A Day in the Life of a Software Engineer working in Big Tech
I’m a 26-year-old software engineer at Amazon in Madrid, and this is the realistic, 16-hour routine I use to balance Big Tech with my personal side projects.
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I have spent many hours watching those “Day in the Life” videos on YouTube. I’ve been watching them since I was a student and dreamed about working in big tech.
Most of them are set in the US, usually featuring engineers in the Bay Area or New York.
While they are entertaining, I think people often miss the point that Big Tech is almost everywhere in the world. You do not have to be in Silicon Valley to have an interesting and challenging engineering career.
I’d like to bring that same energy to my newsletter. My goal is to provide a raw and realistic look at the Big Tech experience right here in Spain.
There’s no bragging intended in this post. I simply want to offer some inspiration and a personal connection to those curious about how we work and live in Madrid.
I wanted to try to write something different than usual, so I hope you enjoy it!
In this post, you’ll learn
The step-by-step daily routine of a Software Engineer at Amazon living in Madrid.
How I balance working on this newsletter with a full-time Big Tech role.
A small piece of my life!
5:50 - Wake up
My day starts while everything is still quiet. Some time ago, I’d wake up around 6:30 out of my own choice because it gave me a sense of control over my schedule. It was the only part of the day when nobody was asking for my attention, and I could focus entirely on my own goals before the corporate world woke up.
Now we wake up at this time because my girlfriend goes to work very early and she works in two halves. Her morning shift starts pretty early.
I’ve realized there are small habits I can make to feel more awake in the early morning
Drink lots of water
Get some fresh air, even if there’s no sunlight yet
Move myself or do some light exercise
After my girlfriend leaves, and depending on how tired I am or how badly I slept, I’d go to bed for one more hour or start my day.
7:00 - Start working in newsletter
I may still be a bit asleep, but that’s even an advantage. It’s the time my brain isn’t racing with so many thoughts.
From 7:00 AM until I have to leave for work, I dedicate my time to planning and writing for this newsletter. Besides working without distractions with a clear head, it’s the only time in my day that I have for a personal project.
I really try not to skip this block of work unless I’m too tired from previous days. It is a way to ensure that I am moving forward with my own projects alongside my main job. By the time I finish this session, I already feel like I have accomplished something significant before the official workday even begins.
Before I had this newsletter, I felt like I was living the rat race, and had more negative thoughts about work and the life I wanted to live. Now, I have control, and if I achieve more or less, it’s in my control.
This is what I see from my window during this block of work. We bought our apartment recently, and I always feel inspired by the views. In the previous two apartments I rented in Madrid, I had to get my head out of the window to see the sky. Now I see mostly sky :)
8:30 - Go to work. Commute by train
At 8:30 AM, it is time to transition into my professional role. I head out to the train station to catch the train. Luckily, we bought an apartment that is just 200 meters away from both the metro and the train.
Just 4 months after I started working for Amazon, there was little guidance about working on-site or remote due to the COVID pandemic, so I moved back to my parents’ house in the south of Spain and worked 100% remotely. At first, working back in the office was hard, but now I enjoy listening to podcasts during my commute.
Some people complain that the train system in Madrid isn’t reliable. It’s true they usually don’t meet the schedule. The good part is that from my origin to my destination station, there are 3 different train lines that can get me to the office, so usually I don’t wait too long.
Commuting takes around 45 minutes, so I have time ot listen to some podcasts.
9:30 - Usually arrive at work
I typically arrive at the office around 9:30 AM. Amazon has multiple offices in Madrid, the one for our team is located under the Retiro park, and it’s pretty well communicated. I walk the final few blocks from the station and grab a banana or two when I arrive at the office.
Amazon office is on only one side of the building, and in the middle, there’s a small garden. Here’s a picture of it
Once I get to my desk, I spend the first few minutes authenticating in multiple sites, checking emails, and scanning Slack messages for anything I should check right away.
Most of my colleagues arrive around this time as well, so it’s a great moment for a quick social check-in before we dive into our first meeting.
I’m starting to experiment with using AI Agents for productivity. I let it scan my calendar for meetings and scan a local database of tasks. My TODO-list was always growing, so I’m trying to use AI to manage my work better.
So I’d start asking my AI Agent: “Give me my daily plan for today.”
10:00 - Daily Standup
Our daily standup is at 10:00 AM. We discuss what we did yesterday, what we are working on today, and any blockers that might be standing in our way.
Most times, there are 1 or 2 pressing problems for the team. Sometimes they impact my work for today or not, but it’s always good to be on top of what’s going on for our team, not only for myself.
In the end, we don’t work on isolated projects. Anyone may need to work on any task, and we’re on-call for all our services, so it’s important to catch up.
11:00 - Work in the morning
After the standup and maybe some light meeting or 1:1, I dive into my first real block of work. I may start with a smaller block for some code review or a document.
The way I decide if I review something or not is based on the impact of that review: Am I blocking someone if I postpone doing reviews? If yes, I’d review the right way. If not, I’d start with my own work.
I’d like to say that I strategically design my work to work on the most complex thing in the morning, but usually I go with whatever is the next step in the work I have on my plate. I try to minimize distractions during this window to make the most of my morning energy.
I use the same trick at work and home: I put my phone behind the laptop’s screen. This way, I don’t have it visible, I don’t sense it in my pocket. But still, I’d hear a phone call if I’m expecting any (although most of the time my phone is in do-not-disturb mode permanently).
This is the time I do the most work of the day. Any longer team meeting is usually in the afternoon, and meetings with other teams are also in the afternoon. I work mostly with teams in the US, and their morning is my afternoon/evening.