Jeff Bezos claims that he is smarter because of the one-hour rule. According to New Neuroscience, He's Correct

Many CEOs, including Apple’s Tim Cook and Pepsi’s Indra Nooyi, talk about their intense morning rituals. Not Jeff Bezos. The Amazon founder is famous for his morning routines in the early hours of the day to … puttering?

Bezos’s no-screen morning routine

Back in 2018, Bezos laid out his normal morning ritual in a lecture at the Economic Club of Washington. It involves reading the paper, sipping coffee, and eating breakfast with his family. You know what his “puttering time” does not include? Looking at his phone.

In a recent interview with People, Bezos’s fiancée, Lauren Sanchez, verified her boyfriend is devoted to lazy mornings, adding, “We don’t get on our phones. That’s one of the rules.”

Why has Bezos restricted screen time for the first hour after waking? It’s possible that his one-hour restriction is partially about personal choice. We’re all wired differently when it comes to our shifting energy levels and tolerance for stimulus, and experts claim we function best when our routines respect our individual cycles rather than resisting them.

But Bezos thinks his puttering doesn’t only help him appreciate life more. In the same 2018 address, he argued his slow life, phone-free mornings increase his energy levels and decision-making skills all day long.

The newest neurobiology says he’s on to something with this assertion. Neuroscience mornings lead to wiser, healthier days, and new data strongly indicates more of us should borrow Bezos’s one-hour rule.

This is your brain on too much screen time.

“If you scrolled on your phone in bed for an hour just one morning, the negative impacts would be minimal. But if it becomes a habit, day after day, month after month, this behavior may take a toll,” Maris Loeffler, of the Stanford Lifestyle Medicine Program, explains in a recent blog post from the program.

Phones are a pervasive aspect of contemporary life. You can’t avoid them, and you may very easily overdo it. The Stanford piece puts together a series of very terrifying new discoveries from neuroscience on what happens when you spend too much time in front of a screen. They include:

One research study demonstrating greater usage of screens among adults may affect learning, memory, and mental health.

Another research indicated that those who watched TV for five hours or more each day had an elevated chance of acquiring brain-related disorders like dementia or Parkinson’s.

Yet more research indicating that individuals who participate in two or more hours of screen usage each day outside work had reduced gray matter capacity in their brains.

Adding to the harmful impacts on the brain, excessive screen time has also been related to eye issues, poor sleep, and back discomfort. All in all, it’s a rather bleak picture of what our communal phone fixation is doing to our brains and bodies.

“Passive screen time is like eating sugar but for your brain. It ‘tastes’ nice, and you want it immediately, but you’re not truly feeding yourself. You’re not providing your brain any nutrition,” Loeffler sums up.

What to do in the morning instead of glancing at your phone

What is her and other experts’ main tip to help us all keep our screen usage within safe limits? None other than Bezos’s one-hour rule.

“Stanford Lifestyle Medicine experts recommend no screen time for the first hour of the day,” the blog post bluntly advises, presenting a menu of alternative activities that are healthier for your brain during the first hour of your day (I’ve provided links to further information about the advantages of each):

Exercise

Call a friend or family member.

Prepare a nutritious breakfast.

Meditate

Listen to music

Create a gratitude list

Read a book

Spend time outdoors and get dawn light.

“How do you want your day’s energy and mood to start?” Loeffler asks. “Intentionally implementing a morning routine that reflects lifestyle medicine choices instead of screen time sets a positive tone for the day and supports brain health and cognitive enhancement.”

Which would come as no surprise to Jeff Bezos. He’s been applying neuroscience’s best practices for a brain-boosting morning routine for years. Maybe more of us should put down our phones in the morning and do the same.

This article was first published on Inc.com. Books and authors mentioned include affiliate links, meaning I get a small compensation if you click and go on to purchase them.

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