[usakos]

It's very hard for me to balance school and maintaining a business at the same time.

That's probably why most entrepreneurs that i know or have read in books who were in school why running their businesses at the same time have taken of sabbatical to focus on their businesses.

I have been struggling with managing my study, business and at home life, and I haven't been doing good in my exams, because I simply didn't study that much, let alone, I rarely buy text books. Class participation I am always A, and most of my class mates probably think that I am an all A student, but I am not. I've got things to do, business, outside the classroom.

And, amazingly this quarter I attended all my classes without buying or using any of the required text books, and I can't believe it, I got B's.

If you are still or were a student while operating a business at the same time, how hard is/was it and how do/did you manage to balance both at the same time?

[ADVERTISE HERE!]

I'm in the same boat. Between law school and trying to put the final touches on a book for publication, I can't seem to find the 36 hours in each day that I need to get everything done.

[printchemist]

I feel you. Ive been trying so hard to balance the two but its so difficult! im slowly taking less and less classes. I dont want to quit school but its so difficult and im not dedicated to it right now.

[thumpsky]

school is ghey

[JMI]

While I've yet to own my first real legitimate business, I can tell you that going to school and working full-time is very hectic. I was going to school from 8 am - 2:45 pm then going to work, working my own hours off commission, right after, getting home at like 10 - 10:30pm. It makes for very long days, and I've found that prioritizing is essential.

I am now fitting in going to the gym at least 3 days a week (it's nothing like my old 6 day per week regiment, however, with swim 5 days a week in school, it works). Thankfully as a senior with blowoff classes I don't really have much homework at all, and I haven't done homework outside of school except maybe two or three times this year.

However, back to the point, I've realized one thing. If I didn't like my job, I'd have flipped a nut by now and gone crazy because of stress. I would like to emphasize the key point that you MUST enjoy what you do to fulfill your true potential, because if you regret work and dislike going to work, you are never going to be able to put in the full 110% required to succeed more than the next person.

That applies to all employees, employers, and entrepreneurs. Life is long enough to make all the money in the world, but short enough to be unable to enjoy it along the way. If you plan on working for decades to prepare the perfect retirement, your plan is by default flawed. At least in my opinion.

Anyways, thats my two cents. Enjoy life while the opportunity exists.

[pboychuk]

Just set your priorities, let what you enjoy doing lead you.. For me school doesnt really give me huge amounts of benefit so I can afford to slack off a little and as i did this semester drop two classes to focus on business.. I no longer need to make straight As b/c im not trying to get into medical school so i realize as long as i put in a little bit of work I will get my degree learn some stuff, but not limit my business potential too much.. Another thing you need to consider is do you plan on using your degree to get a job, and if so what is that job, because i could probably guess that real life job will be much harder to balance than college, unless you are fascinated with studying all day long

[usakos]

i love school and i plan on going until i get my Ph.d in economics, i value school more than work but i have to make a living, and i love doing my work; it's just really hard to balance life, school, and work... Wil (Go Big), Page and Company (PhD) (Google), Yang and Company (PhD) (YHOO), Mark (Facebook), Bill (MSFT), etc., they just couldn't stick with going to school and focused on their startups, and look where they are now.

Can that still happen? But I'll stick to school no matter what, for now.

[ADVERTISE HERE!]

Mind me asking why you want that PhD in Economics?

[JLeezer]

So, I don't go to school (graduated already, thankfully), but I do have a full time job, two duplexes to handle, and my own business. I spend about 9 hours per day with my job (including commute), a varying amount of time per month on the duplexes, and about 6 hours per day on my business. I also try to squeeze in about 1-2 hours at the gym 4-5 times per week. Let me tell you, it is quite tiring.

I think I've been on about 5-6 hours of sleep for as long as I can remember...except weekends, sometimes I get 7-8 hours of sleep.

[usakos]

Originally Posted by jmenq2

Mind me asking why you want that PhD in Economics?

I have big dreams; mostly for my own research work, and I want as I grow older, way older, I'd like to teach college some day, somewhere, not for money, but to share the little knowledge I know, but it's mostly for my own research and work related. Plus, I don't like doing things half way. I like going all the way.

Stanford, Columbia, Oxford, and The London School of Economics seem to be my ideal PhD schools.

[adam_haroun]

Hey guys!

I can totally relate to you guys - as a high school senior soon to be entering university and taking on all the responsibilities that come with it...I can only dread how busy my schedule is about to get!

To me, it's all about PRIORITIZING (like a lot of you have mentioned) and LEVERAGE.

For those of you who run online businesses, we have the luxury of being able to "set-it-and-forget-it" when it comes to many of our day-to-day functions!

For those of us who don't - my best advice would be to MANAGE TIME and make use of EVERY MOMENT!

Study on a bus ride to/from school, make business calls while stuck in traffic, and most importantly - GET A DAY PLANNER! It might seem kind of a "duh" type of purchase, and kind of old school...but it REALLY makes the difference when you have your entire day neatly laid out in front of you!

And remember guys...where there's a will - THERES A WAY !

I truly believe that we CAN be successful students and successful entrepreneurs at the same time - it just takes commitment, creativity, and CAFFEINE !

[CollegeEntrepreneur]

I know exactly how you feel. I just wrote about this over at my site. Bas