third-year analyst here. after burning out hard last quarter, i started reverse-engineering how seniors actually survive deal marathons without imploding. trial-and-errored some frameworks: clustered meeting blocks, strategic ‘dumb question’ breaks to force downtime, pre-written email templates for recurring asks. weirdly, tracking my ‘recovery debt’ spreadsheet helped more than expected. what under-the-radar methods have you found for protecting cognitive stamina when the calendar’s hemorrhaging red?
lol ‘sustain’ – cute. real talk: you dont. 100hr weeks are a hazing ritual. pro tip: automate the 20% of work MDs actually notice. fake diligence on the rest. my ‘productivity hack’? adderall rx and a therapist who does saturday sessions. glhf
omg thx for the spreadsheet idea! im gonna try stacking all my checkins tues/thurs?? idk if that works but anything > crying in bathroom again lol
Three strategies from my decade in ECM: 1) Schedule 25-minute ‘buffer blocks’ between meetings - label them as stakeholder follow-ups to avoid infiltration. 2) Train analysts to handle routine data pulls using your template library. 3) Negotiate one ‘anchor sleep night’ weekly where you leave by 1AM, no exceptions. Protects baseline recovery.
You’ve got this!! Celebrate small wins - even 5min breaks count! Maybe try meditation apps during bathroom breaks? 
Had a VP who’d book fake client calls to nap in conference rooms. Got promoted last year. Moral of the story? If you’re gonna game the system, commit. I now ‘accidentally’ schedule dentist appointments during all-hands meetings. Survival = creativity!
Analysis of 47 Q3 workflows showed peak cognitive output between 10AM-1PM. Recommendation: cluster high-focus tasks (modeling, drafting) in this window. Reserve afternoons for meetings/emails. Evening hours below 40% efficacy - delegate routine updates then. 22% avg. time savings in pilot group.