Asger Risom
Despite his packed schedule, Musk still weaves in small rituals — from breakfast indulgences to constant phone checks.
Elon Musk’s days start later than most and end deep into the night, shaped by the demands of leading several major companies. Interviews and public comments over the years offer a rare look at how he organizes his time.
Despite his packed schedule, Musk still weaves in small rituals — from breakfast indulgences to constant phone checks — that resemble the habits of many ordinary workers.
Early hours
Musk has said he typically sleeps about six hours, waking close to 9 a.m., according to The Wall Street Journal. He told “The Katie Miller Podcast” in December 2025 that he begins most days with “steak and eggs and coffee.” While he once joked on X that he eats a donut each morning, his posts show he does enjoy them.
He has long acknowledged grabbing his phone the moment he opens his eyes, even though he once called it “a terrible habit” on the Full Send Podcast in 2022. His near-continuous activity on X suggests the routine hasn’t changed.
Walter Isaacson reported in his biography “Elon Musk” that the billionaire sometimes wakes just to check whether the platform is functioning.
Daily habits
Musk has credited one simple practice with improving his life: showering. During a 2015 Reddit AMA, he named it as the habit with the biggest positive impact.
For his commute, he rotates between Tesla models. When an X user joked about choosing between a Cybertruck without Autopilot and a Model S with the feature, Musk said it was a decision he considers “every day.”
Although he has often dismissed regular workouts, Musk wrote in mid-2023 that he was “lifting hard almost every day.” Earlier that year, he had said on X that throwing his children in the air was about the extent of his exercise.
Food and work
Musk told Miller he often skips lunch or eats very lightly, but enjoys wide-ranging dinners. He described cheeseburgers as a near-perfect food and acknowledged they dominate the menu at his Hollywood Tesla Diner.
His workload, however, frequently overrides any routine. Reuters and other outlets have documented his habit of shifting between SpaceX, Tesla and X depending on which operation faces “the crisis of the moment.” In 2023, he publicly confirmed bouncing from court testimony to a factory event to late-night work at X — all within a single day.
Long nights
Musk told CNBC in 2023 that he no longer pulls all-nighters, aiming instead for six hours of rest. Isaacson wrote that he still often lies awake working through company problems, and former partner Claire Boucher once recalled him staying up all night playing “Elden Ring.”
His history includes sleeping on factory floors and, after buying Twitter in 2022, on a couch inside its San Francisco headquarters. He continues going to bed around 3 a.m.
Sources: CNBC, Reuters
