Elon Musk is once again making headlines, not for a breakthrough in electric vehicles or space exploration, but for the astonishing work hours reported at his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Speaking in February, Musk stated that he and his DOGE team are clocking in 120-hour work weeks, drastically exceeding conventional standards and leaving little room for sleep, rest, or personal life.
“Our bureaucratic opponents optimistically work 40 hours a week,” Musk reportedly said. “That is why they are losing so fast.”
While the quote highlights his aggressive drive to outwork competitors, it has triggered renewed scrutiny over workplace expectations and the physical toll of extreme schedules.
Barely enough time to sleep, eat, or breathe
With 168 total hours in a week, a 120-hour work schedule leaves just 48 hours for everything else. That includes sleeping, commuting, eating, showering, spending time with family, and engaging in any leisure activities.
If the remaining time were used exclusively for sleep, each team member would average 6.8 hours of sleep per night — and that’s in an ideal scenario without accounting for travel or basic life needs.
Given that Musk has condemned remote work as “morally wrong” back in 2023, it’s unlikely these DOGE workers are making up for lost time with at-home flexibility. Commutes and workplace logistics mean their actual rest time is likely far less than the ideal 6.8 hours.
Health experts sound the alarm
Medical authorities are unified in their warnings about sleep deprivation and long work hours. The Mayo Clinic reports that adults regularly sleeping less than seven hours a night are more likely to experience weight gain, a BMI over 30, diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, stroke, and depression. The CDC mirrors these findings, stating that getting insufficient sleep can “lead to serious health problems.”
Adding to the urgency, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a report in 2021 linking overwork with mortality. The data, drawn from 2016, found that 745,000 people died from stroke or heart disease “as a result of having worked at least 55 hours a week.”
According to WHO, those working beyond this threshold face a 35% increased risk of stroke and a 17% increased risk of heart disease.
“Working 55 hours or more per week is a serious health hazard,” said Dr. Maria Neira, WHO’s director of the Department of Public Health and Environment.
Productivity suffers beyond a certain point
Despite Musk’s reputation as a tireless entrepreneur, even science questions the effectiveness of such an extreme schedule. A 2014 study from Stanford University revealed that productivity per hour sharply declines after 50 hours of work per week, and that “output at 70 hours differs little from output at 56 hours.” In essence, the return on extra hours becomes negligible.
This reality casts doubt on whether the DOGE team’s efforts are as efficient as Musk claims. Overworking may create the illusion of productivity, but the research suggests it often delivers diminishing results — and could be doing more harm than good.
Musk’s personal example fuels the narrative
Known for setting punishing standards for himself, Musk recalled in a 2022 interview with Baron Capital CEO Ron Baron that he once lived in his factories for extended periods.
“I slept on the couch at one point, in a tent on the roof, and for a while there, I was just sleeping under my desk, which is out in the open in the factory,” Musk said. “It was damn uncomfortable sleeping on that floor and always, when I woke up, I’d smell like metal dust.”
He has publicly acknowledged the difficulty of managing his multiple responsibilities across DOGE, Tesla, SpaceX, and xAI, saying recently that he was juggling them “with great difficulty.”
Source: The Daily Galaxy / Digpu NewsTex