Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX and Tesla, has finally opened up about the harsh realities of overworking and stress. These two common themes are very ingrained in American culture due to very high ambitions for the bigger and better. He even confessed having to take Ambien in order to sleep since his mind seems to be going. With working 120 hours a week Elon Musk only has 6.86 hours to sleep, shower, possibly eat and to overextend oneself in this way is very concerning.
First of all getting about eight hours of sleep a day is a golden rule to follow and since he’s not aiming to get an optimal amount of sleep he is bound to drive himself to have extreme bouts of stress since he’s not giving his mind and body enough time to recover. He’s always thinking and the brain needs that sleep in order to recover and think clearly for the next day. Lack of sleep also tends to exacerbate any anxiety disorders and the like.
Secondly, he also lets people in on how he hasn’t had a vacation since 2001 and he almost missed his brother’s wedding. Going to a wedding should be a time of celebration not just a to-do list of things to do. When one has so much to do and no time for relationships to grow it’s hard to simply be human especially since we are social beings. Having time to quite the mind as well as working on friendships and relationships helps our emotional and mental health. Even having a once a week talking session with another loved one really seems to take some stress off of one’s shoulder since they can try to help you and be there for you.
Third, there was a slight concern for recreational drug use with Elon Musk and with that comes dysfunctional thinking where as humans we alter the mind and try to drown out all the stresses of life. Drug use really just masks the problems temporarily and the next time around it’s harder to face a problem head on in a calm and collected manner since the brain experiences some chemical imbalance due to drug use. There’s no doubt in my mind that despite Elon Musk’s battles that he really is giving his all and then some to Tesla, but sometimes it’s okay to have someone to help him when he also needs time for his simple basic human needs and having time to have important relationships in his life. After all we are human and to find balance in life is extremely peaceful.
Hope and Love for All 