Fitting your Masters degree around your life

MBA Finance student, Ayan, shares how he balances studying for his Masters around his everyday life, and how it might work for you too.

Embracing the Journey: Mastering the MBA in Finance

It's just the beginning of my Masters degree and I have already started enjoying it. I currently study a Master of Business Administration in Finance, with modules in marketing and social media marketing. 

Organising Your Time: A Strategic Approach

The modules do require a little bit of attention but if you plan everything accordingly, nothing is going to bother you. I have distributed my entire schedule for a week to each specific day. I have allotted a few days for attending lectures for my modules, a few days for my part-time work, and the rest for self-study and my own wellbeing.

Prioritising Tasks: The Key to Efficient Workflow

It may be that your entire schedule plan will be disrupted by one heavy task. This task may eat up a big amount of time that you saved for some other work. In all these scenarios, your presence of mind is tested by how quickly you rearrange your task list. Planning your schedule and executing it perfectly is the only way forward.

When you have several tasks on your list and you are not sure about which one to start, proceed with prioritising these. If I have to submit my assignment for which the deadline is near, I always finish my assignment first and then proceed with any other task. Anything related to studies should never be compromised with other stuff I think my first priority is my degree.

Balancing Act: Nurturing Your Wellbeing alongside Academics

Along with the studies, time for our own wellbeing is very important. Our productivity is the outcome of our physical and mental health. Keep your diet healthy and exercise every day for at least 20 minutes to stay physically fit. Make connections with peers and engage yourself in various activities to keep yourself mentally active.

Part-Time Work: Integrating Practical Experience with Education

The most important aspect of this journey is part-time work alongside your degree. I personally recommend my peers to find work related to their course. I am pursuing a Master in Business Administration in Finance, with modules in marketing, so from the very beginning I decided to find a job only in areas either in marketing or finances or something related to business. When you do this, you get the practical knowledge of your course apart from the theoretical aspect. The work doesn't feel like a burden and the best outcome of this is you gain a lot of experience and knowledge even before introducing yourself into the actual industry. When it comes to career and employability in the future, it may allow you to shortlist yourself from a large number of applicants.