JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon advises against making major decisions when tired—especially on a Friday

(SeaPRwire) –   Every professional, from entry-level staff to chief executives, experiences the mental fatigue that often sets in at the end of a demanding work week. Throughout his extensive career on Wall Street, JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon has learned the importance of postponing major decisions as the weekend approaches, recognizing that exhaustion can lead to poor judgment.

“I’ve learned some stuff like when I was 30, like anger doesn’t help,” the banking CEO recently shared during an interview with NPR. He emphasized, “Making big decisions on a Friday when you’re tired is a really bad idea.”

Dimon’s career in finance spans more than four decades, encompassing roles from serving as an assistant to then-American Express president Sandy Weill, to guiding the $826 billion financial giant JPMorgan through the financial crisis.

Despite his accumulated wisdom on effective business practices, Dimon admitted that he occasionally still falls into the trap of making decisions on Fridays. Each time, he is reminded why he typically avoids crucial choices during his end-of-week slump.

“I always call them lessons learned and relearned,” Dimon continued. “I still make some of those mistakes, unfortunately.”

Executives who establish boundaries for workplace well-being

Many business leaders implement strict controls over their schedules and meetings—practices refined over decades of discovering their optimal working rhythm.

Brian Chesky, co-founder and CEO of Airbnb, is adopting a distinct approach to leading the $78 billion short-term rental company. He has largely abandoned tedious emailing, rarely engaging with his inbox anymore; instead, Chesky prefers to communicate via calls, texts, or direct conversations during work hours. The executive also eliminated 9 a.m. meetings, rescheduling all important discussions to begin no earlier than 10 a.m. He told The Wall Street Journal last year, “When you’re CEO, you can decide when the first meeting of the day is.”

Chesky further stated, “Don’t apologize for how you want to run your company,” adding that “[Emailing] was the thing about my job that I hated the most before the pandemic.”

Reducing time-consuming, energy-draining meetings is also a key focus for Southwest Airlines CEO Bob Jordan in 2026. The airline executive noted that “it’s easy to confuse busyness and going to meetings with leadership,” but he is implementing significant changes this year. Jordan’s goal is to keep his calendar free of any meetings every Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday afternoon. He acknowledged that this might sound “crazy” to some leaders, but it allows him to dedicate more energy to other critical matters.

“It’s so that you can work on things you need to work on,” Jordan explained at the New York Times DealBook Summit last year. “You can think about what’s important right now. You can call people you need to talk to.”

Marc Randolph, the co-founder of Netflix, also established a firm rule for managing his intense entrepreneurial career: Tuesdays concluded at 5 p.m., without exception. For decades, Randolph stated he aimed to keep “my life balanced with my job” by adhering to this boundary, which proved essential for his well-being.

“For over 30 years, I had a hard cutoff on Tuesdays. Rain or shine, I left at exactly 5 p.m. and spent the evening with my best friend,” Randolph wrote in a 2023 LinkedIn post. “We would go to a movie, have dinner, or just go window-shopping downtown together.”

“Those Tuesday nights kept me sane,” the Netflix co-founder continued. “And they put the rest of my work in perspective.”