Rush Hour: Go Inside the Calendar of a Facebook Engineering Lead
How does an ever-busy leader protect, evaluate, and maximize time?
Being an engineering leader, supporting a mission driven org makes me feel like I can do anything in a day: tackle technical problems, support, mentor and coach people or teams, lead peer discussions, or promote ideas. Maybe even leave occasional time to reflect, gather data, or pursue personal passions. My day divided in 30 mins slots.
Occasional is the operative term here.
At Facebook, my role expanded from overseeing a team, to overseeing multiple managers overseeing multiple teams. Time became more scarce in tandem, and I had to think critically about how I spread my time, and find the strategy that fits my hours, divided by the people that can benefit from it.
So, how does an ever-busy leader protect, evaluate, and maximize time? You’ve come to the right blog.
Creating Exponential Energy
There is a cognitive cap on how many people we can maintain 1-1 relationships with. Dunbar says it’s 150, but the deeper, complex team dynamics challenges reaching even that capacity.
Prior to this growth, everyone I supported received regular half-hour meetings to dive into projects and ideas. By definition, Facebook is a ‘social’ company; we value 1-1 time, fostering trust-driven relationships, and providing skip-level escalations and support. And I cherish this part of my job.
As my team increased exponentially, as did the questions and ideas hurled my way. I wanted to remain accessible to my team (I maintain an open door, or Messenger Video nowadays, policy). Yet at the same rate, nearly half of my time would have been just for check-ins, and it doesn’t take an engineer to realize the inefficiencies this creates. So I began to evaluate my schedule more critically, and how to protect my time without hindering my team’s progression.
Problem is with everything that's flying at you, you're not actually running it. You're reacting. Not leading.1
My team would love it if I retained high degree of face time, but that would hinder my ability to lead and affect change within Facebook, compromising what I can uniquely positioned to do.
I began to rethink my energy to impact ratio. It wasn’t about time, but the reach. Rather than continued 1-1 targeted conduction, I shifted toward radiating energy toward groups.
This meant fewer closed-door meetings, and more all-hands and group syncs where everyone could have their moments, and feel individually seen — simultaneously.
Scheduling Your Most Efficient Week
First, identify the most critical responsibilities you face, and how they can be compartmentalized on daily and weekly basis. Consider how team schedules and timelines affect yours, and how they can be most efficient while asynchronous. At Facebook, I also consider our weekly business rhythms including our release schedule.
Right now, here’s how I break down my week:
Mon & Tues — Pure engineering: Data gathering and exchange, async and sync reviews, data and plan reviews, and team level shared understanding, and decisions.
Weds — Think, write, and cross-org: Reflection and planning is at the center of my week because it is the most important. I evaluate my team’s work, and determine the best response. It’s also when I ideate, daydream, and do critical thinking that leads to great ideas. Also, Facebook’s no-meeting Wednesdays helps.
Thurs & Fri — Coaching: My aforementioned all-hands meetings,1-1s, skip levels, mentorship sessions, group lunch & learns, ad hoc requests, drop-ins, and other interpersonal events.
Is it a perfect system? Not exactly. Every week is like this? No. But I get better each week, and hope it serves as a guide for how to structure your day-to-day. Ready to take it a step further? Grab your closest color wheel.
Adding Color to Your Calendar
Once your days are divided, you can break down hours. Start at the end — yes, end — of each week to evaluate productivity. By color coding, you can easily observe how your time was spent. Ideally you want to spend all your time on something important that is not on fire.2
Here is what I did:
Green = time well spent (meetings where you accomplish real work or set a great plan)
Yellow = average output (often things that aren’t exciting, but just need to get done)
Red = questionable usage (unproductive, slow, or putting out unplanned and ad-hoc fires)
I use my iPad Pro to freehand.
Some recurring meetings were green one week, and red the next. Over time, I recognized the meetings that fluctuated, and how to give feedback to stakeholders. What would turn your red meetings yellow, and yellows to greens?
As the next layer, code not just quality, but type of meeting to see how your time is spent. I did this for my 1:1 and how I thought they went.
Pink = physics and coaching 1:1
Blue = engineering and tactical 1:1
Black = meetings I did not attend
Legend: Address S= Skip, S M = Skip manager, D = Direct, X = XFN etc.
Start Improving Your Calendar
At Facebook we say the journey is 1% finished. Our ideas and products are always growing, always changing; improving and deploying on a loop, and staying true to the scientific method. The same theory can be applied to your calendar, if not your whole life.
To optimize forward, look backward. In the last two weeks, what time was your most productive? Mediocre? What times of day? Who are you with? Then, start doing this at the end each week.
If you don’t have this data, start logging each day what you accomplished (or didn’t). After two weeks, you’ll have a clear picture of when you were at your most — and least — productive.
So I leave you with this challenge:
Aim to make your week 65%+ productive in next month. It's a massive change & improvement, only possible with intentionality.
Lobby for “no-meeting Wednesdays”. Everyone is heads down, which keeps the rhythm of production.
Commit to continuous improvement. As your team and organization grow and change, your priorities and calendar should be fluid to fit the rhythm of what’s urgent, important. Stay agile, stay vigilant, stay productive.
Once you’ve considered what you need from a week, and what your week and team need from you, you can start coding for productivity, efficiency, and greater impact. Then, tell me how your green ratio increased week-over-week. And reach out if you need help — it’s something I’ll always make time for.
Thanks - Vivek
PS: >s/Wednesday/Saturday/g
Designated Survivor - S1x14. Ex-president tells the president
Eisenhower matrix - 2x2 on important X urgent