How Bill Gates keeps his email, life, and reading list in check
In a blog post back in 2006, Bill Gates, then chairman, CEO and chief software architect at Microsoft, shared how he hacks his email with a simple solution — a larger three-monitor display area.
Back then, he was tackling more than 100 emails a day. With all his philanthropic work as co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, social activism and his continuing role as technical advisor to Microsoft, one can only speculate how much that number has grown.
With one monitor displaying incoming emails, one set on whatever email he's working on, and one screen for his regular desktop, he can multi-task without falling off a task. By concentrating on his work, one email on its own monitor at a time, Gates gives each correspondence the time and attention it deserves. This is something all younger entrepreneurs can implement into their lives.
Gates goes on an annual ThinkWeek to a cabin in the woods to completely unplug with reams of documents and books. By sequestering himself from all manner of distraction, he gets a years' work of reading and thinking in a week. He plans strategies, carefully examines the companies and organizations he's partnering with, and goes over his past year. ThinkWeek moves him into a mode of ultimate productivity.
