Elon Musk reveals how much sleep he gets each night

pulse

March 27, 2017 3:10 PM

He doesn't need much.

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Elon Musk is one of the most accomplished tech leaders in the world. You'd think this guy never sleeps. But it turns out he does, in fact, sleep.

In a Reddit AMA from 2015, the Tesla Inc. and SpaceX CEO said he slept "almost exactly 6 hours on average."

That's slightly below the average amount of daily sleep advised by the National Sleep Foundation, which recommends adults get seven to nine hours of sleep each night to maintain a healthy weight and mood and improve memory and athletic performance.

It's surprising the 45-year-old entrepreneur even manages six hours, considering he splits most of his days between his ambitious aerospace and automotive companies, is a major philanthropist and the chairman of the green-energy-service company SolarCity, and sits on several advisory and engineering boards.

Musk has said he has slept in Tesla's factory — even keeping a sleeping bag in a conference room next to the production line so he can better inspect vehicles as they come off it.

If you're wondering how Musk can accomplish as much as he does with little sleep, there are plenty of ways people can function at optimal levels with just four hours of sleep. Business Insider even has a step-by-step guide (with charts!) to gradually reducing your sleeping hours while getting more out of your waking hours.

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