Eric Schmidt, whose net worth is hovering around $45 billion, knows what it takes to climb the corporate ladder in Silicon Valley, having spent a decade as CEO of Google. Yet the secret to his success is not racking up endless hours in the office.
Instead, Schmidt credits a deceptively simple habit, one he calls a game changer for anyone seeking meaningful productivity gains: Set aside a few undisturbed hours each weekend for reflection, and grab a pen and paper. No screens allowed.
This approach, which Schmidt revealed during a recent interview on The Gstaad Guy Podcast hosted by Gustaf Lundberg Toresson, traces back to his mentorship by the late great Bill Campbell, legendary coach to tech’s most influential leaders.
“You work really hard during the week, as hard as you can—you know, 12 hours, 14-hour days, whatever—and on the weekends, when you’re at home or with your family or whatever, carve out a few hours to think,” Schmidt said on the podcast. “Turn off the phone. You’re not texting. You’re not looking at Instagram and so forth. And think and write down your assessment of what you did last week, and then what you need to do next week to address the things you forgot to do last week.”
He insists this simple practice can be transformative because it helps you practice focusing on accountability. “It’s a good trick because it forces you to take charge of your next week. Like, ‘Oh, I forgot that I have a sales problem over there,’ or ‘I forgot I was supposed to call this person.’ ‘Oh, I didn’t have this proposal, and I had this idea, but I didn’t get to it.’ And that usually works pretty well,” he said.
This practice isn’t about squeezing more tasks into the weekend. It’s about using downtime to recalibrate. Schmidt said he eventually found his optimal workweek to be about 63 hours—not the more than 80-hour marathons of his younger years—which just goes to show that more time at the desk doesn’t always lead to better outcomes. “You hit declining marginal productivity,” he said on the podcast, adding that too much “slaving away” can actually erode results.
He also makes clear that reflection is not just for CEOs or entrepreneurs. Anyone, from engineers to junior staff, can benefit, especially in a world saturated with digital noise and the ever-present risk of distraction. In an era where “attention has become a form of currency,” he said, the need to carve out thoughtful time while unplugged from our cavalcade of electronic distractions has never been greater.
According to Schmidt, adopting this weekend habit can help you catch small problems before they grow into big ones, and let you stay focused on important matters. As Schmidt notes, “writing things down equals clarity”—and that clarity is what keeps the world’s most powerful leaders not just busy, but effective.
You can watch the full Gstaad Guy episode featuring Eric Schmidt below:
For this story, Fortune used generative AI to help with an initial draft. An editor verified the accuracy of the information before publishing.