Darren – What kind of work do you do?

I chose to go to McKinsey and Company here in Chicago.  McKinsey is a managerial consulting firm, and we basically go and help companies solve tough problems.  At McKinsey I started off as an associate, and now I’m an engagement manager, which means I’m the guy who’s in charge of a few new associates or younger tenured people. The model at McKinsey is fly to the client on either Sunday night or Monday morning.  So I get up at maybe 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning on Monday, and then we drive to the airport, take the earlier flight out.  I have to take the flight that fits my wheelchair though, so I can’t always take the commuter jet that’s at the right time.  I got to take at least a 737 where my chair will fit.  And then we get to the client probably between 10:00 am and noon on Monday, and then my typical schedule is I work until about 10:00pm or midnight.  I try to have lights out by midnight, doesn’t always work that way, but I’ve found I need to be out of my chair about a minimum of six hours a day for my body to kind of recover.  But I get up at 6:00 am in the morning, and I’ll be working in at 7:00 am, and then again, typically work until 10:00.  And then I fly home Thursday evening, hopefully without delays, you’re back in Chicago by 10:00 that Thursday night.  And then Fridays are a bit nicer; we work, you know, eight or nine hours on Friday.  And then, I’m very protective of my weekends, so unless there’s a big fire drill with a client, I try to work only Sunday evenings to get ready for the week again.  But I typically don’t look at my Blackberrys on a Saturday.  That’s my one rule.