Are the hours in banking dangerous and how do you manage sleep deprivation?
I have done a few internships in banking and PE. Thankfully I have been lucky and usually got off around midnight with a few nights until 2am during my internships. I am now heading to a bank which is notorious for being sweaty with work until 3-4am pretty much every night according to a current intern. Is it physically dangerous to sleep for less than 5 hours during the weekdays? What steps do you take to combat the potential risks of sleep deprivation? How do you maintain brain capacity and performance with so little sleep?
Lastly, bankers are usually very happy to exaggerate their hours. Are there even places where people frequently work until 3-4am?
adderall is a hell of a drug
WFH if its a norm, take naps between tasks.
I'd say it's unlikely they are actually pulling 3-4AMs consistently every single day. Might be slightly inflated, but guess you'll have to find out yourself, good luck mate!
God naps are so dangerous though. I’ve tried to sneak a cheeky nap later in the day and have woken up to emails, calls, more work etc and ended up working super late to address it all.
it's a good thought, but actually REM sleep is where our brain heals, and REM is only accessible after a certain number of contiguous hours. Naps are not going to cut it for proper sleep.
Realistically, nobody can function on 5hrs of sleep for a prolonged period of time (notwithstanding a few exceptions). For example, if I am up until 4-5am I’ll sleep in a bit the next day or alternate with other deal team members to get some rest. I have very good chemistry with one of my associates and our staffer knows it, so 9/10 times we get staffed together. Usually when we work late a few nights in a row we cover for each (e.g., I go to sleep early and wake up early or vice versa). It’s all about ensuring that you are running efficient work streams and that the deal is running smoothly without overextending yourself. At first it’s going to be tough to find the right balance, therefore is important to have coworkers that are supportive and not afraid to roll up their sleeves. I like to think that human beings are a flexible species and for better or for worse, we tend to assimilate and adapt to challenging or dire circumstances.
"Lastly, bankers are usually very happy to exaggerate their hours." .....definitely a part of the culture for whatever reason. Don't get me wrong, you will absolutely have your fair share of late nights. But unless you're in a particularly bad stretch where all your deals go hot in the same week, it's usually not THAT bad. There's also a decent amount of down time between tasks.
But this hardo culture of "I'm so tight I work sooo many hours" will prob never go away. My theory on this is that bankers feel some sort of guilt/duty to work long hours, since that's a part of the job we all knowingly signed up for. Nobody wants to tell coworkers "I haven't done shit in the last couple weeks, I know you pulled two all nighters this week sorry dude that sucks for you." But I'm not really sure why bankers think it's a flex to brag about their hours to friends outside of banking..it's not a flex bro, if anything you should be embarrassed lol. My sister is a consultant and consultants do this shit too..between staffings (they're only staffed to one project at a time) she literally won't do anything for weeks in a row. They call this "going to the beach." One time she was on the beach not doing anything for over a month. Yet all she does is bitch about how incredibly long her hours are. TLDR; you'll definitely work long hours in banking, but yes most bankers exaggerate their hours to an extent.
Sounds very reasonable. If those hours were real, no one would be able to persist for years. Working until 3-4am every night and working weekends for several years would be extremely difficult for pretty much anyone to handle, not to mention dangerous.
whoever MS'd this is def one of the hardos who brags about their hours to friends outside of banking haha
Didn't know consultants could have so much free time.
I guess people inflate their hours cuz it makes them sound busy and important and thus boost their ego.
I agree that a normal person can't function correctly on 5h of sleep everyday.
Yeah dude you'll def have stretches where you're up til 3 - 4am multiple times in a given week, but don't listen to the hardos that try telling people they do this shit every single night
On performance, you just develop a process to checking your work. I find pulling out a calculator and a legal pad to check your pages and models helps.
On combatting the effects, in my experience it’s just be embracing the suck and focusing on the next task or milestone. Usually these things come and go and you’ll hopefully get a chance to recharge between spells.
Most people I’ve seen go through these kinds of stretches a lot are generally just having a steeper ramp than others for a variety of reasons. The benefit is once you get over that curve things get more manageable.
Long hours at banking is nothing new and is a reality. It does take a toll on your health and hence you can only take it till a certain age. The structural problem I see is that if you are efficient and manage your time well & leave early, then your seniors think that you have enough capacity and they load you with more work. Hence, everyone pretends to be busy and stay around till late night so that you are atleast not loaded with more work. Also, since Banking is market linked and carries lot of uncertainties, you always have to be available 24/7. You can only focus more on improving yourself by being disciplined in your eating habits, having nutritious food (no junk at all), remain hydrated by drinking enough water + seasonal juices, doing physical exercise & meditation whenever you get time. This will compensate to an extent for the lack of sleep and will keep you energised and will allow you to play long hours compared to your peers. Will also keep you motivated and positive which is very important in this profession. Wish you good luck.
Thanks for the reply and very interesting point about time management. I suppose it's very true that if you were super effective and were able to leave at 8pm every day you would be loaded with more work. Meanwhile, someone with the same workload leaving at 2am every day would be seen as a hard worker.
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