I Lived Like Elon Musk for a Week But One Day Was Enough - YouTube

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?

Let me know down in the comments! If you learned something new today, then give this video

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