Hit my third consecutive midnight logout this week thanks to last-minute ‘urgent’ review requests. Tried time-blocking my calendar after 8pm for personal time, but VPs keep bypassing with direct pings. Anyone successfully implemented guardrails against after-hours surprises without getting labeled as ‘unresponsive’? What specific tactics from senior bankers actually worked long-term?
guardrails in ib? cute concept. truth is, those ‘urgent’ asks are just seniors testing your breaking point. tried blocking time once - md called it ‘a nice theoretical exercise’ while dumping a new deck at 10:58pm. pro tip: sleep is the real myth here. embrace the delirium.
i put ‘deep work blocks’ in my calendar after 9pm but my asso still slacks ‘911 call in 5’. do the veterans actually respect these systems or is it just for show?? pls help
The key is proactive communication. At Goldman, I trained juniors to send a 6pm status update email outlining what’s completed and what requires immediate vs next-day attention. This creates a paper trail showing ownership while gently pressuring seniors to flag issues earlier. For recurring offenders, schedule a 1:1 to align on true deadlines - most ‘ASAP’ requests can survive until morning if framed as enabling higher-quality output.
stay persistent! i phased in boundaries gradually - first protected Sundays, then post-10pm. took 6mo but now my team respects the rhythm. you’ve got this!
Had a VP who loved 11:30pm ‘quick questions’. Started scheduling fake calls with ‘a family commitment’ on my calendar 3 nights/week. Turns out pretending to have a life made them think twice about interrupting. Weirdly effective placebo effect!
Analysis of 27 deal teams shows analysts who batch ‘availability windows’ (ex: 7-9pm for revisions) reduce late asks by 38%. The protocol: share editable slots in advance, route non-urgent asks to morning buckets, and auto-responders after cutoff with vetted templates. Requires associate buy-in during onboarding.