Bank on Banking

Many people will try to tell you that working in investment banking means there is absolutely no time for hobbies; no time for a life outside of your cube. While there will be many nights, several weeks, and probably random chaotic months here and there when this is true, overall, this is not the case. The primary downside to working in a high intensity field like investment banking is not that there is no time for hobbies, but that your plans to make use of your hobbies will frequently be postponed for another day, delayed to a later start time, or sometimes, canceled entirely and left TBD. For example, I planned an all-day Saturday mountain bike ride with my girlfriend and several non-banker friends several months ago. To keep the story brief, things came up at work so we rescheduled. I then found myself with a deal in the market, and, well, in short, the NEW reschedule time is still TBD. While I know colleagues who have stories far worse and far more costly than a missed day of mountain biking, such events are far more seldom and usually with relevant justification – a large part of your team has recently quit or been displaced, for example.

Regardless of how bad a story sounds, or what it has caused, keep in mind that they represent a small part of the job, not the job itself. The last thing that you want to do is give up all of your hobbies to make yourself available 110% of the time – trust me…YOU WILL BURN OUT. If your group needs you, they will get a hold of you. Alright, so getting over that hurdle and acknowledging the need for some hobbies (some sort of life outside of 65-slide pitch books), let’s figure out how best to translate this into a message easily conveyed to, and understood by, your team.

I’m going to treat this advice as if I were providing it to someone interested in hitting the gym for an hour or so a day, a few times a week, who happens to work in a group on the more difficult side of the spectrum. If your group happens to be more lenient, understanding, or actively engaged in your hobby (in this case going down to the gym), then you can skip some steps, or speed the process up accordingly.

First thing’s first; make sure this activity is something both important and enjoyable to you. If you don’t really care about the activity and are just interested in wasting some time and doing your own thing, there are easier ways of getting that task accomplished, which will involve less work and none of the bitter feelings associated with your group suspecting that they’ve been “duped”. Just consider that a general disclaimer – “duping” your group…not a good idea.

Assuming this activity is something that you enjoy and something to help you maintain your sanity during the frequent insanity of the job (an equally important aspect of the hobby/getaway time), then the first step is to start doing it outside of work. I understand that the last thing many of you want to do is workout on the weekend, but it’s much easier if you do. The reason: if you’re doing this activity on the weekend, then it’s obviously something important to you, and will not be as quickly misconstrued as something to just avoid sitting at your desk. Now, when asked what you did over the weekend, mention some of your activities and be sure to throw in the fact that you worked out, and include it as a point of excitement, such as something that you used to do and are excited to get back into, something that you’ve missed and want to reacquaint yourself with (the same can be said about reading a good book, or other activities – again, I’m just using working out as an example).

As you get this trend going, fit in a really late night run or something similar to talk about the next day – again, keep the enthusiasm going, then start bringing your gym stuff (or book, etc, depending on activity) “just incase things are really slow” and keep your eye out for that slowdown (maybe a few guys are out of the office that day), and then make your move. Be tactful, ask in advance of actually going, and tie it into grabbing a quick lunch on your way back up. Ask if the person (associate, etc) wants to join, double check before you actually head down, and see if the person needs anything first, or wants you to bring back anything, a drink, food, or such. The first time, maybe even the first few times, you may get shot down, or told something needs to be done and check back later – later may not come that day. Remember to be patient; don’t get frustrated as this is the hardest part. Once you get down those first few times and get back up pretty quickly (without incident – associate missing something or annoyed by your delay), you’ll begin to sense the good/right times to head down, and how long you probably have.

When you first start taking the time, keep it brief – 30-45 minutes, in order to ease everyone into the idea and not give anyone a poor impression of the activity/time away. Of course keep the blackberry on you at all times, check it frequently, and become adept at the 3-minute shower, just incase – especially in the beginning. Soon enough, you’ll be enjoying your workout, and may even recruit a few team members to join in on the fun. I know it sounds overdone and painfully elaborate, but bucking the norm is not an easy thing in this field, but in this case, not only something worth it, but in my opinion, something completely essential.

Again, this advice is for some of the more difficult groups out there; if a lot of your team already works out, or at least a few of them, then work on “buddying up” with some of the other guys, then show that it’s important to you – in other words, be the one who initiates the event and gets people excited about it (but don’t be pushy), and before you know it, you’ll be able to skip out without everyone joining in on the fun.