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A 26-year-old software engineer at Amazon's Madrid office shares a detailed daily routine covering a 16-hour day that balances a full-time Big Tech role with running a personal newsletter. The schedule runs from a 5:50 AM wake-up through early morning newsletter writing, a 45-minute train commute, office work including standups, cross-timezone meetings with US teams, and an 18:30 finish. Key themes include using AI agents for personal productivity, maintaining work-life boundaries to avoid burnout, the social lunch culture in Spain, and the challenge of increasing workloads driven by AI and layoffs. The post aims to show that Big Tech careers exist outside Silicon Valley and can be balanced with personal projects and a fulfilling personal life.

A Day in the Life of a Software Engineer working in Big Tech

All about Engineering Management, Leadership and Career Growth.

Engineering Leadership

Wow a 16h work day sure sounds awesome… glad to not have it

sounds like most software developers’ life (non-remote) minus the gf and newsletter part

If my time at Amazon was like the day in the life described above, I would probably still be there, lol. Maybe I should have transferred to Madrid…