As Microsoft’s CEO, Bill Gates has a packed schedule — even sending employees 2:00 a.m. requests.
It wasn’t until he read Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett’s personal diary that Gates learned to relax a bit with himself and his employees.
“I schedule every minute to the full, and I think that’s the only way to do things,” Gates said. tell reporter charlie rose In an interview with Buffett in 2017, he said. “(I) remember Warren showing me his calendar … he (still) has days that don’t have anything on it.”
Buffett’s sparse schedule taught Gates an important lesson: “You control your time .
Buffett added: “Basically, I can buy anything I want, but I can’t buy time.”
Buffett’s approach, essentially “work smarter, not harder,” is actually backed by science. When working more than 50 hours per week, worker proficiency drops off sharply, Study at Stanford University in 2014 established.
Research shows that people who work 70 hours a week get the same amount of work done as someone who hunkers down at their laptop for 55 hours.
Gates is not the only CEO who has learned the hard way. For example, Tesla CEO Elon Musk told CNBC’s David Faber in May that he had previously said he often worked all night, but now he works at least Get six hours of sleep.
“I try to sleep less, but … even though I’m awake longer, I get less work done,” Musk said. “If I get less than six hours[of sleep]the pain level in the brain is very bad.”
Getting there may not be easy for some. It took Gates years to find a healthy work-life balance, he said in a recent commencement speech at Northern Arizona University.
“When I was your age, I didn’t believe in vacations. I didn’t believe in weekends. And I didn’t believe that the people I worked with should,” Gates said.
“Don’t wait as long as I did to learn your lesson,” he added. “Take time to cultivate your relationships, celebrate your successes, and recover from your losses. Take breaks when you need them. Be kind to those around you when they need them too.”
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