coped with the pressure and the schedule he put up for himself along with the general queries of good colleges and all. But not all might get their hands on such a mentor, for all those friends you have this article ;)

VI) Attend all the seminars by the institution leaders

This is very important. By institution leaders I mean the founders of institutions like Career Launcher, T.I.M.E .You cannot believe the wonders a 4 hours seminar by one of them can do for you. I genuinely feel that my QA Marks increased by at least 12 due to me attending one of Gautam Puri's Seminar. Make it absolute mandatory to attend them, take leave from office by any means possible, fall sick, make family member fall sick, do anything but get that leave and ATTEND IT.

VII) Do not take the weekend classes

As this is a no brainer I decided to put it late. Never attend the weekday's classes for the Institute you will be training in, no matter how much you think you may be able to manage with your work timings because you won't and will definitely end up missing classes. Take the weekend ones. Work a few weekends now so that you can enjoy the weekends later (Typical Family dialogue)

VIII) Persevere Persevere Persevere

This is unavoidable and basic. You need it more because unlike the ones not in jobs or in a less stressful one, you will have to persevere through all the rough waves that come with keeping your legs on two boats at once. Sometimes you might be stretched too thin, and it is ok but always remember to pull yourself back so that you can sail along to your destination. Do not let the false security of having a backup as a job make you complacent as a life lived without fulfilling a dream is not worth a life worth living. And the best part is if you are true to yourself in your efforts even an unsuccessful result will not hurt much because you know you did your best and would only spur you towards the next run.

I will finish off with a scenario. Think of a lazy afternoon 6-7 years from now a man sitting on a bus going home from the same old 10-5 job, with same old expectations, minimal or non-existent promotions, the haggling for an extra 1 % in the hike and somewhere a deep and heart-wrenching feeling that it might have been better, only if u had studied those extra 2 hours, if I had analysed my mocks a little better, if I had not given up. Do you want to be that man? NO? Then start today and shed all other doubts? Do you see yourself in this company 5 years from now? Do you feel you have any future if you continue as you are working now? Does that future meet your expectations? Could you put that as an example to your kids? NO? Then START TODAY.

And remember if you pick up your sleeves and start swimming, no matter how many difficulties your work-life throws at you, You WILL reach the ISLAND WHERE THE MAGIC HAPPENS or in your case the INSTITUTE.

BEST OF LUCK

 

About the author:

"Sabyasachi started his MBA journey the day he was posted back to his home city temporarily and knew he had to make the most out of this to achieve his dream. Now he is off to IIM Shillong and hopes to live that dream.In his free time he loves to hang out with his friends,try out new restaurants,read mythological books and take photographs.