In a recent appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, Elon Musk said he sleeps about six hours every night – necessarily, otherwise his job suffers. The admission by the data-driven Musk is one that every overworked founder or business manager should take to heart. This applies not only to sleep, but also to how much you generally need to work and rest.
Musk, who recently became the richest person in the world and is rebuilding the automotive industry while building tunnels under traffic-congested cities and preparing to colonize Mars, spoke to Rogan for more than two and a half hours about everything from Neuralink to a revolving flight, to how he originally designed the Model S simply as a car he would want to drive himself.
About five minutes later, Rogan remarks on the various projects Musk is leading. “How do you have time?” Ask Rogan. He adds that he has never understood Musk’s ability to build spatial rockets as one of several enterprises. “Well, I work a lot,” Musk replied. “I usually work until one or two in the morning.” He usually does not do it on weekends, he adds, but sometimes he does.
“How much do you sleep?” Ask Rogan.
“About six hours,” Musk replied.
“For someone who does as much as you do, it’s impressive that you can squeeze it in,” Rogan says. (He is known for getting eight hours a night himself).
“I tried to sleep less, but then the overall productivity goes down,” Musk explains.
This is one way to put it. In 2018, Musk became famous from the track while trying to get the production of Tesla Model 3 at the forefront. First, he tweeted that he had ‘funding’ to take Tesla privately, while this was not entirely true. The Securities and Exchange Commission sued, and Musk and Tesla each paid a $ 20 million fine. Musk also had to retire as chairman of Tesla’s board for two years, although he was still CEO. It was just after he earned widespread acclaim that he called a man involved in rescuing boys trapped in a cave in Thailand ‘pedo-guy’ during a Twitter spit about a lifeboat that Musk designed.
Work 120 hours a week.
With his reputation in a downward spiral, Musk gave a confessional interview to the New York Times, in which he admits that he works 120 hours a week, went on for days on end without ever leaving the Tesla factory, and was dependent on Ambien the rare times he slept. The combination of overwork, exhaustion and Ambien was at least partly to blame for his self-destructive tweet. Later that year, he reported reducing his workload to 80 to 90 hours a week.
Musk’s admission that he slept less than six hours a night is worth taking seriously. Even if it’s your only priority (though it should not be), it is still a good argument to get as much sleep as your body and brain need. Musk apparently did this experiment on himself and found that sleep is necessary for his own productivity.
In the context of Musk’s absurd work schedule and his habit of pushing himself beyond human limits, it’s a healthy step to get six hours of sleep a night, and the recognition that working beyond a certain point is counterproductive, even if you’re a genius. And, he tells Rogan, six hours seems like the right amount for him. “I do not want to sleep anymore,” he says.
According to some sleep experts, this does not necessarily mean that he gets enough sleep. They argue that most adults need between seven and nine hours a night and that we should aim to spend more than eight hours in bed because we spend time falling asleep or waking up. . And, they say, people can feel perfectly fine but still be sleepless.
The reality is that you need enough sleep every night to be your most creative and efficient, and that you will also do your best if you limit your working hours to a reasonable number and take regular breaks. People who spend a lot of time away from work report that they do more – not less – than when they worked longer hours.
Think of it this way: even Musk, who is very hardworking and driven, understands how important it is to sleep well and take time away from work. If he does, so should you.