Not afraid of hard work, only sleep deprivation

Hey guys, I'm considering going into banking. I am not afraid of the hard work and long hours. However, I am worried about the sleep deprivation. I have never pulled an all nighter in HS or college, and I don't work very efficiently when sleep deprived. Do you think I will be able to survive a year or two of banking?

 

its tough. you suffer physically/healh-wise that you will never recover from for the rest of your life. But you'll have money to cover those health problems.

"The cheaper the crook, the gaudier the patter"
 
OutsideMan:

its tough. you suffer physically/healh-wise that you will never recover from for the rest of your life. But you'll have money to cover those health problems.

I think that's a little extreme.

MM IB -> Corporate Development -> Strategic Finance
 
OutsideMan:

its tough. you suffer physically/healh-wise that you will never recover from for the rest of your life. But you'll have money to cover those health problems.

This is just stupid. IB isn't the army. You'll gain weight and be sleep deprived sometimes, but it's nothing that exercise and a clean diet can't fix once you're out.

 

I'm having similar thoughts there. About to start SA. I work hard in college, get good grades, party a lot, but I also sleep 7-9 hours per night. I realize that is not going to happen this summer.

Has anyone made a deliberate attempt to sleep less in preparation? Or is the best route just to rest as much as you can.

 
PoissonProcess:

I'm having similar thoughts there. About to start SA. I work hard in college, get good grades, party a lot, but I also sleep 7-9 hours per night. I realize that is not going to happen this summer.

Has anyone made a deliberate attempt to sleep less in preparation? Or is the best route just to rest as much as you can.

Don't try to prepare, you'll adjust as necessary.

MM IB -> Corporate Development -> Strategic Finance
 

Honestly, hours in IB are over-hyped. You'll lose plenty of sleep for a few weeks when things stack up, but for the most part, you'll have plenty of time to get adequate sleep.

"For all the tribulations in our lives, for all the troubles that remain in the world, the decline of violence is an accomplishment we can savor, and an impetus to cherish the forces of civilization and enlightenment that made it possible."
 

I'm in college right now so this response may not be exactly what you're looking for, but:

I sleep for 3-4 hours a night on average and pull many all nighters (including back to back ones) during midterms and finals. I drink a lot of coffee and try to exercise 4-5 times a week. I catch up on sleep on the weekends, usually taking in 8-9 hours Friday and Saturday nights (more like Saturday and Sunday mornings). I don't use any drugs. I do see my productivity diminish at times, but that's when i grab another cup of coffee, and keep doing what i have to do.

 
Best Response

I like to think of it as a tolerance built up over time. When I was an 8th grader I used to stay up late every night playing computer games getting only 3-5 hours of sleep a night (yes, I was a tool). Eventually I got to the point where 6 hours of sleep was enough for me to be completely rested for the entire day. My body wakes itself up now and if I've been asleep for longer than 7 hours (which annoys the heck out of my girlfriend when I wake up at 9 on Saturday and Sunday mornings and refuse to try to go back to bed). As a side note: I've only ever had 1 cup of coffee in my life, and that was 5 years ago.

I know that isn't much of an explanation but I guess my point is that it is something you just "get used to." My guess is that once you start working for a few months you probably start worrying more about having enough hours in the night to meet deadlines versus get enough sleep.

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I personally was always somebody who operated fine on 5-6 hours of sleep then I went to university and got into a habit of sleeping loads but when I need to I can easily get back into the low sleep cycle after a few days adjustment. That said, when I do only sleep 4 hours a night over a week I need a good long lie in on a sunday to pay off my "sleep bank".

I remember reading a good journay article about sleep, it said 4 hours was the physical minimum needed and if you got less than that over a prolonged period you eventually just shut down, ie fall asleep at the table and wake up 15hrs later or something. It also said, varying by person, roughly six hours was all you needed to normal, everything beyond that was beauty sleep which you could wean yourself off of over time.

 
Oconnor:

I remember reading a good journay article about sleep, it said 4 hours was the physical minimum needed and if you got less than that over a prolonged period you eventually just shut down, ie fall asleep at the table and wake up 15hrs later or something. It also said, varying by person, roughly six hours was all you needed to normal, everything beyond that was beauty sleep which you could wean yourself off of over time.

Yeah that's what I've heard to..so I try to shoot for 6 ish

 

It's really about 8 on average. Some people need less, some need more. Extremely few people can get less than 6 hours of sleep regularly and still function. This however, is a case of genetics and you cannot train yourself to do this. Prolonged exposure to less than 6 hours of sleep results in real poor quality work.

 
finance1818:
navy seals go through an entire week of constant exercise and stress with a max of about 5 hours of sleep for the entire week-so it is possible to survive with only 5 or 6 if need be

Keep in mind they have a couple years of military background behind them, not "I had to stay up late in college to finish a term paper/Halo game"

 

Wikipedia says week 3

Also, didn't you guys do "hell week" for your fraternities? I did, and I slept more than seals do, but it was still less than 10 for a five night period. Of course, this was coupled with nearly starving us and intensive exercise/hazing. Definitely a great experience that shows you just how far you can push yourself.

 
aspiringmonkeyisanidiot:
Wikipedia says week 3

Also, didn't you guys do "hell week" for your fraternities? I did, and I slept more than seals do, but it was still less than 10 for a five night period. Of course, this was coupled with nearly starving us and intensive exercise/hazing. Definitely a great experience that shows you just how far you can push yourself.

Best thing I've done I would never do again... except for the first time of course. The crazy part is that we paid money for that shit.

 

Certainly anyone can push themselves to sleep little for a week. I know from my military experience that it can be done. However, an "extended period of time" is a whole different ball game. I assume that even SEALs out in the field don't give 110% for months, because it just can't be done. And if they tried, their performance would definitely drop.

I like 8 hours of sleep a night, but like has been said, I'll get used to 6/7 after a while.

 

I recently read an article that claimed you can function normally by sleeping 15 minutes every 4 hours (or is it every 6?) Supposedly it can take a few weeks to get your body used to it. I'm pretty sure it was in a scientific journal or something, but take it with a grain of salt.

 

Isn't it called power sleeping or something like that? For me it's one of those things like speed reading which people swear exists and works but I have never personally managed to be able to do. My friends dad claimed he used to do it on guard duty as a conscript in the swedish army somewhere near the arctic circle but that could be bs.

 

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