Black Friday Sale! 50% Off All Access

How 3 Tech Superstars Mastered Personal Productivity Find what works for you, whether it be 180-hour workweeks or sharing your calendar with everyone you know.

By Aaron Agius Edited by Dan Bova

Entrepreneur+ Black Friday Sale

Our biggest sale — Get unlimited access to Entrepreneur.com at an unbeatable price. Use code SAVE50 at checkout.*

Claim Offer

*Offer only available to new subscribers

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

FilmMagic | Getty Images

Those of us who choose the path of entrepreneurship are usually attracted to the freedom of living life on our own terms. However, with this freedom comes greater responsibilities -- particularly in terms of how you manage your time.

Without a boss breathing down your neck every day, you need to summon your own motivation if you want to be a successful entrepreneur. Unfortunately, until you've mastered personal productivity, you're always going to be susceptible to distractions such as social media.

Related: 5 Habits That Imrpove Your Mental State, Motivation and Productivity

More than 90 percent of adult Americans spend between 15 and18 hours on Facebook per month, which roughly equates to two full workdays. This is ironic, since the mastermind behind Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, is one of the most productive people on the planet.

While it's impossible to perfectly replicate the revolutionary thinking of tech entrepreneurs like Zuckerberg, Elon Musk and Jack Dorsey, we can definitely learn a lot from them in terms of maximizing our personal productivity levels.

1. Musk

Musk, the billionaire founder of SpaceX and Tesla, is known for his machine-like work ethic. With a significant daily dosage of caffeine, Musk has been known to work 100+ hour workweeks for years on end.

When Musk wakes up every morning at 7, after six hours of sleep, his first task is to take care of high-priority emails for half an hour. Email is his preferred method of communication since he can respond at his convenience, rather than in real time.

Since Musk packs so much into his days, removing himself from real-time communication wherever possible helps his schedule to move smoothly. He's known to multitask a lot, running meetings during lunch breaks and playing with his children while firing off text messages. By breaking his calendar down into 5-minute blocks, he's constantly looking for ways to optimize his time and be more productive.

While his personal life hasn't always run smoothly as a result of long hours and managing multiple businesses at once, I guess this is a sacrifice you have to make when your primary mission in life is to colonize Mars.

Related: How Emotional Intelligence Can Improve Your Productivity

2. Dorsey

Dorsey is primarily known as the brains behind Twitter, but he simultaneously runs Square, a mobile payments company. Unsurprisingly, Dorsey works extreme hours in order keep his two Goliath tech companies highly profitable.

In order to kickstart his arduous 18-hour workdays, he has a masterful morning routine in place. After waking up at 5 am, he meditates for half an hour and then performs a rigorous 7-minute workout, three times repeated. Next, he gets his first caffeine fix of the day and gets to work.

While this sounds a bit crazy, a writer for Business Insider, Anisa Purbasari, followed his morning routine for a week and found substantial improvements in her mood and productivity levels -- although she still considers Dorsey a special breed of human for being able to consistently do 18-hour workdays.

Another productivity hack we can learn from Dorsey is theming our workdays. He uses Mondays for management, Tuesdays for product focus, Wednesdays for marketing and communications, Thursdays for developers and partnerships and Fridays for company culture and recruiting. He takes Saturdays off and uses Sundays to prepare for the next week.

This is a significant contrast to Musk's multitasking strategy, but it works for Dorsey.

Related: 5 Progressive Ways to Reduce Stress and Increase Productivity

3. Zuckerberg

Facebook's head honcho, Zuckerberg is known for his relentless drive in pursuing goals. One trick we can learn from him is to remove things that take up time and don't get us closer to completing our objectives.

For instance, Zuckerberg's closet only contains gray T-shirts and gray hoodies. By eliminating unnecessary clothing choices early in the morning, he shaves a few extra minutes off his incredibly busy schedule.

Zuckerberg is diligent with setting clearly defined, measurable goals for his company. However, this habit carries over to his personal life too. When he wanted to learn Mandarin, he set it as a yearly goal, and when he wanted to program an AI system for his home, that was another yearly goal. In addition to setting these goals, Zuckerberg posts them on his Facebook page for millions of people to see. This gives him a level of accountability that most people can't relate to -- so he's continually motivated to achieve whatever goals he sets.

If you've got some audacious goals this year, I recommend sharing them with as many people as you can. The extra accountability will help you to achieve extraordinary heights.

Aaron Agius

Search, Content and Social Marketer

Aaron Agius is an experienced search, content and social marketer. He has worked with IBM, Ford, LG, Unilever and many more of the world's largest and most recognized brands, to grow their revenue. See more from Agius at Louder Online.

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Science & Technology

I've Spent 20 Years Studying Focus. Here's How I Use AI to Multiply My Time and Save 21 Weeks of Work a Year

AI is supposed to save time, but 77% of employees say it often costs more time due to all the editing it requires. Instead of helping, it can become a distraction. But don't worry — there's a better way.

Business Ideas

63 Small Business Ideas to Start in 2024

We put together a list of the best, most profitable small business ideas for entrepreneurs to pursue in 2024.

Business News

The Two Richest People in the World Are Fighting on Social Media Again

Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk had a new, contentious exchange on X.

Starting a Business

Why Are So Many Course Creators Struggling if It's 'Such an Easy Business'? Here's the Truth Behind the $800 Billion Industry

Creating an online course is so easy — at least, that's what many "gurus" would like you to believe. There's a lot of potential in the $800 billion industry, but here's why so many course creators are struggling.

Money & Finance

Why Donald Trump's Business-First Policies Trump Harris' Consumer-Centric Approach

President Donald Trump's pro-business agenda is packed with policy moves encouraging investment to drive economic growth. The next Congress has a unique opportunity to support entrepreneurship and innovation, improving U.S. competitiveness with the rest of the world.

Business News

Barbara Corcoran Says This Is the Interest Rate Magic Number That Will Make the Market 'Go Ballistic'

Corcoran said she praying for lower interest rates and people are "tired of waiting."