'Everyone should take time in quiet': Melinda Gates on divorce and life changes

​Melinda French Gates has spoken about the role of self-care during major life changes, drawing on experiences from motherhood and her divorce from Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates. In her 2025 book The Next Day: Transitions, Change, and Moving Forward, French Gates called her separation one of her life’s most difficult transitions and shared advice for people navigating periods of change.​“I want to tell everyone to take time in quiet,” she told Forbes last year, encouraging people to put down their phones and spend 10 minutes a day on self-care. She suggested activities such as meditation, jogging or other forms of wellness as ways to create time for themselves.​Melinda French Gates on self-care during major transitions​French Gates said she first understood the importance of taking time for herself during the early years of motherhood.