When you think of someone like Jeff BezosIt is easy to assume that the founder of the largest online store and now the world’s largest retailer, as well as the richest person in the world, has many things to do. At least, until he was running Amazon until just a few months ago.
However, according to Bezos, the most valuable time of the day is the time spent doing nothing. At least nothing scheduled.
That is at least what counts in the book entitled Invent & Wander: The Collected Writings of Jeff Bezos, in which he writes:
I like to fool around in the morning. I get up early. I go to sleep early. I like to read the newspaper. I like to drink coffee. I like to have breakfast with my children before they go to school. So my free time is very important to me. That is why I scheduled my first meeting at ten.
Yes, the CEO of one of the most important companies in the world He does not meet before 10 in the morning because he values having time to “waste time.” Or, in other words, to do nothing.
It certainly doesn’t seem like it’s something the productivity gurus are advocating, but it’s probably a big part of Bezos’s success. The moral it makes is clear: Sometimes the best way to be more productive is to schedule time to do absolutely nothing.
Bezos also addresses other tips that are explained in the book. Here they go:
1. Set clear boundaries
In an age when many people work from home, it can be difficult to set boundaries and separate time for work and time for everything else. It is especially difficult when all of these things take place in the same physical space.
By intentionally keeping time to do nothingBy not scheduling meetings before 10 a.m., Bezos is able to create space for things that are just as important, like having breakfast with his kids. Most importantly, by making it part of your routine, you protect that time and ensure that you are not overwhelmed by the flood of incoming information and communications that can easily take over our day.
2. Increase the clearance for mishaps
Recommend always having extra time. Bezos’s trick is to make sure you prioritize the things you do to stop doing the less valuable ones and focus on what really matters. For example, it recommends reducing the time to meetings and repetitive tasks, which in the end end up being done yes or yes equally, but can be located at less specific times of the day.
3. Make decisions fast
“If I make, for example, three good decisions a day, that’s enough,” says Bezos, “And they must be of the highest quality you can take and fast.”
Bezos believes that the key to maintaining an innovative business is making “high-speed, high-quality decisions.”
In his 2015 letter to Amazon shareholders, Bezos wrote about the importance of speed and “agility” in making Amazon “a great company that is also an inventing machine”. Although he admits that some decisions are “irreversible or almost irreversible,” most – in his view – are not.
4. Rest and sleep well
“I prioritize sleep unless I’m traveling in different time zones. Sometimes getting eight hours is impossible, but I’m very focused on it, and I need eight hours. I think better. I have more energy. My mood is better, “Bezos writes.
There is a common misconception that to be productive you have to spend more time doing things. For many people that means working longer hours and sacrificing sleep, something Bezos is not in favor of.
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