Post by @akkydoeslaw

Here’s how I worked 100+ hours a week on busy M&A deals as a corporate lawyer: 1. Caffeine, but plan it. Whether it’s a 10pm cappuccino or a 2am Red Bull, it’ll keep you upright. Just remember you do eventually want to sleep, so time it, don’t just keep topping up. 2. Watch what you eat for dinner. Salty, heavy food will make you groggy an hour later. I’d always go high protein, low carb. You feel the difference at 1am. 3. Keep drinking water. The only thing worse than working late is working late dehydrated. Headache, no focus, and you’ll blame the work when it was the water. 4. Get comfortable. Hoodie on, shoes off. Sounds small, but getting out of the uncomfortable stuff genuinely bought me a few extra hours of proper deep work. 5. Brain work early, mundane work late. Anything that needs real, do it in the evening while you can still think straight. Save the formatting, the checklists and the admin for 1am, because that’s all you’ll be good for. 6. Take the break. Go for a walk. Stand at the window. Ten minutes away from the screen can buy you another two hours of usable work. Pushing through never works as well as you think it will. 7. Cold Diet Coke and a few Haribo. Not scientific. But there’s something about a freezing cold Diet Coke at 3am that resets 8. Don’t do it alone if you can help it. If someone else in the office is also staying late, sit near them. Even a friend on the phone. The hours go so much faster when you’re not the only one still there. #lawyer #biglaw