This is an as-told-to essay based on a conversation with Amanda Luther, a managing director and senior partner at Boston Consulting Group, based in Austin. Luther has been with the firm for almost two decades, focusing on AI strategy and implementation for clients across various industries, particularly in the restaurant sector. This story has been edited for length and clarity.
Work-life balance is never easy to master, but after more than 14 years at Boston Consulting Group, I’ve learned how to keep up with the consultant schedule — and still get a full night’s sleep.
My days are usually packed with meetings, some of which involve tough conversations with clients. But I have one non-negotiable: I always make time to read at the end of the day.
I wake up around 7 a.m. and get in some basketball.
I’m a big basketball player. It’s like my “Zen moment” to just go through my shooting routine at a local neighborhood park.
I come home, shower, and get ready. Then walk to our Austin office, which is about 15 minutes away from my apartment. I’ll grab coffee and breakfast tacos from my favorite taco spot, Veracruz, along the way.
Mornings are my ‘deep thinking’ time.
I focus on preparing for client discussions and broader AI research. I’m leading a lot of our research into AI trends, so I spend time reading internal BCG communications and AI-related newsletters.
One of the things we send around is “Here are the top 10 things to read this week,” and that’s usually an aggregation from 10 different media sources.
I hate podcasts. That’s my hot take. I’d rather read anything that hits my inbox about AI.
I’m also in an AI group chat with some of my former classmates from Stanford. Many of them work in AI, as academics, investors, and engineers, so we all compare notes a bit.
Afternoons are filled with internal meetings.
There’s low-grade tension almost every day because we’re pushing people and pushing ourselves.
Right now, at the C-Suite level at many companies, the AI question feels almost existential. They know they need to do something about AI — everyone’s talking about it, their boards are asking — but they’re also hearing that most projects fail. They’re caught between those two tension points.
As you go deeper into organizations, the questions become more personal: What does this mean for me and my role? People start to feel protective of how things have always been.
AI is definitely converging with the restaurant industry, too. For years, there’s been innovation on the customer side — apps, personalization, machine learning to predict next best actions, even chatbots for ordering.
What’s really exciting now is the operational side: putting the right intelligence in a shift manager’s hands. Running a quick-service restaurant is incredibly complex — you’re taking orders, filling drinks, and handing out food. AI can simplify that work.
I’m sometimes in tough conversations about people’s careers, and it’s not uncommon for emotions to come up. Sometimes people cry, and that’s natural. I keep a box of tissues nearby, and I just tell them, “It’s OK. Take your time.” It’s important to remember that people are human in those moments.
What makes me anxious before walking into the office has changed over the years. I don’t really get nervous about meetings anymore. I’ve had enough of them to know they’ll go fine. What I do get anxious about is whether I’m putting my teams in the right positions. Consulting is episodic. If someone misses a good project, that opportunity might not come again for months. So I spend a lot of time thinking about how to move the pieces around.
And then there’s the constant time crunch. Right now, for example, I’m trying to finish a perspective on generative AI, and I just need two uninterrupted hours to sit down and think. It’s work I want to do — it’s fun — but finding that time is the hard part. Thankfully, I have an assistant.
By 5 p.m. I’m often flying out to another city.
I’m a direct flight loyalist.
I’m usually traveling within the United States, depending on where client work takes me. Over the past few months, I’ve been flying frequently to Dallas, which is quick and easy, as well as Chicago, and Minneapolis, which has quietly become my new favorite city.
Flight delays are the part of my schedule that feels the most fragile. I’m over-scheduled, and so I’m often traveling to two, three, sometimes four different cities a week. My assistant and I stay in constant contact to keep the schedule optimized, sometimes hour by hour.
My strong preference is to get seven to eight hours of sleep each night. When I’m in control of my schedule, I can usually make that happen, but flight delays are one of the biggest obstacles to that.
I try to use my commute time well. That’s probably my best productivity hack. I will make sure that I’m on a one-on-one call with someone on my walk into the office or on the way to the airport. Otherwise, that’s dead time that you’re just wasting.
I always make time for personal reading.
I read every day. I read a hundred books a year, which tends to shock people given my schedule.
I’m going through the biographies of every US president in order. I just finished the John Quincy Adams biography, which is amazing. He’s an impressive guy.
I’m also a big science fiction reader. I’ve been slowly but surely making my way through all the Hugo Award winners.
I need a weekend reset.
By Friday afternoon, I’m ready for two days completely off. When Monday comes, I’m back to the puzzle — moving the pieces around and solving something new. That’s what keeps me here.
Another thing that keeps me going is sugar. Anytime I can get a good cookie during the day, that’s a big plus.
