Editor’s note: This article was first published in June 2017 and describes Musk as he was in 2017, including the 85-100-hour weeks split between SpaceX and Tesla, his five children and his Bel Air weekends. He has since had more children, sold his California houses and taken on other companies.
When we talk about Elon Musk, we are talking about Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Henry Ford all rolled into one. Five-minute lunches, not answering phone calls, skipping most of his emails and working in five-minute blocks are some of the things he has built into his daily work routine.
He is one of those men who are changing the world by leaps and bounds. Probably unknown to many people, but the history books will talk about him.
Elon Musk works a 100-hour week, which he divides between his two biggest companies, SpaceX and Tesla. Those 100 hours a week may well be worth 300, thanks to the productivity habits he has developed, which could border on the obsessive.
He has been heavily criticised by some people who have worked with him, who said it was unbearable to work under him because of the constant pressure. Other employees summed up Musk’s character more or less like this: he doesn’t like mediocrity, and if you are mediocre, don’t expect kind words from Elon Musk.
Musk defines his work philosophy with the idea that a leader is only as good as the leader’s team.
From the interviews he has given, as reported by both Business Insider and Inc., we can easily piece together Musk’s habits and his working week, which look like this:
Elon Musk gets up at 7 in the morning. He says he usually sleeps about 6 hours a night.
He usually skips breakfast, although sometimes he finds time for a coffee and an omelette.
One thing he always makes time for is a daily shower. Yes, he says it is his most important and sacred habit.
Elon Musk works an average of 85 to 100 hours a week, and around 80% of his time goes on engineering and design.
He divides his time into 5-minute blocks. This is a habit we often recommend, but in blocks of 15 or 20 minutes, and I had never heard of anyone doing it in 5-minute blocks. When you divide your time into blocks, the idea is to focus as hard as possible during that slot, as if you had no more time. That way the brain becomes much sharper and productivity rises enormously.
He spends Mondays and Fridays at SpaceX (Los Angeles), and Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at Tesla (the Bay Area).
On Saturdays he either works on one of the SpaceX projects or spends the day with his 5 children. He uses Sundays to travel or to rest at his mansion in Bel Air. Even so, he admits that even when he is with his children he takes the opportunity to send a few work emails.
To stay fully productive, Musk avoids phone calls unless it is an emergency, and he uses a secondary email address with a set of strict filters to make sure that only important emails reach his inbox.
He doesn’t spend much time on meals. He says he usually eats lunch during a meeting or manages to eat it in five minutes.
He does admit that he gets most of his calories at night, when he makes the most of business dinners to eat his fill.
To stay in shape, he goes to the gym once or twice a week.
Despite his busy life, Elon Musk finds enough time to read, especially biographies of innovators such as Benjamin Franklin and Albert Einstein.
Finally, he usually goes to bed at 1 in the morning.
As we can see, he is a man who is currently devoted entirely to his projects and businesses. Remember that today he is the entrepreneur who has successfully built the most businesses, PayPal among them.
His obsession doesn’t stop there, though. When it comes to hiring someone for his company, whether it is to sweep floors or clean windows, Musk wants the best. That led him to send his head of talent acquisition to Pinkberry to bring back the company’s employee of the month just to serve frozen yoghurt at SpaceX.
Featured image: Daniel Oberhaus, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
