The Meaningful Work Week

Time Expectation

5 days worth of deep work per week

Deep work is when you are deeply focused on cognitively demanding tasks without distraction. It’s when real results are accomplished, so it’s extremely important to us as a company.

Deep work is the most important, but of course we also need you to attend to necessary shallow work and to invest in learning.

You should typically have 2 days off work per week, preferable weekends, but at least 1 day fully unplugged with zero work

What it looks like

Most people under typical circumstances can sustain a maximum of 4-6 hours of deep work in a single day

Figure out what times of day your at your best and dedicated those to deep work

Then do the other necessary tasks in the time around that

But also recognize that sometime you need to sacrifice a deep work session to catch up on shallow work, for example when you are on L1 support

To be extra clear, we’re not expecting you to work more than 5 days per week. All your deep + shallow work should fit into 5 days under normal circumstances.

The whole idea here is that your work day should roughly look like 4-6 hours of deep work + some shallow work + maybe some learning, then be done and go enjoy your life.

The Principles

These are the principles Brandon and Mina use to maximize their work and impact while staying sane, not burning out, and having a life outside work

You are a company steward

Responsibility and accountability

We are all stewards of this company and this mission. You are hired to steward the company and mission as if it is your own. We are in this together. We all grow wealthier together. Or we all fail together.

What it looks like

Stewardship is seeing something that needs done and doing something about it instead of waiting for someone else to notice it

Stewardship is tending to the company like it’s your own baby instead of just doing the least to get by

Stewardship is giving each other feedback and holding each our accountable for excellent results as if they are working for you

What happens if you don’t do it

Quality suffers

Work becomes less meaningful

You let your fellow Flightcontrollers down

Manage energy, not time

Embrace ebb and flow

All time is not equal. The same task could take 1 or 4 hours depending on your energy and creativity levels during that time. So instead of managing your time, manage your energy.

Secondly, burn out is a function of energy, not time. You can still burn out by working less than typical hours. So to not burn out, you must focus on energy, not hours.

What it looks like

Figuring out what time of day you do your best work and dedicating that to deep work instead of trying to do deep work when you are tired and exhausted

Blocking out deep work time on your calendar, so others can see it and attempt to schedule meetings around it (although we all have to sacrifice some of our best time for meetings due to varying schedules and timezones)

Doing necessary shallow work in the time around your deep work time

Monitoring your burn out level and ensuring it stays consistently low (and informing your manager if it starts rising)

Working more or less hard on some days, weeks, and months as your energy fluctuates

What happens if you don’t do it

You put in a lot of hours but have little results to show for it

You feel unfocused and distracted

You aren’t working a lot but still burn out

Focus on outputs, not inputs

Deep work

Focusing on inputs usually makes us feel good even if the output isn't great. But in life and business, we usually get graded on outputs, not inputs. As salaried employees, we don’t want you trading time for money. We’re paying for results, not hours.

Our goal is to minimize input while maximizing output. This demands extraordinary efficiency, creativity, and outside-the-box thinking.

As individuals and as a team, we have barely scratched the surface of what we can achieve.

Let's dare to see what is possible.

What it looks like

Always asking yourself and each other, “how can we do this in half the time and double the quality?”

Asking for help when you get stuck instead of spending hours spinning your wheels

What happens if you don’t do it

We have lots of activity but no fruit

We spend a lot of time & money, but get no reward

Example: trying to do deep work when tired is worthless, you are putting in hours but not getting the results, wasting everyone’s time.

Full devotion

At work and at home

At work, we are fully devoted to the mission of innovating how the world ships software because we love improving developer experience, we know better software results in better lives, the personal growth required to achieve this will make us a better person in every area of our life, and ultimately we’ll all get rich as a result.

At home, we are fully devoted to the rest of our life. We disconnect from what’s at work, not allowing the pressure from work to affect the rest of our life. We give ourselves wholly to our family, friends, and all the other things we love to do.

What it looks like

Whatever we do, we do it with all hour heart

We bring our A game to work

We invest in our craft

We seek personal growth in all the areas like communication, empathy, organization

Don’t let pressure at work affect the rest of your life

What happens if you don’t do it

Less than maximum personal fulfillment

Mediocre work

Disconnect with the rest of the team, hindering team performance

Invest in personal growth & learning

Growth is life

If we are not growing, we are dying. It’s critical to continually learn and grow as individuals. We have barely scratched the surface of our capacity. Let’s push hard to see the true limits of what we can accomplish.

What it looks like

Seeking to discover and address your blind spots in any area including biases and awareness and action when it comes to racial, gender, and other inequalities

Spending time each week for growing, learning, improving

Some weeks you’ll be learning a lot just from the job at hand, others you’ll need to lean on books and other resources.

What happens if you don’t do it

You don't reach your full potential

You can’t keep up with the company growth, resulting in others having to take your role

You cease to be relevant in the industry

The world will suffer from not experiencing your brilliance and beauty

We Match Your Appetite

We’re all individually at different places in our career with different appetites for career growth, personal growth, and wealth building.

If for example you are already at a very senior level with a goal to come to work, execute to your best, then just enjoy life, we welcome you and embrace this.

Or if for example you are earlier in your career and you want to seize the opportunity at this early startup to work harder and grow faster than you ever have before, we welcome you and embrace this.

But regardless of your appetite, you must follow the above principles, you can’t work too much, burn out, etc. Although Brandon and Mina are pouring everything they have into this company and mission, they intentionally and relentlessly follow these principles to stay calm, sane, and also enjoy life outside work.