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Imagine youre Mark Zuckerberg. What does an average day at work look like for you? Most people with experience in management would probably guess the Facebook boss spends his working hours in an endless series of meetings. Maybe he even schedules his time down to the minute like his fellow billionaires Bill Gates and Elon Musk. But when Zuckerberg sat down for a fireside chat with Stripe co-founder John Collison recently and described his productivity system, it looked nothing like the overscheduled meeting mania many leaders suffer through. Instead, Zuckerberg claimed favors an alternate approach to productivity (and sanity) favored by many other superachievers, from Google executives to Albert Einstein. Its called the 80% rule. Why Mark Zuckerberg avoids one-on-one meetings The relevant portion of the conversation kicks off when Collison asks Zuckerberg how he organizes his time “to actually spend time on the things that you think are valuable for the company. Its a key question faced not just by the CEOs of multibillion-dollar behemoths but by everyday small-business owners and middle managers too. Which makes Zuckerbergs answer even more fascinating. While he talks to his team informally frequentlyI talk to all these people more than they want to talk to me, he jokesZuckerberg generally tries to avoid standing, regular one-on-one meetings. Instead, he tells Collison, I try to generally keep a bunch of time open in his schedule. Why? Stuff is pretty dynamic and you wake up in the morning and you’re like, Okay, I need to work on these three things today. I want to make sure that I have a block of time where I can go do that, he explains. Slack in his schedule allows Zuckerberg to be more agile, but it also helps him keep an even keel mentally. I get really frustrated and in a bad mood if my whole day is scheduled and there’s a thing that I know is really important and I don’t get time to do it because I’m sitting in other things that are not the most important thing to be doing, he complains. You have too many days like that in a row and I just like explode. Which is why hes such a firm believer in keeping a meaningful amount of your time open. That way we can have space for reflection and self-development and respond to issues as they rise. Googlers call Zuckerbergs approach the 80% rule Zuckerberg may use the vague phrase keep a meaningful amount of time open when describing his approach to productivity. But there is a more formal and precise way to think about this principle. Laura Mae Martin, Googles in-house productivity coach, helps the search giants execs make the best use of their time. She calls this idea the 80% rule. It states you should schedule only about 80% of your days. Leave 20% open to absorb whatever craziness comes up. I always tell people, shoot to under-commit because you end up then committing at the right level. Shoot to that 80%, and thats really where you end up being involved in the right amount of things, Martin explained on the HBR IdeaCast. Superachievers and productivity experts swear by the 80% rule Data obsessed Google might have formulated a precise rule for the trick of leaving slack in your schedule, but a variety of superachievers have, like Zuckerberg, intuited and applied this basic logic over the years. Einstein was famous for leaving big chunks of time in his schedule open to tinker and think. But the approach doesn’t just work for dreamy scientists. Steve Jobs was another superachiever with a legendarily open schedule. Various productivity experts have come to the same conclusion too. More than 20 years ago, software engineer Tom DeMarco wrote a whole book arguing for what is basically the 80% rule. Titled Slack: Getting Past Burnout, Busywork, and the Myth of Total Efficiency (Crown Currrency), it explains that when your days are too full you cant absorb the inevitable shocks and surprises that arise. You end up getting less done in the long run than if you kept a looser schedule. Sociologist Christine Carter is another author who wrote a book advocating for strategic slacking. Journalist Oliver Burkeman has a number of bestsellers focused on less rigorous scheduling. I dont embark on each day as if on a tightrope walk, needing everything to go exactly right in order for me to make it through the plan, he writes. What percentage of your day is scheduled? Zuckerberg might not call his approach to scheduling the 80% rule, but the underlying principle is identical. And there are advantages to using Martins more precise formulation to describe the idea. First, its catchy. The 80% rule is more memorable than just saying, Hey, um, maybe its like a good idea to leave some meaningful time open in your schedule. Its also a exact target to aim for. With a hard number in hand, leaders can review their calendars and make adjustments. Which is just what Zuckerbergs recent interview should probably nudge you to do. What percentage of your days are currently booked up in advance? If the Meta boss can manage to clear enough space to have time for strategic thinking and quick pivots, certainly you can too. A boatload of experts suggests youll get more done if you schedule less. By Jessica Stillman This article originally appeared on Fast Company‘s sister website, Inc. Inc. is the voice of the American entrepreneur. We inspire, inform, and document the most fascinating people in business: the risk-takers, the innovators, and the ultra-driven go-getters that represent the most dynamic force in the American economy.
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Want more housing market stories from Lance Lamberts ResiClub in your inbox? Subscribe to the ResiClub newsletter. Several of Americas largest homebuilders are sounding a cautious note on the 2025 housing market, reporting softer-than-expected buyer demand. The pullback has been especially noticeable across key Sun Belt metros, where affordability pressures are biting. This softer housing demand environment is causing unsold inventory to tick up. Indeed, since the pandemic housing boom fizzled out, the number of unsold completed U.S. new single-family homes has been rising: July 2016 > 58,000 July 2017 > 65,000 July 2018 > 65,000 July 2019 > 80,000 July 2020 > 58,000 July 2021 > 34,000 July 2022 > 38,000 July 2023 > 70,000 July 2024 > 103,000 July 2025 > 121,000 The July figure (121,000 unsold completed new homes) published last week is the highest level since July 2009 (126,000). Lets take a closer look at the data to better understand what this could mean. To put the number of unsold completed new single-family homes into historic context, we have ResiClubs Finished Homes Supply Index. The index is one simple calculation: The number of unsold completed U.S. new single-family homes divided by the annualized rate of U.S. single-family housing starts. A higher index score indicates a softer national new construction market with greater supply slack, while a lower index score signifies a tighter new construction market with less supply slack. If you look at unsold completed single-family new builds as a share of single-family housing starts (see chart below), it still shows we’ve gained slack (and have more now than pre-pandemic 2019); however, this slack, nationally speaking, isnt anything close to the 2007-2008 weakening. While the U.S. Census Bureau doesn’t give us a greater market-by-market breakdown on these unsold new builds, we have a good idea where they are, based on total active inventory homes for sale (including existing)likely much of it is in the Mountain West and Sun Belt, particularly around the Gulf. Indeed, some builders are experiencing pricing pressure, particularly in major markets like Florida and Texas, where resale inventory is well above pre-pandemic 2019 levels. !function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data["datawrapper-height"][t]+"px";r.style.height=d}}})}();
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E-Commerce
Its been one of those weeks where business news managed to cover just about everything: food safety, trade drama, housing weirdness, mall nostalgia, layoffs, and even Taylor Swifts love life. Some stories hit directly at everyday lifelike whats in your fridge or how much you pay for a house. Others reminded us how fast global policies can change, or how a logo tweak can wipe millions off a companys market cap. A few themes cut through the noise: Consumers are holding on to what theyve got (whether thats jobs or houses), companies are scrambling to simplify, and global trade still feels as shaky as ever. But there were also signs of experimentationsuch as Delta literally letting customers choose its next destination. Oh, and in case you somehow missed it: The biggest celebrity engagement of the year came this week and brought some very big numbers along with it. Heres a look back at the weeks biggest business stories. Eggs Recalled After Salmonella Outbreak Sickens Nearly 100 A salmonella outbreak linked to Country Eggs LLC has infected at least 95 people, most of them in California. The company recalled its Sunshine Yolks large brown cage-free eggs, sold in California and Nevada. If you see code CA-7695 with sell-by dates through September 18 in your fridge, toss them or take them back. Japan Delays Trade Talks With the U.S. Japans top trade negotiator suddenly canceled a Washington trip meant to finalize tariff talks with the Trump administration. The issue? A messy disagreement over whether a new 15% tariff was applied correctly. Until its sorted, a promised $550 billion investment deal is on ice. New Homes Are Now Cheaper Than Old Ones The housing market has flipped: In June, brand-new homes cost 9% less than existing ones. Builders are cutting prices, shrinking floor plans, and offering incentives like lower mortgage rates. Meanwhile, homeowners with low mortgage rates are holding tight, keeping inventory scarce. Claires to Close Hundreds of Stores The tween jewelry and accessories chain is shutting down more than 230 Claires stores and 56 Icing stores after filing for bankruptcy again. Private equity owners plan to keep around 950 stores running, but mall staples like Claires are facing the same struggles as many other once-beloved retailers. Kroger Cutting 1,000 Corporate Jobs The grocery giant is laying off nearly 1,000 corporate employees, though store workers wont be touched. The move follows a failed $25 billion merger with Albertsons and news of 60 store closures. Kroger says its all about simplifying operations and reinvesting savings into pricing and growth. Taylor Swift and Travis Kelces Engagement Is Worth $1.65B Swift and Kelces engagement isnt just headline-makingits billionaire-making. Swift is worth about $1.6 billion, and Kelce around $52 million, for a combined total of $1.65 billion. Theyre rich, but still far behind mega-duos like Beyoncé and Jay-Z, who sit at $3.38 billion. Europe Hits Pause on U.S. Shipments Over Tariff Confusion Postal services in Germany, Italy, Sweden, and Denmark have stopped shipping merchandise to the U.S., thanks to confusion over new tariffs. The U.S. ended its de minimis exemption, which let packages under $800 enter duty-free. Now, with new 15% tariffs, European postal services say they need more clarity before resuming. Cracker Barrels Logo Backlash Wipes Out $100M in Value Cracker Barrels attempt to modernize its logodropping the old-timey uncle on a barrel imagewent over poorly with fans. Social media called it bland, and investors reacted by wiping nearly $100 million off the stocks value. The company has since apologized and promised Uncle Herschel isnt going anywhere. Job Hopping Is Out, Job Hugging Is In Remember when changing jobs almost guaranteed a big raise? Not anymore. A new Bank of America report shows that pay bumps from job hopping have dropped to about 7%, down from double digits a few years ago. With layoffs and uncertainty rising, workersespecially Gen Zersare holding on to the jobs they have. Delta Lets Customers Pick Its Next Route Delta Air Lines is letting its customers pick its next summer destination. The airline launched a Route Race poll this week in which SkyMiles members and employees can vote on its next European destination: Sardinia, Malta, or Ibiza. The winning route will debut in summer 2026. Its a rare move for Delta, which usually relies on market data instead of customer polls to pick destinations.
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E-Commerce
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