Intellectual decline as an analyst

2nd year analyst with buyside role lined up. As I reflect on my time in banking, I can't help but get the feeling that I've lost the ability to think critically during these two years. I understand banking is at core, a process-oriented job, but after two years of doing near-mindless work and focused on getting a high volume of work done as quickly as possible, I realized that I never really stopped and thought about why something was necessary. 

Might be a symptom of burnout, might be something else, but I really feel like I've lost that ability form intuitive thoughts...has anyone ever gone through this? 

3 Comments
 
Most Helpful

I like to think about it like this, if it offers any consolation.

I’ve played chess for about a decade now, stopping for a few years and picking it up recently. I focused on a million and one things between the time I stopped and I started again, but your raw intellect and ability to think critically is still there, just rusty.

But now, after spending the time to relearn I’m better than ever, I actually hit 1700 recently. Don’t think about it like you’ve lost yourself to the process, think about just having a better framework to use your smarts.

Don’t think you’ve abandoned your intelligence. Your brain has all of the knowledge you’ve once had, and now even more.

Always here to help!
 

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