How You Can Balance a Full-Time Job with Executive MBA Courses

Putting aside the time to return to school and obtain an executive education in business can provide a helpful boost to your career. An executive MBA degree can provide you with skills and knowledge that enable you to move onwards to the next step in your professional life. But first, you must be able to put aside the time to properly take care of your studies.

For professionals already immersed in their careers, the concept of balancing their work with study can present challenges. It is no easy feat to attend school while maintaining a career. Nonetheless, it can be done with sufficient preparation, technique, and commitment. Effectively maintaining a work-school balance can prepare you for facilitating a proper work-life balance after your education has ended. The ability to prioritize, schedule, and time-manage are all important skills that will be beneficial for your overall professional development. Read on to learn how you can achieve this balance.

Practice Effective Time-Management

It is impossible to maintain a work-school balance without fostering excellent time-management skills. This is an important soft skill that will assist you in all areas of your life, not just when attempting to balance work and school. There are numerous facets that make up this skill. One important lesson to learn is to prioritize effectively. When assessing your to-do list for the future, you must decide which components are most important, and which can be put aside for another time.

Effective time management will help you avoid procrastination. Humans become very tempted to procrastinate when overwhelmed with a full load of tasks. Organizing your tasks and figuring out how to allocate time to each of them will help you stay away from procrastination. To improve your ability to manage the time you have adeptly, be prepared to give up certain elements of your lifestyle. Television-watching, certain hobbies, and other activities of relative unimportance can be sacrificed in the short term to improve your ability to manage your time. However, ensure that important tasks like deep sleep and self-care aren’t ignored, as doing so could lead to burnout.  

Lean into Helpful Technology

The challenge of effective time management is a society-wide problem, not just specific to students of Executive MBA courses. Luckily, there are many technological aids that can help you achieve sufficient balance between work and school. Don’t hesitate to lean into these applications, which can help you become more organized and manage your time more effectively.

Scheduling apps can assist you in keeping track of necessary reminders and appointments. Virtual to-do lists can help you prioritize and map out your tasks over a set period. Pomodoro apps can also help you to stay focused, a necessity for maintaining balance and making the most of your time. These apps will help you stay focused for a short period of time, usually 15 minutes long, disabling other features on your phone or computer so that you don’t get distracted until the timer’s up.

Inform Colleagues of Your Intention to Obtain an EMBA Degree

While pursuing an Executive MBA, informing colleagues in a timely manner can help you balance work responsibilities with school. Discussions should be opened with managers as well as with colleagues about your intention to return to school as soon as possible. Typically, employers will be excited to hear about their employees’ education plans.

Gaining support from others at your company is critical and can ease the weight of your priorities. Keep them updated on key periods, such as when exams are running, so that they’re aware that you have other things to focus on. On occasion, these team members may have to bear some of the extra work caused by your education. In case this arises, it’s good to get them on board with your plans at an early stage, so they know what to expect.

Do you want to enroll in an EMBA degree?

Contact WU Executive Academy for more information.