Week 15: What MBA habits are most valuable?

Week 15: August 1, 2026

What MBA habits are most valuable?

Many of you are a few short weeks (or days) away from heading off to school, or are already settling in. We wanted to take a moment to discuss what might be the key to success in business school: habits.

About two decades ago, discussion around habits and habit formation entered the mainstream and has held our attention ever since. Take a look at just some of the books that topped the New York Times Bestsellers list over the last twenty years: The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey, The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg, and Atomic Habits by James Clear. As incoming MBA students, you probably already have a strong set of healthy habits. But which habits do MBA alumni say were the most important while in school and how do you actually create those habits?

The 100 Week Sprint team

To-do's this week

Got 5 minutes? Read this article on small habits you can start implementing today.

Got 30 minutes? Make a list of your current habits. Which habits are the healthiest? Which need the most work? Prioritize one to work on as you head back to school.

Got an hour? Read a chapter or two from one of the resources we suggest below.

So, which habits are key for success in business school? Here's what we've heard from top MBA students:

Prioritizing your day: Let's face it -- we could all be better at managing our time. In business school you'll find it's critical to your success, inside and outside of the classroom, to prioritize what needs to get done in a single day. With so many activities, networking opportunities, and school, you need to nail down the most important tasks for each day. Try an app like Todoist, which classifies your tasks by their priority level, or check out other apps here.
Optimize in a way that makes sense for you: Hate cooking and can't get yourself to do it? Start buying partially prepared food to help ease the process. Or maybe you can't get yourself up in the morning for a workout. Lay your clothes and shoes out the night before, which eliminates just one more barrier towards getting started.
Keep devices outside of the bedroom: Nothing can ruin a good night's sleep like scrolling on your phone with its blue light. Start charging your devices outside the bedroom at night to encourage better sleep. Overcome the natural objection by getting an inexpensive alarm clock.

Don't beat yourself up if forming healthier habits is harder than you thought. This article by the Atlantic explains how difficult habit formation is, and how it naturally comes easier to some people. Our advice? Start small, and try to make the habit as automatic as possible.

Resources to help build better habits

Here are some resources to get you started on building better, healthier habits:

The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
Atomic Habits by James Clear
The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
Better than Before by Gretchen Rubin
Good Habits, Bad Habits: The Science of Making Positive Changes that Stick by Wendy Wood
Tiny Habits: The Small Changes that Change Everything by BJ Fogg
"To start a new habit, make it easy" by Tara Parker-Pope
"You can't simply decide to be a different person" by Amanda Mull

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