Trouble in Paradise 203
the same time. When he talks in the phone, he tries to
check out an e-mail, look at a spreadsheet, or search for
equipment on the Internet. He e-mail during the transi-
tion periods, such as walking between meetings or while
eating.^71 When Elon is in multitasking mood, someone
trying to talk to him has to try multiple times before
Elon realizes there’s someone else in the same room.^49
“It’s helpful to have an iPhone so I can work during the
interstitial moments when the kids don’t need me,” Elon
said. “But basically, my life consists of work, kids, wife,
and sleep.”^433
Except boiled carrots, Elon loves food, especially from
the Indian kitchen.^116 But he doesn’t have any time to really
enjoy the food. While eating an entire meal in under five
minutes, he discusses work related topics. “In the early
days, when Elon would have lunch meetings, I used to
have to tell people that they shouldn’t worry if he’d already
finished before they even sat down,” Elon’s assistant said.^54
Ambitious people hate the fact they have to sleep. What
a waste of time! Elon experimented with how much sleep
he really needed. The answer is around six to six and a
half hours. “Someone like Elon Musk doesn’t sleep much,
he’s making decisions at midnight, or two in the morning,
or five in the morning,” a Tesla employee said.^335 To stay
awake, Elon drank eight cans of Diet Coke together with
several cups of coffee. “I got so freaking jacked that I
seriously started to feel like I was losing my peripheral
vision. Now, the office has caffeine-free Diet Coke,” he
said.^71