Jeff Bezos has a net worth of over $202 billion, making him the third richest person in the world.
And although he spent many nights burning the midnight oil, the Amazon founder has revealed that his success is partly due to an hour-long morning ritual.
Bezos explained that he starts the day by walking around outside, with no screens, just him and his thoughts.
The billionaire has been taking a walk every morning since 2018 and swears that the routine has improved his decision-making skills and productivity, and that scientific research has backed up these claims.
Above, Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez take a stroll through the Sun Valley Resort in Idaho, July 10, 2024. Bezos’ fiancée Sanchez confirmed her partner’s commitment to keeping his morning hour “suddenly” free of “screen time” in a interview with People last month
When Bezos first laid out his morning strategy for putting time during his speech to the Economic Clubhe described that the process left him feeling refreshed for his most important meetings.
“That’s why I scheduled my first meeting for 10 o’clock,” Bezos told the Club.
‘ I like to have my high IQ meetings before lunch, because by 5 p.m. I’m thinking: I can’t think about his problem anymore today. Let’s try again tomorrow at 10am.’
The sleep Bezos gets before his time expires is also crucial to its success, as he told these business leaders gathered in the US capital.
‘I get up early. I’m going to bed early,” he explained.
The billionaire has further elaborated his book for 2020, Invent & Wander: The Collected Writings of Jeff Bezoswriting, “(I) need eight hours. I think better. I have more energy. My mood is better.’
Certified therapist Maris Loefflerwho specializes in treating anxiety and stress disorders at the Stanford Lifestyle Medicine Program, said early morning scrolling on your phone — or too many periods — can slowly erode your mental health.
“If you were to scroll on your phone for an hour one morning in bed, the negative consequences would be minimal,” Loeffler said in a recent publication with the program.
“But when it becomes a habit, day after day, month after month,” she explained, “this behavior can take its toll.”
Loeffler cited one neuroscientific study which found that increased screen use among adults can affect learning, memory function and mental health.
Another study she dug up disturbing connections have been made between routine TV viewing (five or more hours per day) and an increased risk of dementia, Parkinson’s and other brain-related diseases.
Further research has linked these phenomena to the gray matter volume in adult brainwhich seem to decrease in adults who are stuck staring at their screens two or more hours of screen time per day outside of work.
Bezos himself has been more self-deprecating and less specific about the evidence supporting the deliberately slow morning route.
Speaking to podcaster Lex Fridman last December, the billionaire defined his putter strategy as simply moving around slowly.
“I’m not as productive as you might think,” Bezos laughed.
“I move pretty slowly for the first few hours,” he said. ‘I get up early, very naturally. And you know, I work out most days.”