Overwork

I had a great weekend up in Napa celebrating our close friends Sam and Leili getting married. We had a ton of fun in the sun on Friday doing a bit of wine tasting and relaxing. The wedding on Saturday was absolutely gorgeous and I had a great time.

Sophia made sure we got some naps in on both Friday and Saturday, and that was sorely needed. As someone who doesn’t nap often, falling asleep for 1.5+ hours on both days was a sign as any that I’ve been putting my body through a lot and I need more rest.

I was reading about the sad news about the Bank of America junior investment banker who passed away from exhaustion after working multiple 120+ hour weeks. While he was a junior banker, he was also a former Green Beret or special forces operator in the army. This is someone who has gone through grueling training in their lifetime, not someone who is fresh out of college.

I know investment banking is a grueling and brutal job that most know what they’re getting into, but losing your life over work is just not it. We all go through busy weeks of work, but working that many hours in a week back to back is just not sustainable. I’ve never worked in banking, but I have gone through weeks of 80+ hour weeks and your brain and body can only go through so much.

I can only imagine what that individual’s family is going through and I hope this brings some changes to the industry. No one should ever be put in a position that their lives are ruined because of work, yet alone losing their lives because of it.

For myself, I’m lucky to be working at a company where we acknowledge the realities and challenges of startup life, but also put a premium on work-life balance. It’s a reminder for myself to always look out for folks on the team who may be overworked and provide my support.