Elon Musk’s 80-Hour Workweek Could Be Bad For You

Elon Musk is famous for his "changing the world" view, which almost synonymously goes along with working nonstop. Musk, Silicon Valley and the "Thank God it's Monday" movement have created the idea that performative workaholism is advantageous, but experts say it is otherwise.

After pointing out last year that “no one ever changed the world on 40 hours a week,” Musk recommended doing “80, sustained” hours a week that, at times, should peak at 100. However, such a laborious routine isn’t always on the right side of things that even Musk himself admitted that working too hard for Tesla made him forget about his birthday.

Despite Musk's admission that working 120 hours a week and staying in the factory for three or four days caused him to miss precious time with friends, he remained defensive about his work process.

Arianna Huffington reached out to Musk via Twitter in August of last year and urged the latter to “give yourself time to reconnect not just with those you love but also with yourself and your wisdom." In an open letter, she reminded Musk that it’s not about working hard but working in a way that will allow a person to make the best decisions.

Huffington also said that 120-hour weeks waste people's unique abilities instead of leveraging them. The businesswoman told Musk that just like how people couldn’t get to Mars if they ignored the laws of physics, he, too, should know that ignoring scientific laws in daily lives is not possible.

In his response, Musk defended his routine by saying that he didn’t have a choice given the circumstances of his company. “Ford & Tesla are the only 2 American car companies to avoid bankruptcy. I just got home from the factory. You think this is an option. It is not,” Musk responded at the time.

However, the tech industry's way of hustling so much that they give their employees the chance to live within their company grounds is dehumanizing and toxic, according to Aidan Harper, the creator of the European workweek-shrinkage campaign called 4 Day Week.

“It creates the assumption that the only value we have as human beings is our productivity capability — our ability to work, rather than our humanity,” Harper said. He added that convincing and exploiting workers with the change-the-world message gives the picture that Musk is the high priest and people go to church to worship at the “altar of work.”

Studies have also proven that too much work is detrimental and harmful to health. This can lead to anxiety, depression and addiction with some people being cut off from friends and family.