The habit that Bill Gates changed to be successful and you should change too to have a prosperous future
Bill Gates is the co-founder of Microsoft. However, he has for some time now become a reference for his philosophy. Many of the talks he gives provide very useful advice.
In a Q&A with billionaire investor Warren Buffett, Gates himself revealed a habit he had as a student that didn’t work for him. But by changing it, he achieved success.
He also revealed in this interview, according to Onda Cero, that Bill Gates, during his time as a university student, used to study on the last day, or at most two days before, Harvard University exams.
In fact, this isn’t the only reference Gates has made to this bad habit. In an interview with students from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s College of Business, he revealed to them that his worst habit was procrastination and that it was hurting him at work.
But it wasn't just him. The fact that he was making this mistake, leaving everything until the last minute, also affected the other people who worked with him. And that's when he realized that he had to change so that he wouldn't hurt others.
“That was my attitude: I was the guy who didn’t do anything until the last minute,” Bill Gates said in a speech to students, according to CNBC. “When I got into business, that was a bad habit and it took me two years to get over it.”
To avoid this, he had to create a healthy routine and focus on not procrastinating again. And thanks to that, he got the success he enjoys now.
There are several reasons why a person procrastinates, but the most common is lack of motivation or not doing other tasks that are more enjoyable for that person. The problem is that this bad habit can cause negative results at work and also on the person’s mental health.
Therefore, some of the practices used to get rid of procrastination in daily life are:
- Organize time, and set a schedule to complete tasks without postponing them, with a priority system to do the most urgent tasks first.
- The two-minute rule, which is to do something for a set period of time and then rest.
- The Pomodoro Technique, which involves focusing on a task for 20-25 minutes and then resting for 5 minutes. Once four cycles are completed, a longer 15-minute break is taken and the cycles resume.
- Set rewards for yourself for the tasks that are completed.
Of course, in addition to the work period, it is also advisable to schedule breaks during which you can disconnect and do other enjoyable tasks that help reduce stress levels and at a steady pace.
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