How does Apple CEO Tim Cook get up at 4 a.m. and read hundreds of customer emails
Highlight the point
1. Apple CEO Tim Cook wakes up at 4 a.m. every day to read hundreds of customer emails.
2. Cook is a very privacy-conscious person, but he occasionally reveals some details of his daily life.
3. Cook needs to host hours-long meetings every day and is usually the last person to leave the office.
Tencent Technology News reported on December 10 that according to foreign media reports, it takes a lot to manage the world's most valuable technology company, including getting up early every day. Apple CEO Tim Cook usually wakes up before dawn and reads hundreds of feedback emails from customers before heading to the gym. Once in the office, he will continue to work long hours and preside over lengthy meetings. Cook is notoriously privacy-conscious, but over the years, he has occasionally shared his daily schedule.
Let's take a look at how the Apple helmsman lives his day-to-day life:
1. Usually wake up between 4 and 5 a.m
"I wake up early, I'm an early bird," Cook said recently on singer Dua Lipa's podcast "Dua Lipa: At Your Service," noting that he usually wakes up between 4 and 5 a.m.
He said that when he wakes up early, he has the freedom to spend as much time as he sees fit.
In a 2021 interview with the Australian Financial Review, he said: "I have better control over the morning than I can do during the day and at night. Every day there are things that get you off track, but the morning belongs to you. Or should I say, the wee hours belong to me. ”
2. Spend about 1 hour after waking up and browsing hundreds of emails
Speaking on Lipa's podcast, Cook said: "I spend the first hour of my morning working on email, and I'm pretty religious about doing it. I read a lot of emails from clients and employees who tell me what they like about us, or what they would like us to change. The staff provided me with a lot of ideas. It's a way to align with the feeling of community, and I love that. ”
In 2014, Cook told ABC News that he received 700 or 800 emails a day and read "most of them," including customer feedback. "I have to admit that I couldn't read all of them, but I read a lot of them," he said. They keep me informed of my customers' feelings, thoughts, and behaviors. ”
Employees have also experienced Cook's early morning emails. In 2014, a person familiar with the matter said: "Tim got up very early and he was looking forward to you getting back to him before the sun rose." ”
3. I go to the gym a few days a week
Cook told Lipa: "I spend an hour in the gym, usually doing strength training, and somebody is really going to force me to do things I don't want to do. I didn't work at all during that time, I never looked at my phone, I just focused entirely on exercising. ”
The Wall Street Journal reported in 2014 that Cook did not work out on Apple's campus, instead opting for a gym where he was unlikely to meet the company's employees.
Cook said in 2018 that exercise helped "relieve my stress."
4. Take a shower after your workout and go to Starbucks
A 2012 Time magazine article reported that Cook would read more emails at Starbucks before going to the office.
It's unclear whether Cook regularly eats breakfast, but in a 2017 interview with New York Times columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin, he ate fried egg whites, sugar-free cereal, sugar-free almond milk and bacon.
5. Host marathon meetings every day
A 2014 Wall Street Journal article said that Mr. Cook moderated weekly meetings that could last five to six hours, and that he was known for his serious and demanding questions of employees. He'll say over a drink, "Talk about your numbers, or pull out your spreadsheet." ”
In 2008, Mike Janes, the former head of Apple's online store, recounted an afternoon meeting between him and Mr. Cook.
"A lot of us had tickets to the Mets baseball team that night," he said. After a few hours of meetings, he was still training us question after question as we stared at the clock like school-going kids. I still remember Cook opening another energy bar and saying, 'Okay, next question.' Needless to say, we missed that game. ”
Cook also doesn't mind sitting in silence until he gets a proper answer. CNN Finance has reported: "At meetings, Cook is known for his long, unsettling silences, and all you hear is the sound of him tearing the packaging of the energy bars he often eats." ”
As a result, according to the Wall Street Journal, employees have learned to be prepared to treat meetings as if they were exams.
6. Have a light lunch in the company cafeteria
The Wall Street Journal reported in 2014 that in addition to energy bars, Cook snacks all day long and sticks to foods like chicken and rice for lunch.
Cook has been known to have lunch with employees in the company cafeteria, while his predecessor, Steve Jobs, usually has lunch with Jonathan Ive, the design director.
Cook works long hours in the office every day
"I divide my time according to the time I spend with the product team, the marketing team, or the executive team, and we're either dealing with the day's issues or more focused on thinking about what's going forward," Cook said on Lippa's podcast. ”
When Cook was COO, everyone knew he was the first to come to the office and the last to leave.
7. Life after work is almost a mystery
It's unclear how Cook spends his weekends and evenings, although he enjoys the outdoors and enjoys rock climbing and cycling.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Cook's favorite vacation spots include Yosemite National Park and Zion National Park.
Fortune magazine introduced Cook in 2012 that he also vacationed at Canyon Ranch in Arizona, where guests found that he liked to be alone, often eating alone and reading on an iPad. (Compiler/Golden Deer)