On an internship and joined at the beginning of Q1 earnings where I didn’t really do anything because my team didn’t have time to teach me. 3 months later I’ve gained some responsibility and want to pull my weight going into the next set of results. I’ve practiced updating the models and written notes on where to find all the info, and practised building charts etc.
Anyone have any advice on the following:
How do I maintain an eye for detail when I’m running on a couple hours of sleep? How do I work quickly but also accurately? Any other tips to keep energy up and maintain a healthy attitude?
Any tips would be useful. Just want to make the best impression.
I’ll bump this. Thots and pears
It’s important to know when you start to slip. By this I mean what time of day do you need to recharge. Something as simply as going for a walk around a block of two - even when it is hot and sticky out - can help with your focus. But it is more important to get your rest and avoid burn out. That being said, I know some people are pricks and you need to work their schedules, just focus on getting home quickly and decompressing for a good sleep.
While you want more sleep on weekends (assuming team aren’t massive pricks) , don’t over do it. Too much sleep will throw off your schedule for the next week.
Don’t take too many stimulants. By this I mean coffee. I typically go through a pot a day (cutting back lol), but stop by 2pm and switch to watch and various teas. Helps keep the focus. This is something I did when I was on sell side too. You want to avoid the jitters.
Text to speech is your friend for everything you write. This can help catch any mistakes before you send it to your PM for review or anyone.
Rush yes, but check twice. You will know when you do your best work and when you fade. I found that the 1pm-3pm window when I had time to recharge on sell side.
Happy earnings season.
Thanks a lot for your response. Super useful. Definitely agreed on getting some fresh air. While working from home at the moment, I notice I can easily go 2-3 days without leaving the house and then by day 4 I feel absolutely terrible.
Will try keep the coffee consumption to a reasonable level and switch it up for the teas.
Working from home can make this especially challenging if it is something that you haven’t done before. I didn’t even think about that with your initial posting. It can make you feel always on. So you need to find time to go for a walk. Since the gyms shut down where I am, I try to row in the mornings when I wake up and then go for a walk with the family. I’ll sit outside and read something if it isn’t too hot out. Will move around locations during the day. I try to move around when I feel unfocused. Not unlike when I’m at the office. Although there would be days when I rarely stepped out to see anyone. Now I can avoid people.
I’d say working from home can be your friend. Most people seem to hate it. Maybe they think people think they aren’t working, or more likely they don’t know how to separate the work life from life.
If you can pack up your stuff at night and put it in a drawer do so. It can help you mentally leave the office for the day. I started to put my phone on DND after 9pm so Bloomberg alerts would stop; lol, doesn’t help since I just open the app! That and is there anything left on Hulu, Netflix, Disney plus, HBO.... that we haven’t seen? Actually audio books are great since we read all the time.
What makes this time so difficult is how abrupt it started. I work with people that are happy day care is open to send their kids back so they can go into work. Almost no one is required to be in our office. I believe it’s because people don’t know how to adjust, it’s insane. Most people had no time to prepare. With these work from home restrictions possibly in place for longer, there is no time to adjust like now.
Couple final things that help me, especially when stress starts to build. Set one night of the week aside for yourself (or with your spouse, kids). Friday’s always seem best, usually nothing too terrible happens then.. This isn’t to go out to be with a bunch of people (pandemic!), but to decompress. Turn off the phone (don’t be like me) and just shut the brain down with a movie or something.
During the week when things get busy and you head to sleep put in headphones for 10-15 minutes. Listen to some mediation music. And just clear your mind. You won’t learn how to meditate over night but you can try to calm your mind down. Work may drift in and that’s fine. I’m right about to do that after a terrible day of relative performance. Should have done it hours ago or during the day when I needed to recenter myself. It can help, especially when things are really busy.
And understand that this industry is very stressful. Whether it’s an analyst, associate on buy/sell-side or as a PM. We don’t talk about it that much with people inside the industry for fears of what others might think (although I’d say PMs are far more open with other PMs about how much we love and hate our lives). Most outside the industry don’t realize what is feels like to assume that everyday could be the day your fired for whatever reason comes up. After knowing me for over 20 years my wife still doesn’t get it, or maybe I don’t get it that she really does get it.
So it’s important you avoid burn out and always find a way to center yourself and refocus when needed. Your performance and health will thank you.
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