Hey there. Emma here from Fortune, covering for Orianna while she’s in China on vacation.

CEOs have their own quirks when it comes to running their companies, from shoes-off policies to meeting-free afternoons. United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby takes office naps to stay sharp over his decades-long career in business.

“A thing I do that people have thought is weird is that, throughout my whole career, when I’m in the office, I’ll close the door and take a 20-minute nap,” Kirby recently told McKinsey and Company.

Kirby’s habit may come as a surprise, but the leader says taking a break keeps him fueled to run the $29.5 billion airline giant.

“If I take a 20-minute nap, I’ve accomplished more than anything else I would have accomplished in that time,” he said. “When you’re tired, your brain is not 100%. If you’re not 100%, you shouldn’t be making decisions.”

And Kirby has stuck by this routine throughout his entire career—from serving as the president of U.S. Airways and American Airlines for years, to his current six-year stint as United’s CEO. Research shows the U.S. Air Force Academy alum may have picked up on a leadership hack; a “power nap” of 30 minutes or less has been found to boost alertness and mood, improve mental clarity, and fight off fatigue, according to a 2024 Harvard Medical School study.

In addition to his office snooze, Kirby has also laid another rule around his work schedule in helming one of the world’s biggest airline groups: “no more than four hours of meetings a day.” He’d much rather use the time to think, or call others.

“Some important things are, one, having time to think instead of sitting in meetings you don’t need to be in,” Kirby said. “And two, you need to be a genuinely curious person, reading about a very wide variety of subjects.”

Read more on how the United Airlines leader is leveraging power naps and meeting caps for success, and what other productivity quirks CEOs have up their sleeves, at Fortune.

—Emma Burleigh
Success Reporter, Fortune

Got a career tip or dilemma? Get in touch: emma.burleigh@fortune.com. You can also find me on LinkedIn.