At times, it can feel like we’re juggling 1000 tasks at once. Classes, work, family, relationships—they all coalesce into a chaotic storm. While we at the Rutgers Master of Business and Science (MBS) degree program understand how busy our students are, we encourage them to find true balance in their lives. MBS Executive Coach Abbe Rosenthal, MA, PCC, DYL Coach, is hosting a series of three huddles this summer to help students discover how to boost their energy, manage time effectively, and gain a better understanding of student resources.
The first huddle, hosted on June 13th, focused on balance.
Design Thinking Process
Rosenthal kicked off the huddle with the question: “How much balance do you have in your life?”
She unveiled the design thinking process to add structure to how we can think about the question. This process is iterative and involves five key phases:
- Empathize
- Define
- Ideate
- Prototype
- Test
The process begins with empathy, with the goal being to empathize with yourself and your community. Once you understand your own needs and wants, you take everything that you learned during the empathize step and use it to define your problem.
“There isn’t just one path for you. These are often the sources of innovation.”
Create as many ideas as possible during the ideate stage, said Rosenthal. These ideas will challenge you to innovate. Afterwards, these lead to the prototype step, which may then require further testing and is an iterative process. Note that you can always go back to a previous step, given how flexible the framework is.
Rosenthal emphasized that truly accepting your starting point is a requirement to begin the life design process.
She then asked participants about what came to mind when they heard the word “balance.”
Work-life balance, routine, freedom, and flexibility were all common responses. Rosenthal explained that the common idea of balance is a zero-sum game, where if one aspect of our life becomes overwhelming, we give the other aspects less attention. She also highlighted that it’s impossible to maintain a perfect balance at all times.
“It’s about having the right amounts of what you want at a given time. This current frame of balance leaves us little room for design and innovation. We want to talk about a different approach.”
Reframing
While framing defines the problems and sets boundaries for solutions, reframing examines ways to look at the problem through new lenses, explained Rosenthal.
“We want you to consider life as a portfolio of experiences.”
To achieve balance, Rosenthal notes that life is multidimensional and can be divided up into 4 key categories—work, play, health, and love.
Balance Assessment
Students were then asked to complete a balance assessment divided into work, play, health, and love. After the assessment, participants engaged in an active discussion to discuss their own balance and provide insights to others.
Students shared insights and common themes, including the interconnected nature of these areas. Thanks to the power of reframing, students were able to understand what balance meant to them specifically.
Call to Action
Rosenthal emphasized the need for a call to action as part of this process. She asked students to jot down one thing they’ll commit to starting, stopping, and continuing doing today.
Brenda Rodriguez, Student Success and Engagement Specialist for the MBS program, closed out the session with some valuable resources.
Some resources include MBS executive coaching, our alumni mentoring program, the Rutgers Learning Center, and Rutgers Recreation.
Interested in the next student huddle? Our next session on July 11, 2025 is focused on cultivating energy.
Learn more about the MBS degree and our concentrations. You can also book a call with our advisors or attend one of our informational webinars.
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