Elon Musk is trying to make sleep deprivation cool again

Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) underlings are powering his takeover of the government with a “hardcore” work ethic that sacrifices sleeping for around-the-clock grinding. Musk boasted that they are working long hours, even over weekends because their “opponents” take that time off. They moved sofa beds into the Office of Personnel Management and other government agencies. One seller of trendy “sleep pods” generously sent their product to Musk and his team, hoping to help them catch some precious zzz’s. It is an old-school Silicon Valley mentality, which values an absolute time commitment above everything else. The image of Musk hunkering down in a federal office building evokes the tales of him sleeping on the Tesla factory floor. The hustle culture of Silicon Valley is replete with these legends of company founders and their minions sleeping at their desks for days on end trying to crack an important problem on their way to glory. This is a culture that has sought for years to “hack” sleep — something they view as a woeful inefficiency — by, for example, the practice of breaking sleep into bite-sized portions throughout the day rather than one big chunk at night. Some House Republicans have suggested that Capitol Hill, the entire federal government, and the country in general have something to learn from this zealous work ethic. The pandemic-driven heyday of remote work is over; corporate executives across different industries are increasingly pushing workers to recommit to coming to the office and generally prioritizing work above all else, a more Muskian ethos. But the fetishization of this hardcore, no-sleep mentality chafes against what the vast majority of research advises: We need more sleep — not less. The modern world makes it hard to get a good night’s rest. A lack of quality sleep affects not only our short-term cognitive and physical capabilities, but also the longer-term prognosis for deadly diseases like heart disease and cancer. The medical research here is clear: We are not better off subsisting on five or six hours of sleep while we grind away — we need more. The challenge is figuring out how to get those eight hours, no matter whether you are overhauling the federal bureaucracy or just trying to be your best self. Why our brains need sleep The modern eight-hour standard took shape in parallel to the Industrial Revolution, when more people started working clearly delineated schedules, i.e., the famous 9-to-5 shift. Electricity also became more common, untethering people from the sleep schedule that had been dictated by natural light. Medical professionals began to recognize the value of a long, consistent sleep. More recent research has added some nuance, indicating that some people get enough rest from seven hours of sleep and others may need more like nine because of natural genetic differences. But the standard had been set. And that naturally left an emerging group of sleep scientists wondering what happened if people did not get enough rest. William Dement started recording brain patterns during sleep in the 1950s, unlocking the approach that has allowed researchers to see the changes in brain activity that could explain why sleep and its absence had different effects. He attended an attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the most time spent without sleep in the early 1960s (it was for 11 days). As the head of the first professional medical society dedicated to sleep science, he oversaw foundational studies that evaluated sleep deprivation and the behavioral changes that it caused. Dement helped to identify REM sleep patterns and their value, as well as sleep apnea, or periods of interrupted breathing that can disrupt sleep. He and other scientists began to document that people who were sleep deprived would slip into what later became called “microsleeps” — brief periods of unintentional sleeping that contribute to workplace accidents and errors. Here in the 21st century, researchers have discovered the biological mechanisms that could explain these effects. Studies have shown that lack of sleep causes reduced activity in the prefrontal cortex (which is responsible for decision-making) and the hippocampus (where our memories are stored). One small study of novice software engineers found their coding suffered with less sleep. A physician who ran a mobile clinic for tech workers told Fortune that he had found many of his patients had biological ages decades beyond their actual age, which could be linked to the grind lifestyle. People who don’t get enough sleep are also worse at controlling their emotions, have worse moods, and are less capable of relating to others, according to research published over the past decade. Neurological exams have found that there is increased activity in the amygdala (which processes emotion) when people are sleep deprived. The rest of your body also needs the rest. Medical researchers have linked heart disease to insufficient sleep. When I interviewed oncologists last year to hear their best hypotheses about why more young people are developing cancers, several of them cited lack of sleep as a risk factor that needed to be better understood. In general, we already know a lack of sleep makes our immune system less efficient. You need your sleep! Elon Musk himself acknowledged that those infamous sleep habits weren’t good for him and said he was trying to get more like six hours a night these days because his old routine gave him “brain pain.” Unfortunately, his reported use of drugs, including ketamine, which is associated with bad sleep, and his tweeting patterns give us reason to doubt he is suddenly getting more sleep. The grind continues, now in DC. For a crew that boasts about their sleep schedules, it’s fair to wonder if that’s having an impact. DOGE’s 120-hour work week literally does not leave enough time for eight hours of sleep. Whether it’s incompetence, fatigue, or something more nefarious, other outlets have already reported sloppy operational security, the inadvertent disclosure of classified information, and the firing then quick rehiring of critical government staff who were working on issues as important as nuclear safety and the bird flu crisis. In one laughable case, DOGE claimed to have saved $8 billion for the American taxpayer when they had actually saved $8 million — all because of what should have been an easily caught mathematical error. The DOGE crew is seemingly stacking the deck for further risks to ensue. The latest? The Trump administration is laying off thousands of IRS workers right as tax season kicks into gear. Bringing a bunch of sleep pods into the White House was, in a way, an admission that a long uninterrupted sleep cannot be hacked. Think of the name of the AI-powered sleep pod company — Eight Sleep — that provided $4,600 beds to Musk and his team. Eight hours of sleep is still the goal. Mark Zuckerberg and life hacker extraordinaire Bryan Johnson are also fans of those pods. Jeff Bezos, who has also nudged closer to this inner circle of Trump tech bros, has long advocated for good sleep as an important ingredient to success. It’s telling that this culture that once thought it could take a shortcut around a full night’s sleep is evolving instead to simply try to achieve those eight hours as efficiently as possible. And these pods have also, I should note, received a rave review from my colleagues at the Verge: “Smart sleep is worth the cost.” Because sleep is really that valuable. It’s harder than ever now to get those eight hours on our own, which is the problem the pods are trying to solve. The light pollution from our devices makes us sleep worse; that artificial light disrupts our circadian rhythms. The doomscrolling we tend to do on those devices is also bad for our sleep. What a surprise. That is not to say we all need to buy a $4,600 bed, though. There are simpler steps you can take to achieve a better night’s rest. Develop a set routine — which should include putting your device away well before you try to close your eyes. Don’t eat or drink too much before bed and definitely avoid any stimulants. We’ve even got tips on buying a mattress here at Vox. And recently, Jonquilyn Hill spoke with Jade Wu, a sleep psychologist, on the Explain It to Me podcast. Wu emphasized in particular committing to a set routine as being important to getting quality sleep and, in the morning, trying to expose yourself to lots of light to start your circadian clock. People of all ages should also be mindful of sleep apnea and check with their doctor if they have any risk factors or other reasons to suspect apnea is disrupting their rest. Your wearable might even be approved to track whether you are showing signs of apnea. Companies are developing less and less intrusive devices to manage that condition and reduce both the long- and short-term risks that it presents.

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Elon Musk is trying to make sleep deprivation cool again