How to Fight Being Tired

Could be the workouts

From my experience it’s working out and a good diet. When I was averaging 5-6 hours of sleep but going to the gym 5 days a week plus sauna every workout and eating pretty clean (excluding a few handfuls of chips or cookies) I felt great. Now getting like 7-8 hours of sleep but working out maybe 1 day a week and eating maybe 1/3 to 1/2 as clean before, I feel terrible

Second ^^, skipping breakfast helps me but to each their own.

Sounds like you're hydrating, getting decent sleep. How's the diet? 

Outside of that, will say that stress has an outsize impact on quality and duration of good sleep, def for me. The job really is that mentally draining, especially if you're consistently on multiple deliverables with tight timelines. 

Think it may also be quality of sleep. Are you going to sleep stressed and waking up checking your phone to see if you missed anything? On weekends when you drink how many hours are you getting recently read that is a huge component of it? 

Agree with a lot of the statements made above, I'd also say try going a month or two without drinking. Makes you feel much better, especially at the start of the week when you're not dealing with lingering hangovers 

Try to eat healthier too. More vegetables/fiber, less takeout meals. For me this made a big difference in how I felt throughout the day

How is your commute? Maybe during rush hours you feel like you're in a can of sardines which is causing you to feel more tired? 

If you don't workout in the morning, you don't need to eat until after work. You'll feel more energized.

Some people be like:

It might be the timing of when you get into bed to fall asleep to when you wake up. You go through a few rem cycles and if your alarm wakes you up in a deep sleep rem cycle then you’ll wake up tired and groggy.

There’s calculators out there that tell you when you should go to bed according to when you want to wake up. Being in IB you won’t have much control over that but it’s worth looking into. 

Get to bed as early as possible, skip breakfast, have a Red Bull or high caffeine tea around 10:30am

When do you end work? Can you work out after work? If the only time you can work out is in the morning I would start waking up earlier or just get a Peloton bike. I personally work-out after work and it's done wonders.

A lot of guys will keep caffeine pills with them (each tablet is 200mg caffeine) as a more efficient way to stay caffeinated, rather than Red Bull or coffee.

Also, I think some guys take B-complex supplements (e.g. that's what "5 Hour Energy" actually contains, I believe).

A question you might consider it whether you are getting quality (REM) sleep; because if you wake-up a lot, are overly stressed, or otherwise don't get the most restful sleep (REM sleep, etc), that will also contribute to feeling tired.

I think in the case of the OP, the focus should be to figure out what might be the actual issue -- stress, quality sleep, perhaps supplements, comfortable bed/pillow, etc. Each could be a factor in the situation.

Given what you shared, it's likely your change in diet and physical activity.

Usually, the #1 factor is hydration. Bankers drink everything but water, but you mentioned you're doing a cup of coffee and water throughout the day so that should be fine.

Diet is the next biggest. Bankers get hooked on the office meals / stipends and suddenly your body thinks it's being prepped for a long winter of hibernation with all the fatty foods coming in. This is also one of the hardest to change in banking. Without knowing anything more about you, I would just generally recommend sticking to lighter meals with less fats, good carbs, and plenty of protein.

As for exercise, I wouldn't overdo it, but you need to include something in your routine ~3 days per week imo. Just 20-30 mins of whatever workout you like. Can be anything, lifting, running, swimming, you name it. 

Last but not least, I'm glad you recognize the mental side of the job. Banking is stressful, your first 1-2 years your brain is in fight or flight mode most of the time. I would feel sick whenever my work phone chimed. Whatever your level of stress, find a way to mitigate it. My thing was I would just pop a beer and play video games for ~30 mins no matter how late I got home. The more responsible recommendation is to try a meditation app for ~10-15 mins in the morning or evening. Whatever it is, just take time to consciously mitigate the stress of the job.

Banking is hard. It's a lot harder if you don't look after your health while you're there.

Consider leveraging nootropics or any prescription wakefulness drugs you can get from your doctor (you may qualify as having "shift-work sleep disorder").