Breaks are Imperative

For the past two and a half days, I've had a friend visiting. From the time I left to pick her up from the Richmond airport on Thursday afternoon until this morning (Sunday) when I pulled out my laptop to work on the cases for tomorrow, I have not done any work for school. I've had conversations that did not revolve around debits, credits, cannibalization ratios and Crystal Ball*. On top of all these perks, it's been great to catch up with someone that I've known for years and get outside of the MBA bubble a little. I have also appreciated sharing my new town and took Mary to TNDC, Arch's, Bodo's Bagels, the Downtown Mall and Shenandoah National Park.

This morning when I sat down to start work on cases again, I felt refreshed. I didn't come to them with the same drudgery which had been building up over the previous weeks. I was actually kind of excited about tackling the new DA (Decision Analysis) case.

So the moral of the story is that breaks are really necessary for survival. I know there are a lot of people who don't think Christmas is all that far away, so they can just slug it out until then. But I think that when we lose our drive and our focus, we miss out on the whole MBA experience. Sometimes the most beneficial thing we can do, in terms of studying and the job search, is to just not do it and go do something else.

Anyway, all that said, I do still have three cases to prep for tomorrow, a resume to finish and an application to fill out... So I will end it here.

*Crystal Ball is a program that works with Excel to predict an expected result for a formula based on providing a range of assumptions for the values of the inputs to that formula. For an overly simplistic example, assume I assign cell A1 to be equal to A2 + A3. While I may think A2 will equal 1 and A3 will equal 3, A2 could be anything from 0 to 4, and A3 will most likely be 3 with a minimum of 2 and maximum of 8. Crystal Ball will then do a series of trials (I usually have it set a 250,000!) to tell you what the average of all the results will be. It also spits out some pretty graphs and gives you some useful reports.

Priorities (And Why an Hour Never Seems to Consist of 60 Minutes, Nor a Day 24 Hours)

It's just after midnight and I am not nestled in my bed. This is probably the last thing I should be doing, but sometimes when your head is filled with thoughts, it's hard to concentrate on anything else. Currently, I am in the process of reviewing company briefings for next week as I try to wrap my head around what else I need to do for tomorrow and debate whether to iron my dress for the Consulting Firm Briefing or just go with a simple skirt and cardigan.

After crashing for a nap on the couch in our office while attempting to read a Technical Note for marketing, I made a really important observation. Eating healthy and going for runs are not optional activities for when I have time, they are vital activities to keep me moving. I haven't felt as tired as I did today since I started maintaining a more healthy lifestyle. Taking a quick inventory of my week made me realize that I haven't been for a run since last Monday, and I'm discovering that cutting the runs because I feel too swamped is not an option.

Priorities are something I've mentioned before, but I can't stress how important every minute is. I am still trying to figure out how I can get out of class at 1:10, but not have a chance to settle down to work on cases until 2:30. I am learning that 5 minute conversations here and there add up to a lot of time spent not working on the things we should be working on.

But what are my priorities? Tonight I took the opportunity to go out with a group of girls from my section and celebrate one girl's birthday. (If you are ever in Charlottesville, I definitely recommend Arch's for frozen yogurt!) Though I could have spent that hour and a half doing all the things I am scrambling to do now, I don't regret it. These two years are an incredible opportunity to get to know some amazing people, and sometimes the best thing you can do when life gets busy is take a step back and laugh together.

So, I guess you refocus, regroup, get some sleep, pick yourself up out of bed the next morning and do it all over again. Sometimes not being perfectly prepared for DA is not as important as getting a decent sleep or doing something that contributes to the lifelong connections built in B-school.

Limited Time and the Importance of Value-Add

The concept of "value-added" is, to me, one of the single most important concepts in business and business strategy. While I spent a significant amount of time analyzing our "value proposition" when I worked for the Company, and have spent time analyzing the same for case studies, I have been finding a new application to the concept here in B-school.

For those not familiar with the terms "value-added" or "value proposition," they are basically the notion that a business has to do something that adds value to its customers. For simple manufacturing companies, the value is straight-forward: they provide a part necessary for the business. Companies can also provide support services that add value, such as just-in-time delivery. Companies should be wary of investing activities that do not add value to their clients. This is probably over-simplistic, but the explanation will serve for the purposes of the rest of this blog.

One thing that I am learning now that life is crazy-busy is the importance of value-added activities. I made the mistake of downloading this addictive little game to my iPhone that I frequently find myself playing. It's a terrible habit since I rarely feel refreshed after playing this game. I am learning that I need to incorporate value-added breaks into my study afternoons: going for a run, reading positive/encouraging emails, writing in my blog, having a good conversation with a friend from home. All of these things refresh me and help me to focus.

With more to do than time to do it, I find the same concept applies to my studies. Often there is more reading/analysis than I can fit in my limited time. I need to be sure to maximize my time by avoiding the "fluff" reading and focusing in on what is really important.

Making Progress

This afternoon, I took a look at my to-do list and realized it isn't feeling so daunting anymore. While there always seems to be a need to spend more time with the people you love, I am happy that I have at least been able to schedule in my good friends and family over the next month. And I finally invited everyone to my big farewell/birthday bash the day before I leave. (Well, you know how it goes, you try and make sure to invite everyone, but you always seem to miss you, so if I missed you, it's July 31 at my parents' place, but please let me know you're coming.)

July is going to be a fun month! Only two weeks left of work, then off to Iowa for a friend's wedding, then my sister is home from Germany for my last week in Edmonton! (And I'm taking off to the mountains for a few days to catch up with one of my other best friends.)

Of course, I'm still trying to sell my car. Please buy it, if you live in Edmonton. I'll give you a good deal, and it's amazing on gas and runs super well.

Time, Where Did You Go?

Yes, two blog posts in one day. (See below for news on the Kindle DX)

This week has completely flown by. When I found out I had gotten into Darden at the end of January, it felt like it was going to take forever to actually get there. I started counting down the number of weeks left at work when there were about 17 left, and after tomorrow, I'm down to 10. And 7 weeks ago just didn't feel that long.

My sisters, who are going to be my road trip buddies for the drive down to C'ville, are already starting to talk about booking their flights home.

Reading the blogs and Twitter posts of current and recently graduated Darden students has made me realize that my time at Darden will fly by. In the meantime, I am still working out some of the big details of going to school. It's hard to believe that in just over a year's time, I'll be starting my internship. I have no idea what the next year holds, but I know that it will be a great adventure, and that it will go by WAY too fast.

For now, it's time to stop and smell the roses that are life in Edmonton. It's time to enjoy having my long-time friends and family close by (well, most of them...), the more relaxed schedule, and the bi-monthly paycheque. :-)