Elon Musk’s daily schedule includes skipping breakfast and wolfing down lunch during meetings. He also isn’t a big fan of long meetings or phone calls. He relies on texts and emails.
Elon Musk’s net worth has soared to be more than a hundred billion USD. And it’s not going to stop here; the tech billionaire has all his ducks in a row. While a lot of us want to become just as successful as Elon, we have to keep a couple of things in mind:
1. One size does not fit all. What works for him may not work for you. You don’t need to be hard on yourself or try to emulate someone else’s routine because it could only prove disastrous for both your work and health.
2. Elon built his efficiency over time. You cannot match his pace if you are in an early stage of building something incredible. You need to allow yourself to go slow, so you absorb as much as possible.
3. Elon probably has a Neuralink-type device implanted in his skull that gives him super-human capacities. Or perhaps he is just a super multi-tasker. But we don’t know for sure. So it’s silly to match his (or anybody who works like him) pace.
We have looked at Elon Musk’s daily schedule and filtered out the good and the bad stuff. We encourage you to stick to the good stuff.
The good stuff
Sleep is super important
“Sleep is great. I find if I don’t get enough sleep I’m quite grumpy. I could drop below a certain threshold of sleep, although I would be awake more hours I would get less done because my mental acuity would be affected,” Musk once said.
A good night’s sleep is truly important for your overall health and mental sharpness. According to research, people who prioritize sleep are much less likely to get chronic diseases. You may feel tempted to stay up a few more hours, just put it in a little more work, but don’t give into that as lack of sleep over time can cause accumulated damage.
Value your time
Elon Musk’s daily schedule includes a technique called “batching”. With this technique, Elon packs in several different similar tasks within a timeframe to save time. For example, he answers emails and responds to texts while he eats.
To employ “batching” in your life, you need to spend time deciding what tasks could be completed together. For example, you can listen to an audiobook while you workout and hence save the time you would individually spend on reading the book and working out.
However, batching is not the only thing that saves him time. Elon is not a big fan of long meetings. He advises his staff to keep the meetings shorter.
Find your work-life balance
Elon reportedly works on the weekdays and spends time with his children on the weekends. But even weekends don’t go unaccounted for; he is always reachable through email and texts.
Speaking about his kids in 2013, he said: “What I find is I’m able to be with them and still be on email. I can be with them and still be working at the same time … If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be able to get my job done.”
The bad stuff
Don’t skip breakfast
Elon is famously known for skipping breakfast and taking cold showers. While cold showers can be energizing, skipping breakfast is something you need to avoid at all costs. Elon may not believe in longevity, but you have to.
“I’m not a huge proponent of longevity,” Musk said in a Vanity Fair interview. “I think having a good life, for longer, is better. You’d want to address the things that happen to you, as you get older. Like dementia. Those are important. But I’m not sure that I would want to do that, or get into that.”
Massive research outlines the benefits of eating breakfast, and its impact on your health in the long run. According to John Hopkins University and WebMD, eating a healthy breakfast eliminates several health issues including:
- weight gain
- heart disease
- diabetes
- hypoglycemia
While it seems ideal to just run out the door in the morning to save time, it won’t save your health in the long run.
Give yourself a break
Elon wants to put people on Mars. And quickly. He is working overtime. Is that a good thing? Not according to science. According to research, working overtime can lead to an increased risk of coronary heart disease and other serious medical conditions that can result from increased stress levels.
Although Elon says he finds time to hit the gym at least twice a week, we still wonder if working overtime could be impacting his health.
For people working 9-5 jobs, overtime means you have less time for yourself.
Go to bed early
Elon’s bedtime is at around 1:00 A.M. on average, which is a bit late. According to research, sleeping too less or too much can cause several health issues in the long run. Although there is no specific recommended sleep time, it is generally advisable to go to bed early. Adults need to get at least 7-8 hours of sleep every night to maintain healthy physical and mental functions.
The bottom line
We all want to be like Elon (or somebody with similar success), but we must understand what works best for us. Elon Musk’s daily schedule works best for him. Find a schedule that does well for you. It’s not cool to skip breakfast or stay up late for no reason. Remind yourself that proper sleep, a healthy breakfast, and frequent breaks are important for your long-term health.