It has been almost 6 months here, at SIBM Pune, living the fun, hectic (whichever side of the coin one would want to acknowledge) MBA life. Life runs at 3X here, without any subtitles! There is so much to absorb, it is surprising how much can be accomplished in 24 hours. That is probably what MBA is all about. Sans the management studies, MBA teaches you how to respect time and life. Get ready for some serious introspection, retrospection and a drastic increase in yourself and world awareness in MBA.
Among the numerous teachings and learning during classes, guest lectures and in general, from life, I will pen down the three that influenced me the most.
The ‘One Hour Plan’
While going to sleep at night or right after waking up in the morning, we tend to draw the entire day’s plan in our mind. Fair warning! That doesn’t work here. It’s a ‘VUCA world’, as all the corporate guests who visit our college, inform us. VUCA stands for Vulnerability, Uncertainty, Complexity, and the word I’m trying to point out AMBIGUITY. Life throws assignments, assessments, competitions, sessions, challenges, even parties, anytime any day, sending your prior routine for a toss. In the world of routines and to-do lists, I discovered a secret of managing time in all the hustle. The ‘One Hour Plan’. The idea is to plan, not for the entire day, but just the next one hour of your life. The next one hour is probably the only time in the future you are certain about. So why not plan to be your most productive for just the next 1 hour. This has been one of the biggest reveals in my newly acquainted MBA life. Small steps are the secret to managing time well.
Start with Why
This was something we were told during a guest lecture and I wondered why I wasn’t introduced to this before. It’s Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle. I would suggest everyone watch the video. It tells how most of us approach a problem in the sequence ‘what-how-why’ where we should be starting with the WHY. Most of us know what we have to do. And soon enough we find out how to do it. But very few of us know why we are actually doing it. This, right here, differentiates between leader organizations and the common. Know why you are doing something first. Once you are clear in your vision, only then go about how to do it or what to do to accomplish it. Your what and how inevitably becomes much easier once you are clear with your why. As an exercise, I would suggest all MBA aspirants apply the ‘why-how-what’ sequence in their MBA preparation. Start with why MBA and once you have an answer, you are halfway there.
The Essentials
My last, and probably the most important learning would be the apparently common, but most often ignored advice “Health comes first”. With multiple deadlines and group tasks, all overlapping in your daily schedule, one might want to give up on sleep or meals. Learning: Never do it. All the hard work you are putting in, into assignments and competitions, will go in vain if your body gives up. So eat, sleep, exercise, walk, play and stay fit. SIBM is a vast and beautiful campus that gives everything to stay fit and fresh. At the end of the day, food and sleep will keep you going and everything else comes secondary.
There is so much more to write, but maybe for the next time. Let some stay as a surprise. Life unfolds beautifully here, and it’s not always what you’d expected!
About the writer: Ishita Banerjee is a first year marketing student at SIBM, Pune. After working on things for 24 hours a day, she sometimes likes to sleep (even in lectures!)