Economics and accounting completed

Having completed my first two units in my MBA along with the two units I was granted through advanced standing, I am asking myself why did I sign up for this? How could I inflict such pain on myself? My life is currently miserable - that much is sure. Every evening getting home from work to start reading and writing up case studies and assignments. I had two shorter online essays to research and write per week for Economic Principles and Decision Making and a larger case study due every fortnight plus online discussions and responses related to the topic.

  
My second selected unit is Accounting for Leaders; this is where I fell apart as I couldn't keep up with the course load for two units and work full time. This unit required a major assignment every fortnight and a weekly short essay related to the module with discussion and responses. There is a fair amount of effort required for a single unit; two units are too much for me. I found I stumbled through the unit, now I am going to revisit accounting to over-learn this important skill.

I found my life just could not just be placed on hold and grind to a stop; I would head down to the shops to purchase groceries and would be rushing just to get back as I was eating into vital study time, no going out for dinner, no drinks out anymore and no entertainment. 

Even when the mail came in, the time required to pay bills was put on hold. This is really unsustainable, I was unable to sleep from the stress, extreme tiredness and fatigue. I couldn't recall some of my posts and discussions - this is an unhealthy situation I need to rectify. I think of Jackson Browne's excellent lyrics on Running on empty, that's how I felt during my first trimester - never again will I undertake two units simultaneously.

I feel I am not learning what I am supposed to learn because I am so overloaded; I am really feeling the stress from being bombarded with so many concepts and information in such a short period. Whilst I am getting through the assignments, I really need to focus on the key concepts to embed the learning. What I don't need is to accelerate the program, placing minimal time limits on learning is a poor strategy that can only increase my personal stress.

I have decided to concentrate on only one unit per trimester in order to embed learning; after all, I am not seeking merely a certificate to hang on the wall. I wist to attain a deep and through current theoretical and practical knowledge to increase my employment opportunities; so I am willing to add another year of study to ensure I have a deep understanding of the subject matter. It is going to cost more, this will increase the cost of the advanced degree - so be it. I am seeking a return on investment and if it extends my ROI by a further year, I am willing to belatedly accept that.

The MBA experience is to build leadership capabilities with a through grounding in the technical and analytic aspects of business management. Apparently the transfer of knowledge is an intensive and lifestyle destroying process that I am finding is less than a positive experience. I must ensure I really gain a lifestyle advantage from the lifestyle I am currently forgoing in order to improve future employment opportunities. 

For my next unit, I will undertake Managing Finance, focusing on the utilisation of financial data for internal decision making processes to address strategies to anticipate alternatives and evaluate advantages and disadvantages of each decision. Topics involve the cost of capital, risk management, capital budgeting, capital structure, enterprise evaluation and payout policies. 

I was applying for jobs despite not yet completing the course, this burnt up precious study time. This is the worst job market since 1991; this was not the greatest time to seek a change of career, still, the process has begun and eight units left to complete.