Jeff Bezos on why 8 hours of sleep is important when making decisions

Amy
Harris/AP Photos

• Jef Bezos said he makes sure to get 8 hours of sleep
  every night, explaining that he doesn’t want to risk making
  poor executive decisions because he’s “tired or
  grouchy.”
• The Amazon CEO also said he will only take on “mentally
  challenging” discussions and decisions before lunch – otherwise
  he leaves it for the next morning.

To ensure he’s not “tired or grouchy” when making important
decisions, Jeff Bezos says he makes an effort to get at least

8 hours of sleep every night.

In an interview with David Rubenstein, co-founder and
co-executive chairman of The Carlyle Group at the Washington
Hilton, the Amazon CEO discussed some of his habits and
daily life at Amazon. 

“I prioritize (sleep),” Bezos said. “I think better. I have
more energy. My mood is better.”

“As a senior executive, you get paid to make a small number
of high-quality decisions. Your job is not to make thousands of
decisions every day,” Bezos said. “Is that really worth it if the
quality of those decisions might be lower because you’re tired or
grouchy?”

Bezos has talked about the importance of getting 8 hours of sleep
before.

“Eight hours of sleep makes a big difference for me, and I
try hard to make that a priority. For me, that’s the needed
amount to feel energized and excited,”
Bezos said in a 2016 interview. “Mostly, as any of us go
through our lives, we don’t need to maximize the number of
decisions we make per day. Making a small number of key decisions
well is more important than making a large number of
decisions. If you shortchange your sleep, you might
get a couple of extra ‘productive’ hours, but that productivity
might be an illusion. When you’re talking about decisions and
interactions, quality is usually more important than
quantity.”

Speaking to the crowd at the Washington Hilton, Bezos also said
he only does his “high IQ” meetings that could be “mentally
challenging” before lunch — otherwise he waits until the next
day.

“I go to bed early and I get
up early,” Bezos said. “I like to putter in the morning. So
I like to read the newspaper. I like to have coffee. I
like have breakfast with my kids before they go to school.”

Watch the full interview with Bezos here: