When we talk about secret chutney behind the success of influential people, we often act like machines, proud of some Silicon Valley leaders, and live in just four or five hours of sleep. However, for Pavel Durov, the CEO of Telegram, success does not come from the clock round. Instead, he believes that to achieve success, one must know when to disconnect and stay away from distractions.

Speaking at the Lex Fridman podcast, Durov revealed that his secret for productivity and creativity is in a simple combination, strict limits on 12 -hour sleep and phone use. For Durov, keeping and keeping the body away from constant activity is a non-pervantic part of its routine. “I try to allocate 11 to 12 hours for sleep every night,” he told Fridman. “Even if I spend a part of it in awake thinking, I consider that part of this process.”

According to Durov, those cool, uninterrupted hours often give rise to their best ideas. “I love these moments. I get a lot of great thoughts, or at least they look fantastic to me at this time, while I am lying on the bed, either late or morning early. It’s my favorite time of the day.”

And when he finally gets out of bed, the morning of Durov is particularly technical-free-unlike people who scroll their day through email or social media. Durov says that he avoids checking his phone first thing, prefers to start the day with clarity rather than information. “My philosophy is very simple here,” Durov explained. “I want to define what is important in my life. I do not want other people or companies, all kinds of organizations, telling me what is important today and what I should think.”

Durov is also known for not scrolling through social media feeds as most people do. He considers the habit to be an distraught that sluggish creativity and independent idea. According to Durov, social media has left people for the desire for “AI-based algorithm feed who tells you what is important, so that you consume the same information, the same goods, the same memes, the same news as everyone as everyone.”

This belief may seem contradictory from someone who created his luck in technology. Before launching Telegram, Durov co-established Russia’s largest social network Weekantcate, which is currently one of the world’s most popular messaging apps with over 900 million users globally. Nevertheless, he insists that his relationship with technology is about control, not rejection.

He said, “I know it is a kind of counterbuitary because I founded one of the world’s largest social networks, after which I established the second largest messaging app in the world,” he accepted. “But I think it is important to use technology as a tool and not as a master.”