Things to Read While Pretending to Work – Dec, 4, 2015

Here it is, 3 things I’ve been loving from the past week that will help you improve your work, life, and fitness.

As always, please let me know your requests and suggestions by replying with a comment.  Which link is your favorite?  What do you want more or less of?  Let me know!

If you haven't seen this before, here's what it's all about: Things to Read While Pretending to Work is a weekly column compiling interesting and useful articles from across the interwebs.  Instead of going on Facebook or skimming random news sites to to kill the time, each week you can use these three articles / resources to turn your "dead time" into something more productive.

Enjoy the weekend!

Alistair

Work

Manage Your Time, Not Your Energy -- This HBR article should be mandatory reading for everyone with a job.  When faced with increasing demands at work, most of us respond by throwing more time at the problem.  Instead, this article outlines why focusing on your energy management rituals is the best way to get more done faster.  This concept is central to how I work, and was also the inspiration for a recent article I wrote: How to beat the afternoon energy slump.

Life

HardCore History (podcast) -- Last week, a reader asked me to recommend some of my favourite podcasts.  I was happy to oblige, since I think podcasts are a great tool for de-stressing and recharging your mental energy after a long day of work.  Right now I’m binging on Hardcore History, which has grown a cult following in recent years.  I recommend starting with the 5-part series called Wrath of the Khans.  It's epic.

Fitness

Success Strategies: The Food Ritual -- One of the best ways to stay in shape is to have healthy food ready when you need it.  But when you work long-hours it's almost impossible to find the time to cook.  This article outlines a great solution for saving time (and money) using weekly meal prep.  I use the Sunday Ritual and do all my cooking in one or two days a week.

#

Is this post useful? What do you want to learn about next week? Let me know in the comments.


Alistair Clark is a former management consultant that runs worklifefitness.co.

0 Comments

Career Advancement Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.3%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.7%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (46) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (80) $150
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $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
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
6
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
7
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
10
Mimbs's picture
Mimbs
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...”