They say success is a mindset. No offense to whoever “they” are, but that doesn’t
really help me much. You see, I’ve got problems with procrastinating, feeling overwhelmed
by all the stuff I need to get done, and just overall pitiful time management skills. I
needed a real-life example to live by, so I chose one of the most successful and productive
dudes out there: Elon Musk!
Ok, it’s not like I’m shooting to get rich quick or become a multibillionaire overnight.
(Although, I wouldn’t turn down the offer!) It’s just that once I started doing a little
research on the tech tycoon, I quickly understood that this guy is a productivity ninja who’s
mastered the art of time management. He heads multiple companies, the most well-known being
Tesla and SpaceX, and has admitted that he works 100 hours a week or more! Now, I wasn’t
gonna start doing that, but I did try to follow his typical schedule for a week.
I started on a Sunday evening by planning my week ahead based on what I’d read about
Elon Musk’s routine. Much to my dismay, the first thing I found out is that he wakes
up at 7am every single day and (somehow) functions on just 6 hours of sleep! Oh boy, this was
gonna be a long week…
But I was set on doing this experiment, so I went to bed at 1am. When that alarm went
off at 7 on Monday morning, I swear it felt like just half an hour had gone by. After
smashing that snooze button a few times, I finally managed to drag my half-conscious
self out of bed at 7:20. Listen, I’m a pretty traditional guy – I like to get my recommended
7-9 hours of shuteye each night, so 6 hours was not enough. Even by the end of the week,
I still felt groggy on such little sleep. But I read that it takes at least 21 days
for our bodies to get used to a new routine, so maybe I should try this experiment for
a month next time? Eh, still, 6 hours of sleep isn’t enough, Mr. Musk!
Thankfully, Elon is a daily morning shower kinda guy like me, so that certainly helped
pull me out of my slumber. He never skips this key part of his daily routine, and neither
do I. I just couldn’t wait to get some breakfast in my belly afterwards!
Oh, that’s right, Elon Musk skips breakfast… Seriously, where does this guy get his energy?
Well, at least he drinks coffee! To be honest, the first couple of days with no breakfast
hit me hard. And, yeah, I’m pretty sure the whole office, no, scratch that, the entire
BUILDING could hear my stomach growling once I got to work. But I guess my body started
getting used to this new “diet” because by Wednesday, I was feeling less hungry and
my stomach didn’t growl so much.
I was kinda worried whether or not this was bad for me, and I found this article on Healthline.
It listed some studies showing that it makes absolutely no difference to your body if you
eat or skip breakfast. It’ll make you hungrier at lunch, which was definitely the case for
me, but you won’t eat more than the number of calories your body needs. As for lunch,
I wolfed it down in 5 minutes, not only because I was starving by then, but also because that’s
how Musk does it!
Now, let’s move on to the ninja stuff. Like I said earlier, I planned my goals the Sunday
before, but when it came down to daily tasks, Elon Musk always plans his day ahead. So,
I wrote down all my important tasks and prioritized them from the smallest to the biggest as far
as time consumption goes, or, obviously, more to less urgent when it came to deadlines.
One of Musk’s golden productivity rules is to work in a 5-minute block system, which
means that for 5-minutes, I had to stay completely focused on one thing and then switch to another.
This is the key to his unbeatable multitasking skills, and his system really works! Those
5 minutes were truly productive, and it made me realize how much you can achieve in such
a short time without getting distracted. Some of my projects take hours to finish. But by
breaking them down into smaller steps that I spent less time on, in the end, it took
me fewer hours to get my projects done!
Now, I’ll be honest, I missed my 5-minute deadline more than once, but as the week progressed,
I got better at it. Plus, like I said, I’ve always struggled with procrastination – it’s
starting a task that I need help with. Once I get focused on it, I’m pretty good (although,
not as good as I thought, but I’ll get to that here in a bit). But with a detailed plan
on what I’m gonna work on first and for how long, I was blowing through my to-do lists!
So, about being super “focused” even in a short period of time: Elon’s 5-minute
rule has taught me that I’m not nearly as productive or busy as I thought. That is,
I waste a lot of work time not working! For example, I chat with my co-workers, answer
text messages, scroll through social media – the usual perpetrators. When I was able
to track my time and efficiency, I was mind-blown. The first day, what used to take me a solid
8 hours to do ended up taking me just 6. By the week’s end, I’d cut that number down
to 4!
As for phone calls, Elon suggests NOT taking any calls during the day except for emergencies.
But since I don’t really get many calls, I applied this rule to texts and messages
on social media. I made it a strict rule to set my status as “Busy” so that all my
friends and family knew that from 9 to 6, I was unavailable to chat. As for work-related
emails, I answered the important ones first thing and all within 5 minutes. I really saved
a lot of time on the email thing. I would’ve never guessed I was wasting so much time going
through my inbox!
I also signed up for a gym membership, not just because Elon Musk does it, but, well,
it was long overdue. Plus, now that I was getting all my work done at the office, I
wasn’t bringing it home with me anymore, which meant more free time for me! So, I hit
the gym twice this week, and, I gotta say, I think I understand where Musk gets his energy
– working out really does charge your battery, so to speak.
Speaking of free time, let’s move on to the fun part – the weekend! Needless to
say, after following such a strict schedule, the only thing you wanna do is relax and have
fun (and eat breakfast!). Unfortunately for me this past week, Elon Musk only takes Sundays
off to spend at home with his family. Well, since my office is closed on Saturdays, I
just brought my work home with me and got a head-start on Monday’s tasks. I also did
some cleaning around the house (surely that doesn’t count as cheating!). As for my one
and only day off, I went out with some friends and told them all about the week I’d just
had!
After following Elon Musk’s schedule for 7 days, here’s what I’ve got to say. Overall,
I think I’ll stick to most of it, but I’ll probably tweak a few things:
- Getting 6 hours of sleep is not for me, but I like getting up at 7 and having time
to plan my day ahead. So, I’ll hit the sack at 12am to get that precious extra hour of
shuteye. - And I’ll spend some of that extra hour
on a good breakfast. Even if experts say you can go without, I’d prefer to fill my tank
before I head to work! The same thing goes for lunch. I’m not a fan of gulping it down
in 5 minutes. With extra free time at work, I’ll be sitting down to a good lunch, thanks!
- Planning the day ahead and tackling tasks in 5-minute blocks will be my new norm. The
boost in productivity is undeniable, and my boss has even taken note. Hey, I wouldn’t
say no to a raise! - I’ll continue ditching my phone during
work hours and keeping the emailing at a minimum because this saved me loads of time.
- I’m enjoying the gym, and I feel really good! It’s even become a sort of new hobby
of mine. I’m learning how to target certain muscle groups, watching what I eat, and just
trying to live a healthier lifestyle. I’ll stick to this one too!
- As for the weekends, I need my Saturdays, man! I understand Elon has a lot on his plate,
but I’m no CEO or entrepreneur, so I can afford to take 2 days off a week instead of
just one.
But I think now I have a much better understanding of how this guy is so successful and always
coming up with new innovative ideas. Musk stays busy, alright, but he’s a master of
time management! (How he does it on little sleep and no breakfast, however, will probably
forever be a mystery to me!)
So, what do you think of Elon Musk’s daily habits – would you give any of them a try?
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