File image of Tesla co-founder and CEO Elon Musk. In an interview he said: ‘You’re gonna go a little bonkers if you work 120 hours a week.’
Even Elon Musk’s engines need recharging. After years of overworking and resting inconsistently, the Tesla founder now sleeps a somewhat sensible six hours a day.
The world’s richest person is an extremely busy man. Tesla aside, he is the CEO of aerospace company SpaceX, neurotechnology company Neuralink as well as the founder of tunnel-construction firm The Boring Company.
Appearing on the Joe Rogan show in February, the same programme where he once made headlines by smoking a joint (it was legal), Musk said: “I work a lot. Normally, I’ll be in meetings at work until 1 or 2 in the morning. Saturday (and) Sunday, usually not, but sometimes.”
Musk manages all this by not sleeping much, but says he is not as neglectful of his shuteye as he used to be earlier.
He told Rogan he gets “about six hours” of sleep. “I tried sleeping less, but then total productivity decreases,” he said. “I don’t find myself wanting more sleep than six (hours).”
Earlier was insanity. Apart from motoring on relentlessly, he would reportedly sleep on the floor under his desk at Tesla.
“There were times when, some weeks … I haven’t counted exactly, but I would just sort of sleep for a few hours, work, sleep for a few hours, work, seven days a week,” Musk said in an interview. He was speaking of the days when he was speeding up the Tesla Model 3 production. “Some of those (weeks) must have been 120 hours or something nutty.”
Musk fans who want to emulate everything about him should beware. He was clear that this was not a healthy way of life. He had “burnt out a bunch of neurons” pushing himself that hard, he said.
“No one should put this many hours into your work,” he said in another interview. “(It’s) not recommended for anyone. You’re gonna go a little bonkers if you work 120 hours a week.”
