Balancing study/life during a MBA

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In addition to these school-focused activities, you will want to spend time connecting with family and friends, engaging in personal hobbies, and perhaps exploring a new city, where you've relocated for school.

Creating balance

To gain the most of your experience, you will obviously have to prioritise and here are a few tips to help you:

• The Job Search - Narrowing your area of interest and intended career path, as soon as possible, can help reduce the hours on job search related tasks. Consider those things that can be done simultaneously.
  
• Socialising - Consider finding classmates interested in the same hobby as you so that you can meet new people and have fun at the same time.
  
• Identify the most important subjects - Professors might not like this tip but you can determine which classes are most important and devote slightly less time and energy into those that are not as critical to your short-term career goal.
  
• Balancing family - Another great tip is to manage the expectations of your friends and family. You can communicate to them prior to business school that your schedule is unpredictable but that you will work diligently to gain normalcy. Once you are settled into somewhat of a routine, you can manage staying in touch as desired.

For more advice on a study/life balance and to have MBA-related questions answered, visit The MBA Tour Johannesburg on 13 October 2015 at the Protea Hotel Balalaika. Registration is free at http://www.thembatour.com/events/johannesburg.html.