JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon recently opened up about his phone habits at work, revealing that he never reads text messages during the day and keeps his phone notifications turned off.
“I don’t have notifications,” the finance boss told CNN’s Erin Burnett in an interview. “If you sent me a text during the day, I probably do not read it.” He added, “The only notifications I get is from my kids. That’s it. When they text me, I get that.”
The 69-year-old also shared that he doesn’t carry his phone with him all the time, prioritizing deep focus while at work. “When I’m walking around the building and going to meetings, I don’t have it on me. It’s in my office,” he said. “When I go to my meetings, I did the pre-reads and I’m 100% focused on us, what you’re talking about, why you’re talking about it, as opposed to being distracted and thinking about other things.”
Dimon has long expressed frustration with poor meeting etiquette. At Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Summit in October, he called using phones in meetings “disrespectful” and a waste of time. “If you have an iPad in front of me and it looks like you’re reading your email or getting notifications, I’ll tell you to close the damn thing,” he said.
He emphasized that meetings should have a clear purpose, with checking emails or getting distracted signaling a lack of respect and focus.
Dimon has also been critical of some of the newest shifts in the workplace brought about by younger generations, particularly Gen Z. He has embraced more traditional work methods and often expects his employees to do the same.
Earlier this year, in a leaked audio recording, Dimon went on a rant to JPMorgan employees about working from home and phone usage in meetings, responding to complaints about returning to the office five days a week.
“Don’t give me this s*** that work-from-home Friday works. I call a lot of people on Fridays, and there’s not a goddamn person you can get a hold of. I’ve had it with this kind of stuff,” he said in the recording.
“They’re here, they’re there, the Zooms [Gen Z], and the zoomers don’t show up. That’s not how you run a great company.”
He also criticized some managers, accusing them of abusing the privilege of working from home to slack off. “When on Zoom, managers were looking at their mail, sending texts, and not paying attention,” Dimon said. “And if you don’t think that slows down efficiency, creativity, creates rudeness, it does.”
Digital wellbeing expert Anastasia Dedyukhina previously told CNBC Make It that frequently checking your smartphone reduces the quality of conversations with friends and colleagues.
A 2023 survey by Reviews.org found that Americans check their phones an average of 144 times a day. Dedyukhina explained that even having a phone nearby can be extremely distracting.
Using a phone during work or meetings can also leave a bad impression on managers and colleagues and is considered poor etiquette.
“I would also keep thinking about it because for our minds, a smartphone and the sound of a smartphone is a highly attractive stimulus. So when I hear my phone ringing or a notification, for my mind, it’s the same as if you were calling me by my name,” she said.
Harvard University associate professor Alison Wood Brooks also shared with CNBC Make It the importance of focusing during meetings, noting that it makes you appear smarter and more likable.
Key behaviors include asking follow-up questions, paraphrasing, and repeating what the other person has said back to them — techniques that enhance engagement and understanding.
Jamie Dimon’s approach to phone use and meeting etiquette highlights the value of undistracted focus and respect in the workplace, especially in an era dominated by digital distractions.
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/11/09/jamie-dimon-shares-why-he-never-reads-text-messages-at-work.html