Work, play and sleep - pick two!

This is the reality for all business school students, especially so at INSEAD where you squeeze in 2 years in 1. Work, play and sleep, you can only pick two of the three - no matter how hard you try.

People who thought taking time off before the MBA, so that their "batteries are charged" before the MBA begins, found themselves sleep-deprived after all the partying in the Orientation week. Whatever reserves of "sleep" you thought you had built up prior to arriving on campus, all but disappears in the first week(s). After all sleep and energy levels do not follow the rules of carry-forward balances as your accounting teacher will like to teach you. So in my opinion you cant do much to prepare yourself on this front for your MBA - its all about what you do once the real grind begins with classes and all.

So what exactly has been happening this last few days? Let me start by saying that my Calendar has never looked so full in a very long time. Classes, Tutorials, Company presentations (and sometimes Networking cocktails afterwards), Career Services presentations, Group meetings, Simulations to participate in, Club meetings, Dinners with friends, Socialising thereafter, and not to mention some Poker in between this all. It has been an intensely active time...and I'm enjoying every minute of it.

All the things I've been doing here are so engaging and fun, I simply can not afford to loose out on these experiences.

So the real question is, how to make the most of your business school / MBA experience by choosing the "right" two of these!?! Is there a mantra which everyone can follow to success? There probably isn't one single solution that fits all, and at the same time there isn't one single solution that fits all situations as well.

You've committed to doing an MBA from your dream school and you've paid thousands of pounds/dollars/euros for the fees, so "work" as in studies is definitely not something you will compromise on (at least you will start with the right intentions :-)) . How about "play" then? Well, all business schools will tell you that networking is the key to success in almost all areas of life, and while at a business school, the best form of networking within the student community is to get together at the various different parties and events. So how much can you really compromise on the "play" front? Not much as it seems.

So do we all agree that "sleep" is the one that won't make the cut? Will sleep get the last priority at a business school? My initial inclination is to say Yes! In the first few weeks, even if you try to hit the road running, you'll feel like even at your best speed you're moving backwards...so who's got the time to "sleep"??? and so it will suffer...a lot! If you're at IMD and you've mastered the art of power-naps (even with the children playing in the next-door room), good for you. For other business school student's where they don't have a choice of taking a power nap or a room to go into, things get a little bit more tiring.

So perhaps the trick is to use your weekends wisely and balance the "play" and "sleep", and during the week balance the "work" and "sleep"!?! That would work, though the week itself isn't bereft of "play" time, so what do you do then? Yes, you got it!

Sleep less and compensate at the end of the term :-) Thats if you're not going to one of the several city-trips with your mates...on the upide though, this will ensure that you start your P2 in the right space of mind => sleep deprived ;-)

Its easier said then done though...so enough of the blabbering...I'm off to bed now...

INSEAD Fontainebleau - What's happened so far?

The MBA got off to a rollicking start with the Orientation week. Lots of parties and a soft start to the year, where you essentially set yourself up logistically and train your mind to get around the whims and fancies of the French regulations and requirements. The sections and groups were ordained (the Harry Potter hat was missing though) and we all got busy spotting our section and group mates. Their was a Club fair where the clubs were presented, and all of us tried to look for our "best fit", filled in the application forms, and if you were "lucky" enough, got invited for interviews. To the right you see a picture of an on-campus party thrown in by the P4s for the P1s - Live DJ, free beer and excellent company...

The week ended with a session of Outward Bound (TM) with the group you are assigned to, where we went into the forest of Fontainebleau and carried out some very fun group exercises. The spider-web was my favourite...

Thanks to Bain (Consulting) we had an excellent kick-off party for the new intake. By 4 in the morning, there were a few that couldn't walk straight anymore - and the Police had established a base right outside the Chateau/Villa where the party was at. Not to worry though - the student council had arranged for buses to carry students from campus to the party and back at periodic intervals, which meant that everyone could let their hair loose and have an excellent party :-) (I won't be posting any photographs so don't ask for them - you have to get yourself to INSEAD to experience that)

Since then though it feels like we went from a lazy swim to extreme diving in a span of a few days. More about that in my next post though...

FYI - a section is about 75 people and a group is about 5 people (all from the same section and seated together) - and this is set for the first 4 months or P1 and P2.