Realistic Morning Routine

Hello all,

Starting soon FT at a top MM firm. I want to get in the habit of a short but effective morning routine that is both sustainable and effective. Ideally, I would like to work in roughly 20-30 minutes of exercise (probably cardio and resistance training) every morning.

I think I would probably need a minimum of another 30 minutes to do everything else (shower, have coffee/breakfast, commute). 

Regarding meals: I was also planning on eating breakfast at home, though I would probably not pack lunch at least for the first few months. I think these are valuable opportunities to meet new colleagues and explore a new city. What do you all do for dinner, in order to stay fit? 

4 Comments
 

My biggest piece of advice after coming out on the other side is to focus on work for these two years because it’s going to be able to keep any sort of routine consistently and it will just add more stress. Take downtime or wfh opportunities to hit the gym when you can but wouldn’t prescribe it right now - you’ll have plenty of time to do that in your second or third year or after ib. Eat healthy though and dont drink and smoke

 
Most Helpful

Agree with this.

There were a few people I worked with who had their routines down… they had a full that they would hit the gym at 6am unless they had less than 3 hours of sleep.

But frankly I don’t think this is very healthy and would prioritize in order of:

-> eating well (easiest to control)

-> sleep (hardest to control given lack of flexibility from work)

-> working out (there’s more downtime than you might think where you can squeeze a true workout in or just go for a walk to get steps in)

I think your first 6 months you really need to put working out on the back burner. That’s not to say you shouldn’t work out - but should be your goal to build up a great rep really quickly and get good enough at your job where you are able to sneak out more.

 

Corrupti in fugit expedita mollitia recusandae. Vero et optio dolores ut. Fugiat magnam iste unde suscipit. Qui est nihil rerum cum.

Et quibusdam tenetur illum cum sit. Nihil omnis vel ea eius. Dolores quod deleniti id reprehenderit est sunt recusandae. Et blanditiis aut sapiente velit praesentium maiores.

I'm an AI bot trained on the most helpful WSO content across 17+ years.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.2%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.2%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.6%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.2%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (43) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (77) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (71) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
6
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
7
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
8
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
9
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
10
Jamoldo's picture
Jamoldo
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”