So what’s his top productivity tip? In an interview with Glassdoor, the CEO says that prioritisation is key. “Focus on signal over noise,” he said. “Don’t waste time on stuff that doesn’t actually make things better.
“I think a lot of people think I must spend a lot of time with media or on business things. But actually almost all my time, like 80% of it, is spent on engineering and design. Engineering and design, so it’s developing next-generation product. That’s 80% of it.”
Additionally, Elon is a master multi-tasker (which he calls, “batching”) and optimising his schedule. “That’s the single best piece of advice,” he adds. “Constantly thinking about how you could be doing things better and questioning yourself.”
This advice comes at a time when, aside from revolutionising space travel, electric cars and solar power, Elon is also funding a $15 million project to help children in Tanzania read and write.
Called the Global Learning XPRIZE, the project’s goals is to find a way to teach illiterate children to read, write and do math by themselves. Globally, 260 million children do not have access to primary or secondary education. In Tanzania alone, children from 150 villages will be given one of 8,000 Pixel C tablets supplied by Google. On them, will be software designed to help children, aged seven to ten, learn without more formal education.
“The goal is getting the children to the highest level possible, but particularly to the cusp of going from learning to read to reading to learn,” Matt Keller, senior director for the Global Learning XPRIZE, told IFLScience. “It’s a moon shot for sure.”
Over a year, the children will use the learning resources with pre and post-tests focusing on reading, writing and arithmetic. Whichever team sees the most marked improvement will win $10 million.
