What Elon Musk, Bill Gates, and other highly successful people do on the weekends

For some, the weekend is a sacred retreat from the hustle and bustle of our busy work lives.

For others, the weekend is a myth — Saturday and Sunday are mere extensions of the workweek and a chance to get ahead of the competition.

Judging from the various ways highly successful people spend their (at least theoretical) time away from work, we can conclude that there really is no right or wrong way to structure your weekends — it's all about striking the right balance for you.

Here's how super-successful people do it.

Elon Musk spends time with his kids.

Musk, the billionaire CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, has five sons, with whom, he told Mashable, he hangs out on the weekends. 

However, he also admitted at South by Southwest in 2013 that some of this "quality time" is spent sending emails. "Because they don't need constant interaction, except when we're talking directly," he said. "I find I can be with them and still be working at the same time."

Jack Dorsey hikes and prepares for the week.

In 2011, when Jack Dorsey was running Twitter and Square full-time, the cofounder told the audience at Techonomy 2011 that, to got it all done, he gave each day a theme. This allowed him to quickly recall and refocus on the day's task once the distraction was out of the way. 

Dorsey said he would take Saturday off to hike and spend Sunday focusing on reflections, feedback, strategy, and getting ready for the rest of the week.

Now that he's back to running both companies, there's a good chance theme days could come in handy again.

Rachel Maddow ditches her NYC apartment for the country.

The political journalist told People she, her girlfriend Susan Mikula, and English Lab occupy a 275-sq.-ft. Manhattan apartment during the week when Maddow tapes her show. During the weekends, though, they drive three hours so they can retreat to their country home in Western Massachusetts.

"Having a place out of the city is a shortcut toward the mental reset I need," Maddow told People. She also loves spending her Saturday reading comic books.