Despite being the world’s richest man in the world this 2022 and with plans to colonize Mars, Elon Musk has surprisingly relatable daily goals, just like any average person.
For starters, the SpaceX and Tesla CEO wants to change his daily routine, starting from the moment he wakes up. In a recent interview with Full Send Podcast, Musk said the first thing he does in the morning is to check his phone – and he thinks it could be detrimental to his health.
Musk said, “I have a bad habit — which I suspect a lot of people do — of immediately checking my phone [in the morning]. It’s a terrible habit, actually.”
He previously told Auto Bild, a German automobile magazine, that he spends his first 30 minutes daily checking emails, and now says he wants to replace that with a workout.
Musk said on the podcast, “I [need] to work out and be in better shape. So, I’m going to switch from immediately looking at my phone as soon as I wake up to working out for at least 20 minutes — then I’ll look at my phone.”
Musk normally goes to bed at around 3 a.m. and wakes up by 9:30 a.m. He admits his smartphone habit is likely due to feelings of anxiety. He wants to make sure he did not miss any company emergencies while he slept.
The 51-year-old said on the podcast, “I run SpaceX and Tesla, so there’s usually some sort of thing that’s happened over night.”
This is actually not the first time Musk has publicly divulged about his vices – or his motivation to curb them. In the same Auto Bild interview in 2014, he said he had made efforts to cut down on his caffeine intake so he wouldn’t get so wired at work.
In that interview, Musk said, “There were probably times when I had like eight [Diet Cokes] a day or something ridiculous. I think these days it’s probably one or two, so it’s nothing too crazy.”
Musk’s morning “bad habit” is quite far from an anomaly. About 80% of smartphone users check their phones within the first 15 minutes of waking up, according to a study from IDC Research.
His replacement routine is absolutely healthier – research indicates workouts done after waking up may improve productivity. A 2019 study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found daily, moderate exercise in the morning improved people’s attentiveness, short-term memory and decision making.
Musk’s candid comments came days after his father, eccentric South African engineer Errol Musk, said he was not proud of his son for eating badly and wanted him to take diet pills to lose weight.
In response, Musk said, “I gotta work out and be in better shape. I actually don’t really like working out, but I gotta do it.”
Image: WIRED.com