Productivity Hacks for the MBA Student

It’s a challenge all MBA students face: There is so much to do in so little time.

When you begin Maryland Smith’s rigorous full-time MBA program, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. But as your first year progresses, you’ll find that you learn a few tricks, you hit a certain stride, and you begin to develop productivity hacks that help you become more efficient with the time you have.

Here are a few productivity hacks I’ve developed throughout my MBA journey:

Make a ‘to-do’ list: Every morning, make a list of the things you want to get accomplished that day, ranking them based on priority. Making a list has two important benefits: it allows you to organize yourself and to understand what is truly important and what is not. If you do the top three items on your list, you likely will have accomplished 80% of the "worthwhile" tasks for that day.

Set a time limit: When working on an assignment, set yourself a time limit and follow through on your commitment. Tell yourself, “I will finish this essay by 3 p.m.” Or, make a time estimation: “This assignment should take only 45 minutes.” By setting self-induced limits, you will work efficiently and be less inclined to become side-tracked with other things.

Learn to say no: This can be hard, but resist allowing others to influence you to do things that you hadn’t intended to do. There is never enough time to do everything. Fear-of-missing-out (FOMO) is real, but you can conquer that risk by remembering what’s most important to you and doing those things first. Hedge fund manager James Altucher does a great job of explaining this magical word in his book, The Power of No.

Take advantage of your commute:

If you drive, use that commuting time to listen to audiobooks, podcasts or NPR. If you are taking the metro, use the time to read those additional materials for class or plan out your day. Used well, your commuting time can be productive.

Sleep: Benjamin Franklin is credited with saying, “Early to sleep, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.” Don’t skimp on sleep. Sleep deprivation can lead people to be far less effective than they otherwise could be. Face it – it’s hard to think clearly when you’ve only slept four hours the night before. When you go to bed, don’t surf on your phone, don’t watch TV. Just relax, take a deep breath and close your eyes.

-By Ashraf Khan. Khan is a 2020 MBA candidate and Dean's Fellow at Maryland Smith. He is originally from Potomac, Md., and worked as a civil engineer in the Washington, D.C., area prior to pursuing an MBA with a concentration in marketing.