The secret to Elon Musk's productivity | Walter Isaacson and Lex Fridman

Lex Fridman Podcast full episode: • Walter Isaacson: Elon ...
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GUEST BIO:
Walter Isaacson is an author of biographies on Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, Einstein, Benjamin Franklin, Leonardo da Vinci, and many others.
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[@LexClips]

Full podcast episode: kzbin.info/www/bejne/l3iyh2iIbLJkgNU Lex Fridman podcast channel: kzbin.info Guest bio: Walter Isaacson is an author of biographies on Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, Einstein, Benjamin Franklin, Leonardo da Vinci, and many others.

[@vineetdodd9915]

This clip has inspired me to stop procrastinating and be more productive. Can't wait to start tomorrow.

[@Borik3n]

You can start now. 👁️🤙🏼

[@plamenevlogiev3526]

🤣🤣🤣

[@AutitsicDysexlia]

Wait, don't you have that thing tomorrow? 🤔 Better start the day after.

[@merlinspot]

Ha ha ha ha 😂😂😂

[@philipjacobsen6550]

lol

[@alphabeta8403]

3:20 Single task sequentially with a HARDCORE focus 4:55 Fierce urgency 6:20 Leonardo de Vinci 7:20 Savor the moment

[@hadeethdaily7300]

The difference between Elon and other CEOs / Business people is - Elon is working on solving the real engineering problem. Others are focused just on revenue and profit. Elon is passionate about his work. Others are interested only in money. Elon is a decent and humble man. Others might not have these qualities when they move higher up Elon is a self-taught person and he learns/schooling everything at home. Others are products of slave mentality schooling. Elon does not spend money on advertising because his products are excellent. Others sell ordinary products/services through marketing. Elon is working on future products and services. Others are just trying to survive the current market situation and share market manipulation

[@manangarg1]

Important for me to consider this personally. I should Work according to my real identity

[@gerardt3284]

I remember while in the car traveling towards the starbase location, the everyday astronaut was asking Elon questions about the oil rig. And he simply said "we're not considering that currently".. or something to that effect. But Tim still wanted to talk about the potential future of it, and Elon completely and coldly dismissed it again with no thought to the flow of the conversation at all. Elon seems to have a strong ability to completely filter out, what he considers to be, irrelevant thoughts/ideas. Like tunnel vision. It really stuck out to me, because most people, I think, would freely converse about future plans like starship being launched off an oil rig, but he had obviously completely sealed off that train of thought in his mind, and clearly didn't want it to be reawakened.

[@sonkaos999]

Do u have the link?

[@FeatureRequest]

​@@sonkaos999just search everyday astronaut and Elon musk and you'll get all the videos

[@gerardt3284]

@@sonkaos999 "Starbase Launchpad Tour with Elon Musk [PART 3 // Summer 2021]" around the 2:30 mark they start to talk about it

[@GarretKrampe]

Sure Narassistic focus is real as .

[@alexcarter8807]

It's because *Felon Musk* didn't know diddly about the oil rig.

[@akshat6107]

🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation: 00:02 🕰️ Ben Franklin and Steve Jobs had remarkable time management skills, but Elon Musk's approach is unique. 00:30 🧠 Elon Musk's ability to switch his focus rapidly between various projects and tasks is exceptional. 02:14 🔄 Musk is a serial tasker who intensely focuses on one thing at a time, allowing him to avoid distractions. 03:49 🚀 Musk's sense of urgency and extreme focus drive his productivity and goals, especially in endeavors like space exploration. 05:49 💡 Even in mundane tasks, Musk's intense focus and ability to switch tasks provide valuable lessons for productivity. 06:32 🖼️ Different people have different approaches to productivity; some thrive on intense focus, while others excel at seeing patterns across various domains. 07:26 🌟 Musk's intense work ethic comes at the cost of not always being able to savor success and quiet moments. Made with HARPA AI

[@senorimotor]

Another amazing clip from this interview. Great job, Lex!

[@robertarvanitis8852]

Excellent counterpoint. See also Marc Andreessen on Jobs/perfection versus Gates/iterate-&-improve. From the Greeks, who first saw the duality; Apollonian versus Dionysian.

[@iamsheep]

He doesn’t get distracted by the frivolous and unimportant things, like his 11 children.

[@potatodog7910]

Sigma male 😎

[@MetalManiac-ex5nu]

What a stupid comment

[@MetalManiac-ex5nu]

God-- what a fuckin bad comment

[@Joseph-fc3pv]

⁠​⁠@@potatodog7910narcissist male. Labels are easy, parenting is not.

[@pickitypopsnickitylovejone6558]

@@Joseph-fc3pv expand your vocabulary. Stop using "narcissist" as a placeholder word. Very narcissistic of you ☺

[@timbenton450]

Moral of the story: With intense focus you can achieve great things. Me: What’s this Polytopia game?

[@letmewatchmyshows]

This is insightfully good stuff! Multitasking is not the mistake, it’s just divided 100 percent of focus and spending at least some of that energy and focus on multitasking itself. Very good when alone, but teamwork makes the dream work! Imagine dedicating all your focus on a task WITH another person! That’s way less energy cost and way more focused focus than two people multitasking together.

[@AutitsicDysexlia]

This is part of the benefits of pair programming.

[@solome6478]

That only works better if one is not competent enough

[@letmewatchmyshows]

@@solome6478 we all sufficient and veritable by ourselves, we are only ever not incompetent around others if we can be humble enough to work together effectively, even if it takes longer. Competence and understanding and kindness are better results, period. What be you think?

[@mmennote]

This was a great video. Thanks.

[@therealtimray]

Can’t wait for his new book to come out. Benjamin Franklin is one of my favorite books of all time.

[@RVDL]

Sure, his time management is exquisite. But his direct reports must be amazing too, because if they don't present him options for on-going issues he can't just quickly decide and move on.

[@particle_wave7614]

yeah i heard him say in an interview people give him too much credit and don't give his teams enough credit.

[@pin65371]

@@particle_wave7614 I think his biggest strength is picking the right people for the job.

[@rose_clips]

Agree. And his team for sure invented or came up with something but can't take credit because they are working for his company. It's teamwork at the end of the day.

[@JeewanthaBandara]

He does have real efficiency in maintaining at least 5 debates on X at the same time.

[@Apjooz]

And he's multitasking 5 different drugs for each of those debates.

[@dep3031]

​@@Apjoozhe is on spectrum

[@StormWolf01]

I need to learn from this. I've noticed that, when there's several issues in my life requiring my attention, they paralyse me. All the issues are screaming at me at the same time, in my head, and i can't focus on any one of them. I think i need to work on time management/time boxing, to allow me some period of times to only think about ONE thing.

[@tuningsnow]

Tell me how when you find out

[@lglge611]

Yup!

[@sasik09]

Me too

[@videosbymathew]

Fierce urgency isn't for everyone. I'd rather enjoy a large part of my life than just be in 'fierce urgency' mode all the time. Do I get a lot done? Sure. Do I 'experience' a lot? Not so sure...

[@MasayaShida]

Thanks for saying this i feel the same

[@dmcentYT]

Plus they act like he does all this he doesn’t do anything it’s all high level touch and go. Having unlimited money and unlimited workforce tends to help.

[@user-zz5je1ry1o]

@@dmcentYTwithout fail, every video about Elon Musk has some loser saying “he doesn’t do anything”.

[@johnstone2029]

@@user-zz5je1ry1o and an even bigger loser calling the first guy a loser ha

[@st3ppenwolf]

@@dmcentYT I think his management style doesn't follow Harvard's formula

[@moexii6308]

I have the same fear and delegence and I always feel I didn’t achieve much in my life and I always need more and always curious. The great thing about Musk is that he is so brave to enter fields that nobody before him had ever done. That’s Musk uniqness.

[@Michael-cb5nm]

As soon as you learn to write in English, you’ll be unstoppable.

[@EBiz-tv9jq]

Intensity an inability to savor the moment is a thing. I always try to do more, work more, learn more. And I can't remember when I actually felt I had achieved something. Achievements feel good for a day maybe. Even something other people celebrate a lot, I just rushed though. And I felt it a lot when I was in a relationship with a girl - she was very focused and worked a lot, but also loved simply relaxing. And I just couldn't 'relax'. I could pretend. I could enjoy a hour or two by pool, but I felt we are simply wasting time. Never said it to her, but felt like it. We later both went through a very complex separation - it is like two people who have everything good - friends, extreme passion, aims,.. but we just were off in terms what we wanted from life. I so tried to change. I thought a girl like that was what I needed. Someone calm. I'll be the james bond kung fu daddy and she will be the peaceful mom. Long story short sometimes being too eager to get more out of life means sacrifices.

[@ugoc3300]

There are two types of shared attention in the WAIS-IV intelligence test given by neuropsychologists. First is trying to focus on one specific beep trough a large variety of other noises and count them. Second is to focus on several different beeps and noises. Being intensely focused is the former, being multitasking is the latter. Also, when your mind is very reactive to any subtle changes in the context, sometimes it goes too quick, and you do not remember much from your working memory, while still being able to have a fully able and strong long term memory.

[@henryturek495]

Multitasking is not real and their has been studies. Your brain simply can’t multitask multiple different things at once.

[@Lions4322]

Psychologist here, who's tested extensively with both WAIS-IV og WISC-V. WAIS-IV doesn't measure any type of "shared attention" - that's not a term that is used today. It sounds to me like you're trying to describe processing speed in the first part ("one specific beep through a large variety of other noises"), which is one of the four facets of WAIS-IV. Processing speed refers to the speed of one's ability to discriminate (simple) signal stimuli from noise. The other part you're describing "multi-tasking - to focus on several different beeps and noises" (although the term is not used today, as it's not accurate), seems to describe the facet called working memory. It's basically how much stimuli of importance can you sustain, manipulate and vocalize at the same time.

[@graceg3250]

He has Aspberger’s, which explains a lot of his ability to focus entirely on things and compartmentalize.

[@ravd8082]

😂his engineers are making him look good

[@jameshayes2022]

​@ravd8082 great teams don't build themselves. If you think management is the easy part you have been misled.

[@tioswift3676]

I SO envy his focus. I can’t focus on anything for more than 5 minutes.

[@trentw.3566]

He has intense greed and aggression, a huge IQ, and a big imagination.

[@archiewebster5034]

@@tioswift3676find something you love and delete insta

[@fblua]

*When you have more than one motivating entrepreneurship and shift from one to another is exactly the effect of taking a rest. That's it. The clue is to be focused, organised and people that does not being you problems when you are in other businesses. It not a miracle.*

[@RahYoRaijin]

I feel like I was in school class listening in the room 😂

[@wahyuramadhan195]

Cool talk

[@akpabiomd9970]

Fierce Urgency is important! Urgency can help you focus ...

[@trueRisshi]

Serial tasker huh, i wonder if there's a way to switch to this kind of mode of operation

[@robertarvanitis8852]

Yes but you must want that more than sleep.

[@kaibe5241]

It’s easy. Don’t do anything but work. Marry a woman that doesn’t want a husband, and have kids that will never have a father.

[@sean_haz]

​@@kaibe5241I think a serial tasker would be a good husband and father. It means when they're being a husband and father that's all they are focusing on, being distracted by work etc. While with family is more likely to make you a bad father imo

[@jcoghill2]

There are tremendous similarities with every captain of industry. The biggest of which is that they all had daddy issues which became the cause of their success. When Edsel was building the Trimotor his father was against it and when the company had to be scrapped Henry Ford said of his son that all he really wanted out of Edsel was to take a stand against him. I have begun to realize that there are parents who are argumentative and simply want their child to stand up and challenge them as if it is an indicator of success to them.

[@Wartooth6]

whatever makes you feel better about being a failure bud

[@donaldmcdermott5425]

@@Wartooth6 zero productive value from making comments like this

[@nateboricha2581]

Fierce urgency

[@ricky15385]

Stop being a fanboy Lex and ask genuine questions…

[@Novilicious]

Where can I get the salt and pepper shrimp recipe? Oh pray tell ❤

[@tinytim71301]

Dude is just awesome.

[@Thegoldmine1]

There's a lot to be said for Elon musk's way also multitasking is useful but only when it doesn't interfere with the other thing you're working on.

[@foxooo]

It comes at the expense of his 10 children lol

[@ravd8082]

It’s come at the expense of hiring best engineers and Elon then takes credit for it

[@hansu7474]

@@ravd8082 There are many great engineers working for him, of course. But I think even in Lex's podcast, Elon gave credits to all the progress made with self-driving in Tesla. And entrepreneurs gets most of the credit because they're the ones who takes the most risk. It's a totally different ballgame compared to just getting paycheck for the amount of work you do as an employee. But, I wish we can make regulations so that bigger chunk of a company's profit is shared among more employees. Right now, the wealth is not well distributed.

[@foxooo]

@@ravd8082 also his kids

[@johchadow]

Multi-tasking is just doing multiple things sub-optimally. Elon knows this.

[@5133937]

Exactly. Elon is multitasking (or serial tasking @3:20), but he hires great people who figure out how to solve the hard problems for him, then he just reviews and approves their work.

[@playpaltalk]

Without Psychedelic drugs and mushrooms his brain can't function.

[@epenies]

Know thyself. I like that. Everyone is different, just leverage your strengths optimally. You don’t have to be the next Elon, but the next YOU.

[@LeviKerrison]

Called loving work because theirs an outcome worth loving. Not work as work like a chore.

[@hamzamohamed7935]

When you find your "purpose," every energy within you is skyrocketing.

[@360Pros]

Forget time management, I'd like to hear more about how people like Musk prioritizes tasks.

[@vamseemk]

Additionally besides the many other things, there is also the training for the cage fight.

[@trentw.3566]

Elon is gonna get killed. Zuckerberg has the advantages.

[@michaeltrillium]

Other ultra-successful people developed the habit of not dwelling on successes. Read somewhere how Jennifer Lopez doesn’t allow herself to reminisce because she would be overwhelmed by the what she was able to accomplish and stop moving forward. Talent and luck is important but hyper-performers in any field are very intelligent and supremely driven.

[@ThomasSirianniEsq]

Elon is amazing but I like to watch my kid drawing on the sidewalk for 30 minutes

[@consumablecorner150]

It's ok to delay your enjoyment of results.

[@sjhaji]

Yes sir

[@parvizsubkhankulov]

“Thought switching at will”

[@ekktharaawal1360]

Stumbled upon this just now! Lol

[@wafflebeaver]

The flip side of hardcore intensity is not being able to savor a moment... that sounds so tragic. I see why Elon says, " you wouldn't want to be me."

[@user-mz3ek4rm7f]

That is how genius work, his Brian run million miles and minutes❤❤❤❤❤

[@seanrowan7367]

Wow, you rarely see Lex this animated about a topic.

[@FluxedState]

You should see the animation in his pants

[@seanrowan7367]

lmao, that is such a wholly unnecessary comment, love it.🤣 @@FluxedState

[@erikbrown77]

This is the only the second time I’ve listened to Issacson talk about Elon, AND this is the second time I’ve heard Issacson criticize Elon for his tweets.

[@dummyfarm]

his tweets are stupid that's why he criticizes them

[@p-Claud73]

It’s a bit sad. Not being able to savour the moment. Lying on a beach. Eating at a great restaurant (he can afford the best of the best). But that’s who he is.

[@joegiordano2212]

Yes Elon is smart but more importantly he knows how to attract top talent. When management does this, they seem to have more time and less issues.

[@Mantopoulos]

Thank you! There’s this constant glorification about Elon this and that, nobody talks about the people that actually put all of his Ideas together. Kudos to Elon of course but they paint him like he does everything.

[@vedantmalhotra6162]

that again is just a proof of how amazing his own abilities are. the people working for him won't be if he wouldn't have made the decisions he did

[@Mantopoulos]

@@vedantmalhotra6162 Well, when you have the money to play around, I guess anyone can be innovative as long as you have the people to execute it and and the money to pay for that kind of talent. Kudos to Elon but I think we glorify him a bit too much.

[@Av-fn5wx]

There's some truth to your point. He's on a league of his own. But his cult sort of stretches it a bit further. Elon does run great companies, but none of his intellectual accomplishments are close to let's say that of Einstein's breakthrough or Newton's laws. Elon excels at running high tech companies and constantly pushing the status quo. But there have been far greater intellectual accomplishments thats sort of are not considered when showering praise on Elon.

[@jonathanbowen3640]

If elon died tomorrow his companies would be fine without him tbh. The work has already been done. Similar to Apple and losing steve jobs. The main talent is in the companies not in Elons head.

[@Rahulsonar170]

He doesn't do things he like to or want to do he do things which is needed to be done.

[@stephenbrennan4508]

Its funny hearing people talk about the ideas they have of the self of others that doesnt even exist

[@akpabiomd9970]

😂

[@trentw.3566]

Don't take that no self stuff too far. Psychologists make use of a concept of a constricted self and it's part of established psychology. See Baumeister's book on the self.

[@stephenbrennan4508]

@trentw.3566 I'm sure I would love reading it but you kinda can't take that no self stuff too far as the moment you truly understand it you are enlightened and then either you disappear into the emptiness of quiet meditation or you come back with something to redevelop a form of self that is better and share with others what you have learned.

[@evolassunglasses4673]

Get KEITH WOODS on.

[@juliogalvan2832]

6:21 Leonardo Da Vinci

[@twndomn]

Because Tweeting is not a distraction.

[@dilmohansingh8553]

“Even the mundane can be full of richness” - The great and powerful Lex Fridman

[@Motivational.Quotes10k]

He has a method. Be sure of that. The number of hours invested in a filed , I suppose.

[@tubeyou89119]

I also think the quality and output of Elon's focus are significantly better than 99% of people.

[@lemoneyesalt5513]

I spent more time playing Polytopia in year 11 and 12 than I did studying, that gives me confidence to be like Elon Musk!

[@abraao.maximo]

He single tasks sequentially with a focus that's hardcore

[@khooskzad5612]

Jo Lex bring Charlie Munger dude!

[@PedroTRamos1]

He can´t savor the moment because he´s pedal to the metal at all times. A truly rare individual.

[@carlose.moreyramd7846]

“Musk’s big failing is he can’t savor the moment or success…” Immediately reminds me of another person who can’t savor the moment- Nick Saban

[@joerarey8496]

I need to get my sh!t together

[@shivayshakti6575]

Does he take adderal?

[@jia7833]

So Elon is a human like OS kernel that “multi” processes different tasks, following a priority scheduling algo?

[@tensevo]

I worry he more like Howard Hughes

[@SBCMOFO]

Leslie Nielsen's looking well

[@IdowuAkinde]

Hmmm... 🤔

[@LarryP248]

This material is a catalyst for growth and self-discovery. A book with like-minded subjects transformed my perspective. "Dominating Your Clock: Strategies for Professional and Personal Success" by Anthony Rivers

[@Nothingface2011]

Twitter definitely distracts him

[@iironurmi869]

Imagine getting to your first long vacation and elon just calls you in for sense of urgency. What a nice fella! 😊

[@morten170]

Getting payed millions a year, yes then you come in at urgency. No matter if you are on vacation.

[@Omarthegreat93]

It’s weed boys.❤

[@AppalachianChaplin]

✨️aspergers✨️

[@hansu7474]

Elon is really one of a kind. We've never seen someone like him. And he really knows how to build a great team that matches his management style.

[@heatrayzvideo3007]

Musk is a sellour to Russia. He doesn't deserve to live in America

[@jeremyelliott9831]

You’ve clearly never worked for him😂

[@Avogadros_number]

People seem to either love Elon and constantly sing his praises, or despise him and denigrate anything that he does. Reality is probably somewhere in the middle.

[@jeremyelliott9831]

@@Avogadros_number there are people that have worked with/for him and those that haven’t. That correlates to your observation

[@Avogadros_number]

@@jeremyelliott9831 can’t argue with that. Seems like an unstable guy.

[@1234TokyoJohn]

PayPal, Tesla, Space X.

[@MagicFilm-dg9xk]

4:30

[@Eric-zo8wo]

0:02: ⏰ Ben Franklin, Steve Jobs, and Elon Musk are all known for their exceptional time management skills. 3:05: 🕒 Elon Musk is a serial tasker who intensely focuses on one task at a time for about an hour before moving on to the next task. 5:25: 🚀 Elon Musk emphasizes the importance of a fierce sense of urgency in achieving goals, even in mundane tasks. Recap by Tammy AI

[@jossetishauser2040]

Multitasking has been proven to be highly inefficient by professor Paul Kirschner among others.

[@mlgpro6194]

Yes and as you can hear from the video, Elon doesn’t do it

[@jossetishauser2040]

Exactly.@@mlgpro6194

[@borisjacimovic7390]

maybe too much?

[@dawiser1]

His secret? Staff.

[@trentw.3566]

Yes. He knows how to delegate.

[@nickigna]

Everybody play Polytopia now

[@TW0man4RMY]

Its called uppers/nootropics.

[@MonosonicJukeJoint]

"Amphetamines"

[@Sunshine-tm9fs]

Mr.Musk is unsurpassed!! ONE OF A.KIND!!! Difficult to find superlatives to do him right!!!❤

[@Sunshine-tm9fs]

@Elonmusk730... Mary. Germany.I am such an enthusiastic fan of yours, Mr Musk, that I am following your "shorts" and podcasts and having the propensity to express how.much mesmerized I am by you and your fantastic, unsurpassed endeavors as well your subdued style of presenting them, like they were 😂 a piece of cake, despite the unmatched technology you master to the dismay of everyone who wants to know.😊

[@Sunshine-tm9fs]

@Elonmusk730... 🥰🥰🥰

[@Sunshine-tm9fs]

Rightfully so😊😊😊😊😊😊😊

[@gwnbw]

This serial tasking just sounds like multi tasking to me

[@budgetaudiophilelife-long5461]

THANKS LEX ,FOR SHARING THIS BEAUTIFUL 🤩 INFO ℹ ,…ELON DEFINITELY IS IN A LEAGUE OF HIS OWN,BUT FOCUSING ON ONE ☝️ PROBLEM AT A TIME,IS A GREAT ADVICE 👍💚💚💚

[@miamianz]

But is he living? I wouldn't trade my life for his. Im the type that wants to experience life all of it. While I work hard the human experience is more important to me. If we didn't have specialized cells we would be a brain in a jar. Same with humans, nature divided us in all mental capacities to do and partake in specific jobs now you also have the choice to pursue what you wish where as cells do as well but it's written in the dna😊 also his quality of life as a child also enabled him to be mentally focused on a task rather than wondering if your gonna eat tonight or things of that matter.

[@hansu7474]

When you look at our brain, there is no such thing as multitask, in the sense that computers perform multitasks. We're single threaded machine, and people who think they're multitasking are just simply switching between multiple things quickly. Elon is simply switching not so quickly, and choose to switch after several hours. So it's a myth that people can do multitask. We can't. Someone can be better at switching quickly, and someone might be worse at it, and this depends on how fast your brain can supply you with information needed to do a different task. But, it's still a single thread.

[@markmeszaros76]

Basically he works like the president of the country

[@vvdd903]

seems like Isaac can not appreciate Musk focus level

[@NewYork7914]

We all can go to Mars after death 😂😂

[@Stephen-zq2wf]

Compartmentalize

[@andregoncalvespereira9552]

And he doesn’t have Instagram, it helps a lot to be productive

[@andreaslukas2252]

Did I understand correctly that Elon Musk plays Polytopia?? 😂❤

[@4subvoid4]

Small ...?

[@crazypato3752]

In that thumbnail Elon looks like the grow up version of the baby that appears in the passion of the c Christ during the guards whipping Jesus scene.

[@onurdegirmencitv]

So he’s essentially Top E

[@sharonlewis705]

Love forever Elon

[@RhetoricalMuse]

Them: The secret to Elon Musk's productivity Me: Aspergers