Hello high-achiever! If you’re reading this, I want to let you in on a little secret.
The world loves to sell us on a seductive lie: You can have it all. You can be the CEO founder of a Unicorn startup, run 2 marathons per year, have endless time for friends and hobbies, and raise a beautiful family all at once. You just need the right systems! The right time management tools! Enough discipline!
The MBA application process only serves to reinforce this delusion. Applicants craft perfect narratives where they are all stars in every aspect of their lives. And it works! It gets you in! Just like that, the message becomes very clear: impressive people do it all, all at once, without breaking.
Here’s what no one tells you. Your mind and body have finite limits. When you overdo everything, you trigger sustained stress responses that lead to burnout.
The Science: Why Doing it All Leads to Burnout
Here’s the direct link between trying to do everything and burning out: Your brain has a limited working memory capacity. When you’re constantly switching between different domains (i.e. work project to workout to relationship conversation to networking event), your brain pays what researchers call a “cognitive switching cost.” Studies show this can consume up to 40% of your productive time because your brain has to “reload” the context each time you switch.
This isn’t about poor time management, as you might expect. When you’re coordinating more elements than your working memory can handle, this generates cognitive overload. And here’s where it gets serious: cognitive overload is the immediate precursor to burnout.
What happens when you hit that point? Research shows burnout diminishes cognitive performance across the board. Your executive functions (the brain systems responsible for planning, switching between tasks, and coordinating different activities) start to fail. At that point, you have to exert more effort just to achieve normal performance levels.
The physical impacts are also measurable. Studies show that people with burnout have enlarged amygdalae (your brain’s alarm system) and thinning in the prefrontal cortex (your decision-making center). Your brain’s alarm keeps blaring for every little thing, while the systems meant to counteract it with logic and coping mechanisms are weakened.
The result? Your memory worsens, you’re exhausted, and your ability to make good decisions plummets. Then you hit the true paradox: the more you try to do, the worse you get at doing any of it.
This is why the “do it all” approach is so dangerous. It literally impedes your brain and can make you completely paralyzed and miserable in your daily life.
Burning out in B-School
Unfortunately, this problem can become exacerbated once you actually get into your dream school. The FOMO is real, and there are so many constant, overlapping pressures on your time. You need to be a good student, attend networking events, join clubs, recruit for your dream job, and try to have a social life.
This is a recipe for burnout. I recently sat down for a chat with a former client, Beca Sousa, who experienced massive, life-defining burnout while pursuing her MBA at Berkeley Haas. She struggled with the feeling that everyone else was doing more than her, and it nearly ruined her MBA experience. (The story has a happy ending, though! Watch here.)
Set Yourself Free
The reality is that you don’t have to do it all. You were never meant to! The whole “you have as many hours in a day as Beyoncé” trope is outdated and even a bit harmful.
Having talked with so many former clients who have reached amazing heights, I’ve seen that the most successful people aren’t trying to be exceptional at everything all the time. They set a few key priorities that matter right now and ruthlessly say no to anything that doesn’t align with those priorities.
Maybe one semester you’re going to go all in on recruiting for your dream job, and your GPA might drop a bit. That’s a tradeoff, and it’s just fine. The next semester, you might prioritize sleep and a few classes you’re really excited about, so you skip a few networking events. That’s also super ok.
As humans, we all have limits. You can’t optimize your way out of being human, no matter how ambitious or focused you are.
So what if you stopped treating your very human limitations like failures? The relief would be immediate. You’d show up happier and more satisfied for the things that actually matter. (You’d also have the chance to actually enjoy amazing life experiences like your MBA, rather than white-knuckling your way through them).
If you need help making the MBA application process less overwhelming, check out Leland. With a rigorous pre-screening process and experts who can help match you with the right consultant for your budget and profile, Leland has the perfect coach waiting to help make your MBA dreams a reality.
Remember, you can have anything, but you can’t have everything. I truly believe that the people who figure this out are the ones who don’t crash and burn out.
