Elon Musk generally wakes up around 9 a.m. after getting about six hours of sleep, going to bed around 3 a.m., though he has also mentioned waking at 7 a.m. on some days, describing himself as "fairly nocturnal". His first action upon waking is often checking his phone, followed by a shower and then diving straight into work, sometimes skipping breakfast for efficiency.
There's more variety in the bedtimes of our leaders, with Tim Cook (9:30pm) and Oprah Winfrey (10pm) being those that like an early night. At the other end of the scale, Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and Barack Obama all go to bed at 1am, making them the night owls of the bunch.
Musk wakes up around 9 a.m. and says he starts every morning with steak and eggs. Musk told The Wall Street Journal in 2023 that he usually goes to bed around 3 a.m. and sleeps for six hours. So, he's typically waking up around 9 a.m. each day.
For Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, the work fires come every morning like clockwork. When Zuckerberg wakes up between 7:00 a.m. and 7:30 a.m., usually to the sound of one of his three daughters, he is immediately pulled into his phone. “I look at my phone, and it's all these things that these people are doing.
The rule is simple: If something takes less than 5 minutes, do it immediately. No excuses. But here's how Musk takes it further he breaks big tasks into 5-minute chunks. Writing a proposal?
Elon Musk disclosed he has Asperger's syndrome (now considered part of Autism Spectrum Disorder) during his May 2021 Saturday Night Live monologue, noting it explains his sometimes unusual behavior and intense focus, with his mother also confirming his traits since childhood. While Asperger's isn't a formal diagnosis anymore, it highlights his challenges with social cues and literal thinking, which he frames as strengths in his work, alongside potentially related mood shifts mentioned in biographies, though he tweeted about bipolarity without a formal diagnosis.
In recent years, the 4 a.m. wake-up has been the domain of world-striding executives and businesspeople. Disney CEO Bob Iger famously begins his day with a predawn workout. Apple CEO Tim Cook famously deals with emails from customers before sunrise.
Oprah Winfrey's schedule
Oprah doesn't rely on alarms, so her mornings begin around 7 a.m. Usually, she takes her 5 dogs for a walk, drinks coffee, and reads 5 affirmation cards. By 8:30 a.m., she meditates and does spiritual exercises. At 9 a.m., Oprah works out and has breakfast.
Googlers call Zuckerberg's approach the 80 percent rule
She calls this idea the 80 percent rule. It states you should schedule only about 80 percent of your days. Leave 20 percent open to absorb whatever craziness comes up.
Musk, who is the richest person in the world, is no stranger to unorthodox sleeping arrangements. He has been open about living in a Tesla factory for three years, sleeping in various locations including on a couch, on the floor under his desk and in a tent on the roof.
Musk is known for having a very busy schedule. He runs several companies, works more than 80 hours a week, and still finds time to think about settling Mars. But if you look at his schedule, especially his mornings, you'll see that it's surprisingly planned and structured. Not very exciting.
CEOs typically get an average of 6.9 hours of sleep a night. This question was asked on: Given that work could consume every hour of their lives, CEOs have to set limits so that they can preserve their health and their relationships with family and friends. Most of the CEOs in the study recognized that.
Napoleon Bonaparte, one of the greatest military leaders of all time. He is also one of the most famous nappers. Napoleon had a notoriously harsh schedule, only sleeping about four hours a night. He compensated by frequent naps which would inspire his genius strategic movements.
Bill Gates (can you think of a much bigger success?) is reported to sleep 7 hours from midnight to 7 a.m. His competitor Tim Cook of Apple also clocks 7 hours of shuteye, but on a whole different schedule.
The "5 AM Rule" or "5 AM Club" is a popular productivity habit, popularized by Robin Sharma, that involves waking at 5 a.m. to dedicate the first hour to personal growth using the 20/20/20 formula: 20 minutes of vigorous exercise, 20 minutes of reflection (like meditation or journaling), and 20 minutes of learning new skills, aiming to start the day proactively and free from distractions. While proponents credit it for increased focus and productivity, sleep experts note it might not suit everyone's natural body clock (chronotype) and requires discipline, often including earlier bedtimes.
Nicole Kidman may be best known for her acclaimed performances on screen, but it turns out her most vulnerable creative moments often take place when no one is watching, in the middle of the night, as she recently explained about the unexpected reason she often wakes up at 3 am.
People often say billionaires wake up at 4:00 a.m. Not only this, they also say that: - Billionaires take cold showers. - Billionaires skip meals to stay focused. - Billionaires work 18 hours a day without breaks.
Despite Musk stepping down as CEO, X continues to struggle with challenges such as viral misinformation, hate speech, and antisemitism controversies. Musk has been accused of trying to silence some of his critics such as Twitch streamer Asmongold, who criticized him during one of his streams.