8 hours of sleep
Was always curious about this. Is anyone able to get 7-8 hours of sleep consistently at a BB or MM in any way?
Ik this is tough in IB but Idk I get tired and get stomach issues when I get less than 7 hours of sleep.
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Yes, can typically scrape by with 7-8 hours most nights unless you're working on a very hot deal that's close to announcing. Doesn't mean you'll get 8 hours every night, usually 1-3 days a week are pretty late no matter what but the average is also not 4 hours.
If this is important to you 1. look for a bank with strict analyst protections (weekend policies, etc) and 2. try to recruit for a less hot group - one that is not as high on league tables with a little less deal flow or in a traditionally better lifestyle area like ECM/DCM.
What are examples of banks like these?
BBs. Differs by bank but some will give you 1 full weekend a month off, some will give you every Saturday off. They are under more public pressure than EBs that fly under the radar with no analyst protections.
First year as an associate I rarely got 8hrs during the weekdays, but after everything started clicking and I became way more efficient with timing I almost always get 7-8hrs unless it’s a live deal or multiple accounts hitting at once. Wfh helped with that since no commute and no getting ready in the morning. Similar experience for analysts on the team that are way more efficient in their 2nd year, although they probably work 5-10% more hours on average.
even when work hours are light i somehow manage to only get 5-5.5hrs
i gotta stop procrastinating lmao
Yeah I tend to turn days that should be “light” into the same amount of time at the desk when everything is happening at once. Bad habit—Parkinson’s law.
1. Yes, there will be occasions when you won't be able to get 8hrs of sleep no matter how efficient or productive you are. And it's always good to have that in mind because it will happen BUT...
2. This is what most analysts often fail to see... It's not your associate or your MD who says, "This week you're going to work 90 hours and get max 5 hours of sleep". In the vast majority of the cases (especially when WFH), you DO have control over your schedule, working hours, breaks, sleep, etc. If you worked 90 hours this week, doesn't mean that you couldn't have produced the same output with fewer hours. If some people do consistently 90 hour weeks with less than 8 hours of sleep DOESN'T MEAN that you have to do the same to be as successful as they are. There are INFINITE clever ways to optimise your work and get more time for sleep or anything else that matters to you. That's the art of self-awareness, managing and leading yourself, or to put it bluntly, the art of not BSing yourself. A lot of people brag about or romanticise the hours they put in. They will create a post here on WSO to celebrate another 100 hr week! That's crazy! The goal should be the opposite: to optimise output and work fewer hours!
Some people will say... this is not possible... I can't do much about that, everyone in my team does crazy hours, etc. Because they don't want to face the truth and admit to themselves that they suck at managing their time.
3. Also, remember that a career in IB is NOT a 100m race. It's a marathon. You don't want to burn yourself out. You want to look good, crisp, healthy, vibrant, and attractive. And not just look all that but BE all that.
Never assume "reality". Don't take things for granted. Play smart. Develop self-awareness, remain curious, observe how you do things, measure stuff, and optimise. Look at the week that has just passed. In what ways could you have optimised?
You like to sleep, you need sleep and you can have it. Sleep is the best ally of creativity. And for an analyst who wants to become an elite banker, creativity is necessary in order to synthesise information and see the bigger picture of their spreadsheets and powerpoints.
I often ask people... if Michael Jordan was an analyst, how would he do it? How would he optimise? Do you think he would do 90 hr weeks with 4-5 hrs of sleep consistently???
That's exactly why some people become pro's whereas others don't. This career gives you unique opportunities to achieve self-mastery and become a pro. Not everyone wants that and is ready for that—and that's okay. It's totally up to you my friend. I probably went a little too far with my answer but I think all this is relevant, and hopefully, helpful to you.
—Angelos.
***A caveat here: In some cases, the issue can also be poor communication (bottom-up or top-down). Some analysts find it hard to say no, set boundaries and communicate to their team that what they've been asked to do is impossible and probably not a good use of their time particularly when the deadlines are tight. I understand that especially when you start out in your career and you're keen to overdeliver and impress. In any case, there should be optimisation on a team level too and it's the responsibility of both senior and junior people to communicate effectively and address such issues. This leads to a win-win-win-win scenario for juniors, seniors, team and business.
Hello Mr. LinkedIn
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You can get 8 hours of sleep once you get a PE job. It's easier to do what one of the other comments says and set boundaries. I think that pre-exit, most of the analysts I know would feel like they need to immediately respond to an email at 11:30pm, but once you respond to it, you usually have to work on it that night unless you are able to ask for a longer deadline. Nowadays, I just don't respond until the next morning unless it's for someone I really respect / important in my group.
Yeah I usually sleep 7-8h. Would say 1am - 8/9am is pretty standard. Finish around 12/1-ish and do stretching and stuff before going to bed. However maybe 25% of the time I’m in a period where I go to bed at 3am and end up sleeping for like 6h. Sleeping 4h or less is extremely rare, in the last 6 months only happened a dozen times or so (partly because if I go to bed at 4am or more I usually wake up a bit later than usual). However, it’s also pretty frequent to work long hours in weekends as well (10-20h), which minimises weekend recovery
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