Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, explains why he is so productive. His important rule: No meetings before 10 a.m. And researchers confirm this. Those who start meetings only after 10 a.m. are demonstrably more productive.
In an interview with “The Economic Club of Washington”, he talked about productivity. Bezos explained that he follows a simple rule and only holds meetings between certain times. He explained among other things (via youtube.com):
Everything that really challenges the mind is a 10 a.m. meeting. Because by five o’clock in the afternoon I think: ‘I can’t think about that today. Let’s try again tomorrow at 10 a.m.’
In a podcast with Lex Fridman, he also admitted that he is quite lazy in the mornings and applies the so-called “one-hour rule.” Bezos confessed: “First of all, I wake up and laze around for a while. I’m not as productive as you might think.”
His morning routine consists of a leisurely breakfast and then a trip to the gym. Only after that does his actual workday begin. He never schedules a meeting before 10 a.m., because by then the brain has enough time to fully awaken.
Studies support Bezos: the highest concentration occurs after 10 a.m.
Studies confirm Bezos’s habits and narrow the window for productivity even further. For example, the magazine Zippia found in a representative study in 2023 that the best time for conferences is between 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. According to researchers, this is because one can work much more concentrated after sleep. In the afternoon, concentration noticeably wanes.
Josh Davis, author of “Two Awesome Hours: Science-Based Strategies to Harness Your Best Time” and “Get Your Most Important Work Done”, said in an interview with the English magazine Fast Company.
Even if you haven’t slept much, but enough, you probably have much more mental energy to deliberately refocus and let go of things that aren’t important. You can think creatively and have more capacity to use your prefrontal cortex instead of being on autopilot.
The prefrontal cortex is part of the frontal lobe of the cerebral cortex and is primarily responsible for emotional evaluations in addition to memory.
Meetings have long been considered the ultimate productivity killer in the office. A study by Microsoft notes that the number of meetings have reportedly increased significantly in recent years. But this is exactly what makes it difficult for employees to complete tasks because they have to be in meetings.
A CEO dismisses 90% of the staff for not showing up to a meeting. This attracts a lot of criticism of the CEO. But he explains that the decision would have been the right one: the company is doing better than ever before and the attempt to “cancel” him completely backfired: A CEO dismisses 90% of his employees for not showing up to a meeting – and is still proud of it
