Scott Shapiro, MD

Organizational and Executive Coach
Specializing in Workplace Performance and Productivity

ADHD

7 Strategies for Bankers, Private Equity, and Hedge Fund Professionals to Improve Focus and Performance

Investing banking, hedge fund, financial industry, private equity, improving focus and performance - elite performance
Improve Productivity and Reach Your Goals – Productivity Coach, Scott Shapiro, MD – Executive Coach – Achieving Elite Performance Photo Credit-iStock AndreyPopov

In high-stakes finance, your edge isn’t just your intellect—it’s your ability to focus under pressure, make sharp decisions, and sustain performance over long hours and volatile conditions. Whether you’re on the buy-side analyzing a deal, in meetings from dawn until after the market closes, or managing a demanding client portfolio, the ability to direct your mental energy is what separates top performers from the rest.

As a psychiatrist and executive coach based in New York City, I work with investment bankers, private equity leaders, and hedge fund professionals to fine-tune their performance using strategies grounded in neuroscience, behavioral psychology, and real-world application. These seven strategies will help you cut through mental clutter, protect your cognitive bandwidth, and perform at your best—without burning out.

1. Win the First 90 Minutes of Your Day and Boost Your Performance

Start your day with intention, not reaction. Avoid diving into emails, Slack, or Bloomberg alerts the moment you wake up. Instead, use your first 90 minutes for high-leverage thinking—developing an investment thesis, planning a pitch, or outlining your talking points for a key meeting. During this time, block distractions, protect your calendar, and focus on value-generating work. This primes your brain for clarity and sets the tone for the rest of the day.

2. Apply the “One-In, One-Out” Rule to Your Mental Bandwidth

Your brain, like your portfolio, has limited capacity. If you’re juggling six priorities simultaneously, you’re not executing any of them optimally. High performers often overestimate how much they can take on without mental cost. Adopt a rule: for every major commitment or new deal that enters your pipeline, something must exit or be deprioritized. Protecting cognitive bandwidth improves accuracy and sharpens strategic thinking.

3. Use “Power Sprints” to Drive Deep Work

Work in targeted sprints—45 to 60 minutes of uninterrupted, distraction-free focus. Turn off notifications, close unused browser tabs, and keep only the materials relevant to the task in front of you. After the sprint, take a 5–10 minute break to reset. These focused bursts are ideal for financial modeling, analyzing data, or writing investment memos. Over time, this approach trains your brain for depth and precision.

4. Shift from Reactive to Proactive Communication

Constant communication can fracture focus. Slack messages, email chains, and meeting overload often make people feel productive without actually producing. To regain control, block specific times for communication and protect other windows for strategy and execution. Create a culture around intentional check-ins rather than defaulting to always-on responsiveness. You’ll be more focused—and more respected—for it.

5. Preload Decisions to Reduce Mental Fatigue

Decision fatigue is real, and in finance, the number of micro-decisions you make daily is staggering. Create routines and systems to offload low-impact decisions. This might mean setting a fixed morning routine, automating calendar priorities, or standardizing how you review new opportunities. By conserving your mental energy for high-value calls—like investment evaluations, hiring, or negotiation—you improve decision quality when it matters most.

6. Audit Your Calendar Like a Portfolio

Time is your scarcest resource. Every meeting should have a clear return on time (ROT). Review your calendar weekly and ask: which meetings are aligned with my priorities, and which are legacy obligations? Cut or consolidate anything that isn’t moving the needle. Just as you wouldn’t hold a non-performing asset, don’t allow time-sinks to accumulate. The highest performers are ruthless about protecting time for thinking, creating, and executing.

7. Recover as Intentionally as You Work

High performers often treat recovery as optional, but it’s non-negotiable for sustained performance. Chronic stress and sleep deprivation shrink the prefrontal cortex—the part of the brain responsible for focus, planning, and impulse control. Build recovery into your schedule the way you build in earnings calls or board meetings. Even 10 minutes of mindfulness, walking without your phone, or breathwork can reset your nervous system and boost clarity. Recovery isn’t a weakness—it’s a performance multiplier.

Final Thought

The intensity of banking, private equity, and hedge fund environments doesn’t just demand technical excellence—it demands mental agility, emotional control, and sustainable focus. You can’t afford to burn out, zone out, or get caught in a loop of busywork that doesn’t move your career or your firm forward.

These strategies aren’t about doing more—they’re about doing what matters with precision and consistency.

If you’re ready to operate at the next level—strategically, cognitively, and emotionally—visit www.scottshapiromd.com. I work with high-achieving professionals in finance to sharpen their edge, unlock performance gains, and sustain long-term success in the most competitive environments.

7 Strategies for Lawyers to Improve Focus and Productivity

Credit: iStock Hispanolistic- Scott Shapiro, MD – Productivity and Performance Coach for Lawyers in NYC

Often, lawyers can improve their success by improving their focus and productivity. The profession demands long hours, sustained attention, constant decision-making, and the ability to rapidly switch between tasks without missing critical details. The stakes are high, and so is the pressure. Over time, even the most accomplished attorneys can find their focus slipping—especially in today’s distraction-saturated world.

As a psychiatrist and executive coach who specializes in performance and productivity, I work with high-performing professionals—including many lawyers—to help them sharpen their focus and operate at peak performance. The following seven strategies are based on cognitive neuroscience, behavioral psychology, and real-world experience in helping attorneys get more done with less stress.

1. Start Your Day With One Big Win and Boost Your Productivity

Before you check email or respond to texts, identify the most important task of the day—the one that moves the needle forward. This is often a brief, high-impact action: drafting a key section of a brief, preparing for a negotiation, or organizing your notes for court. Even 60–90 minutes of uninterrupted work on this priority can build momentum and change the tone of your day.

Think of this as your “anchor task.” Complete it early, and you’ll feel more focused and in control the rest of the day.

2. Use the 52/17 Focus Rhythm

The human brain is not designed to work for hours at a stretch without rest. One of the most effective productivity patterns I teach is the 52/17 rhythm: 52 minutes of focused work followed by 17 minutes of active rest. During the 52 minutes, eliminate all distractions—no email, no multitasking, no Slack. During the 17-minute break, get up, stretch, take a walk, or engage in light conversation. This rhythm prevents burnout and enhances sustained attention.

3. Schedule “Cognitive Sprints” Instead of Open-Ended Work

Lawyers often leave open-ended time blocks to “work on that memo,” which invites procrastination. Instead, reframe your work into sprints. For example, “For the next 25 minutes, I’ll outline the argument section.” The time constraint creates urgency, and the narrow focus reduces overwhelm.

Cognitive sprints improve both quality and efficiency. They’re especially helpful when you’re facing a large, ambiguous task that feels hard to start.

4. Practice Strategic Email Hygiene

Email is one of the most common productivity traps for attorneys. Rather than checking constantly throughout the day, batch your email into 2–3 focused windows—ideally after completing your anchor task. Turn off notifications and resist the urge to reply instantly unless it’s urgent.

Use folders and filters to prioritize client communications. A good rule: if a reply takes less than two minutes, handle it during one of your email windows. If not, schedule a specific time to respond thoughtfully.

5. Use Mental Anchors to Transition Between Tasks

Context switching is a major drain on cognitive energy. Instead of jumping from one task to another, take 60 seconds to mentally “close the loop” on the previous task—write down where you left off, what’s next, and any loose ends. Then take a brief moment to breathe, stretch, or walk before diving into the next priority. This practice resets your attention and helps you stay fully present.

6. Clarify What “Done” Looks Like

Vague goals like “work on deposition questions” tend to linger on to-do lists. Instead, define what completion means: “Write five questions for the expert witness” or “Outline the main argument threads.” When your brain knows exactly what the finish line is, it’s easier to focus and easier to stop when you’ve achieved it. Clarity reduces cognitive load and increases productivity.

7. Protect Sleep Like You Protect a Court Deadline

High-functioning lawyers often sacrifice sleep in the name of productivity. But chronic sleep deprivation impairs decision-making, focus, memory, and mood—exactly the functions legal work depends on. Treat sleep like an investment in your performance. Set a hard stop to your workday, dim screens at night, and establish a calming pre-bed routine. Even an extra 30–45 minutes of sleep can improve your mental sharpness the next day.

Final Thought

Improving focus and productivity as a lawyer doesn’t require working harder—it requires working smarter. By implementing these science-backed strategies, you can reduce mental fatigue, get more meaningful work done in less time, and perform at the level your clients, colleagues, and your own standards demand.

If you’re interested in learning more about how to optimize your mental performance, productivity, and leadership as a high-achieving attorney, visit www.scottshapiromd.com. I work with professionals like you to remove mental roadblocks and help you function at your best—consistently.

7 Tips to Energize Your Life

Executive Coach NYC Productivity Goals
source: michaelpuche
 

7 Productivity Strategies to Take Your Career to the Next Level

Tina*, a 27-year-old married financial analyst, reached out for help advancing her career. She was already successful but felt stuck—and wanted support from a productivity consultant to increase her energy, improve her work-life balance, and achieve a higher income.

During our first meeting, we explored her past achievements and identified her goals. Through our work together, we focused on practical tools that boosted her performance and helped her thrive both professionally and personally.

Here are seven strategies I used to help Tina—and that may help you, too.

1. Observe Rumination

Rumination is the habit of replaying the same thoughts over and over. It can drain your mental energy and leave you feeling stuck.

Trying to push the thoughts away often makes them more persistent. Instead, try simply observing and labeling them. You might say, “Oh, that’s a ruminating thought,” or “There’s my obsessive thinking.”

Research shows that naming your thoughts can reduce their intensity and help them pass more quickly.

2. Increase Structure

A structured routine creates a sense of stability and calm. Using a calendar to plan your day can improve your productivity, reduce decision fatigue, and help you stay organized.

Even adding a loose “game plan” for your day can improve your focus and energy.

3. Notice Your Self-Talk

High-achieving professionals often carry an inner voice that says they’re not doing enough. This “inner critic” may come from early experiences and can sound like:

  • “I’m always screwing things up.”

  • “This will never be good enough.”

  • “What if this fails?”

When you hear your inner critic, try labeling it: “Ah, there’s the inner critic.” Then, gently remind yourself: “I’m a work in progress.”

Decades of research show that how we speak to ourselves has a powerful impact on how we feel and act.

4. Improve Sleep

Restful sleep is essential for energy, emotional regulation, and mental clarity. If your sleep is suffering, consider these tips:

  • Limit screens three to four hours before bedtime

  • Stick to a consistent evening routine

  • Keep your sleep space calm, cool, and uncluttered

  • Use white noise or earplugs if needed

  • Exercise earlier in the day—ideally not within three hours of bedtime

Better sleep often translates to better focus and performance.

5. Make Time for Fun

Many ambitious professionals overlook fun—but doing things you enjoy is vital to mental health and motivation.

Fun doesn’t have to be elaborate. Watch a comedy special, play with your dog, spend time with friends, or revisit an artistic passion. When you regularly do something enjoyable, you’re more likely to feel balanced and energized.

6. Set Meaningful Goals

Think of your goals as a map. They guide your energy and create a sense of momentum.

Start by identifying both short-term goals (one month out) and long-term goals (within a year). The most effective goals are specific, measurable, and tied to a clear action plan. For example:

  • “Increase sales by $40,000 over three months.”

  • “Eat dinner with my family three times a week.”

Track your progress with checklists or charts to stay accountable and motivated.

Want more tips on setting goals that stick? Visit this article on setting goals with ADHD.

7. Prioritize Cardiovascular Exercise

Cardio isn’t just good for your body—it’s one of the most powerful tools for mental health and productivity.

Activities like running, biking, dancing, or swimming can boost dopamine (a key brain chemical linked to motivation) and release endorphins that improve your mood. Even 20–30 minutes a few times a week can make a noticeable difference in your energy and outlook.

Final Thoughts

Taking your career to the next level takes courage—and you’re already on the path by seeking out strategies like these. I hope these ideas help you stay energized, focused, and aligned with your goals.

For more success strategies, coaching resources, and performance tools, visit www.theproductivitycoachnyc.com and www.scottshapiromd.com.

*Disclaimer: Names and details have been changed to protect confidentiality.