‘I didn’t believe in vacations until...’: Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates opens up on work priorities

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‘I didn’t believe in vacations until...’: Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates opens up on work priorities

Earlier this year, Bill Gates delivered a commencement address to students at Northern Arizona University where he advised them to not work so hard that they forget to live their lives

There was a time when Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates didnt believe in weekends or vacations

SUMMARY

Gates revealed that earlier he didn’t believe in the concept of vacations or weekends
Gates advises students to take time to nurture relationships, celebrate successes, and recover from losses instead of just delving into work all the time
According to Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy, people in India should have a 70-hour work week to become a developed nation

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates reveals that he was more of a workaholic and didn’t believe in the concept of vacations until he became a father himself. In the year-end blog post, he wrote, “When I was my kids’ age, I didn’t believe in vacations or weekends. But as I got older—and especially since I became a father—I realized there is more to life than work.”

In the blog post, he added, “I hope you’re able to take some time this holiday season to have fun and relax before we dive into 2024.”

This is not the first time that Gates has spoken about work-life balance. Earlier this year, he delivered a commencement address to students at Northern Arizona University. In his speech, he advised students not to work so hard that they forget to live their lives. “When I was your age, I didn’t believe in vacations. I didn’t believe in weekends. I didn’t believe the people I worked with should either,” he said. It took becoming a dad for him to realise “there’s more to life than work,” he noted.

He added, “Don't wait as long as I did to learn this lesson. Take time to nurture your relationships, to celebrate your successes, and to recover from your losses."

On comedian Trevor Noah’s podcast ‘What Now?’, Gates stated that with the help of artificial intelligence, a three-day work week will be possible. He said there could one day be a time when humans "don't have to work so hard."

This stands contrary to what Infosys co-founder Narayan Murthy believes. According to him, people in India should have a 70-hour work week to become a developed nation. Murthy argued that India's low productivity was a major obstacle to the country's economic growth. He said that young Indians needed to be willing to work long hours if they wanted to succeed in the growing global economy. This has sparked a debate in India.

For those who are unaware, the average number of working hours in India is 47.7 hours per week, according to the International Labour Organization (ILO) which is significantly higher than in the US where the average is 37.5 hours per week.