Bill Gates doubts he would have become a billionaire if he had grown up in today’s world, surrounded by the distractions of smartphones and social media.
As the co-founder and former CEO of Microsoft, Gates played a key role in making computers and the internet widely accessible. However, he credits his success to the time he spent in his youth exploring the outdoors with friends, reading for hours, and thinking deeply without interruptions—habits he believes were instrumental in shaping his mindset.
“When I felt restless or bored—or got in trouble for misbehaving—I would retreat to my room and lose myself in books or ideas, often for hours without interruption,” Gates wrote in a recent blog post. “This ability to turn idle time into deep thinking and learning became a fundamental part of who I am. It was also crucial to my success later on.”
In the post, Gates recommended The Anxious Generation by NYU social psychologist Jonathan Haidt, a book that examines how smartphones and social media have altered the way young people think and contributed to a mental health crisis among Gen Z. The book highlights rising rates of loneliness, depression, and issues with memory and attention span due to constant digital distractions.
Gates contrasted his “play-based childhood,” which research shows fosters creativity, with today’s “phone-based childhood.” He argued that the constant interruptions and addictive nature of social media prevent children from developing strong attention spans, which he likened to muscles that need exercise.
Throughout his career, Gates has often attributed his achievements to his passion for reading and his ability to isolate himself for deep concentration. In the 1990s, as Microsoft’s CEO, he would retreat to a remote cabin for his annual “Think Week,” bringing only books and technical papers. These retreats, during which he avoided all distractions, including email, allowed him to focus deeply on brainstorming and strategizing. Some of his ideas during these sessions, such as the development of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser, went on to shape the company’s future.
Gates warned that the very technologies he helped popularize now threaten the deep focus necessary for breakthroughs. “Without the ability to focus intensely and follow an idea wherever it leads, the world could miss out on innovations that come from sustained thinking, even when the dopamine hit of a quick distraction is just a click away,” he wrote.
