I am not just talking physically, I am talking mentally too. Like what does everyone do to survive the 100+ hour weeks? I am honestly getting killed out here not sure if it is my diet or just how I am thinking about things. It is getting hard to wake up after a 1 am night and need some pro tips to survive this! I love the job and love the work I just feel like my body inst loving it anymore and need to get healthy again!
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I started manging my health a bit like a RPG game, and it's great way of thinking about it. Ha!
Physical Health - walk/cycle to work if that's an option for you. That hugely increases the base level of activity. Get a Fitbit or some activity tracker as it does remind you how little you are moving when you are in office. I've started requesting one-to-one meeting to be in the form of coffee walks unless there's a lot of presentation material to go through. 30-40min whilst walking and talking hugely increase the base level of activity. I guess that's only becoming an option as you move up the ladder but you'd be surprised how many of your MD/VPs are open to this type of idea. I've even started meeting my counterparts, sales coverage after work in work out classes instead of going to dinner/drinks. Aim per week, 2xweight/resistance exercise for better metabolism and mental strength, 2x HIIT exercise to improve cardiovascular health. It doesn't have to be running for 2 hours and frankly not everyone got a lot of time for that. That's why HIIT classes of 20-30min going absolutely mental is very effective. **I cannot stress how much stress relief exercise does for your body and mental health. **
Mental Health - get apps like Calm, Headspace. When I just started out in this industry I thought all of these are just for the weak and how wrong I was. A quick 10min meditation sharply increases your focus and mental clarity and of course reduces cortisol. When you are stressed, or recognise the signs you are getting stressed. Go to the bathroom and put the headphone on and listen to one of the quick meditation piece. Check your heart rate monitor hugely drops. Maintain a close circle of friends, and the lucky ones - the better half, that you can complain to about work. I find this essential. If you don't have those people who understand and acknowledge the stuff you are going through you are just bottling it all up yourself. I highly recommend counselling if it all builds up too much and at the risk of burn out. But before it gets there, there are many options to manage how you release stress.
Food - eat wholesome. If the food you are eating doesn't even look like the original living thing (whether it is plant or animal) that prob means it's been overly processed and that certainly has a lot of drawbacks. Intermittent fast. Morning black coffee, perhaps with some MCT oil (to feed the brain) as doesn't spike insulin level. Eat lunch at 12-1pm. Eat clean and lots of greens. Try to reduce meat intake faster muscle recovery after work out. Don't really need to cut anything out, perhaps cut refined sugar. You notice how food affects your mood, and your concentration level. Dinner a bit heavier try to eat before 8-9pm. I know a lot of the time this might not be possible because dinner with work/ friends and that drags on for a long time. But if I know I have a long dinner coming up I tend to push my lunch to 2-3pm. There's plenty of research shows fasting increase mental clarity and increase mental capacity. Do some reading and experimenting yourself.
Sleep - Monitor the quality of your sleep. Again if your mind is racing with all the tasks you need to complete and cannot fall asleep it becomes a vicious cycle. Use meditation app, they have section for better sleep also. Invest in your sleeping environment, we spent vast % of our life in this bed and we should invest in it. Is your mattress the best comfortable mattress for you? Pillow? Bed sheet quality? Is your blinds completely shut? Are you looking at your phone too much? Invest in natural light lamp alarm that mimicks sun rise to make your waking up experience easier. There are natural stuff like melatonin you can eat as supplements to help to improve quality of sleep. Huge hypes for ashwagandha but I haven't tried this myself.
Lastly: adjust your expectations vs reality map - I find some of the biggest unhappiness people experience in this job is when their expectations are not met. We are all very ambitious people and always aim to get that promotion, get that next large pay cheque. But I can tell you in real life it never turns out like how you've planned. It takes a lot of practice and it comes with time, but try hope for the best prepare for the worst. Things are screwed up sometimes maybe your fault maybe someone else's fault, and that's fine. Allow yourself to make mistakes and stop dwelling on them as it will take a toll on your mental health.
I could go on for much longer and will stop here. But think of yourself like a character in a game, and how do you level up and maintain the highest level? I am also very interested to hear other people's views.
If I had one criticism for your post is that you might be relying on tech a bit too much. Yes, apps make life easier and save time. However, I'd avoid running your personal life like you run a business, trying to increase productivity at all costs. A degree of organization is necessary, but using technology for everything results in losing basic survival skills and make you dependent on things you have little control over.
Fair, I am a tech and computer geek I'd be useless in another parallel world. But you are correct and this gives me some food for thoughts..
If you don’t have time to sleep due to work obligations, you must find restful moments during the day to chill out and de-stress. The first step is to be conscious of this and then secondly to actively practice it. The calm app that the other person mentioned is one way. But, try to focus on some pleasurable and calming moments as you can throughout the day. Don’t leave any loose ends by the time you have to go to sleep.
In the morning, wake up with a heavy preworkout and launch into a high intensity activity. Have a light bite then follow up with espresso and then getting ready for the day. During the day, stay hydrated and also try not to eat that much during the workday as it will weigh you down. Crush the LaCroix and green tea.
Nutrition is more important than exercise. Eat right, say no to junk.
I have never worked in investment banking but I would think that 100+ hours per week would be rough on a lot of people. Is that a normal number of hours for a I-banker?
It varies...a lot... but in general 80-90 hours a week is much more common than 100 hours. A 15 hour day 9 AM - 12 AM on weekdays is 75 hours and you can work 5-15 hours over the weekend to achieve your 80-90 hour week and still get 7 hours of sleep.
To be honest, I think the work for the week is maybe 65-70, but you are on call 24/7.
Modern man has more and more medical diseases and illnesses. Because of our concern for our health and well-being, we look for solutions in ancient traditional methods that have preserved their healing for thousands of years. In the Western world again, Eastern wisdom is very much appreciated, including Ayurveda, which with its holistic approach to health, has helped many.
My grandparents lived in India for several years when they decided to practice this approach. I learned many aspects from them that I have been practicing. Ayurveda is not a counterbalance to school medicine. It enriches and complements it. The most ancient health teachings are more relevant today than ever before.
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