An Instagram engineer breaks down how he schedules his workweek and uses 'focus blocks' to be productive

• Jake Bolam, a software engineer at Instagram, says he fluctuates between 40 and 70-hour workweeks.
• A varied approach helps him maintain a work-life balance, he said in an interview with YouTuber Ryan Peterman.
• "Focus blocks" help him carve through his workload, he added.

Jake Bolam, a principal engineer at Instagram, says he's careful to monitor his work-life balance. Which one he's prioritizing during any given week, though, can depend on the season.

"Sometimes I get really excited at work, and I'll be working, you know, 60-hour weeks or something like that, 70-hour weeks," Bolam said in a recent interview with YouTuber Ryan Peterman.

"And then other times I'm like, 'Okay, let's get this back under control,' and I'll drop it down to, you know, my 40-hour weeks," he added. "So if it's during the summer and I worked 60-hour weeks during the winter, I'll be like, 'Okay, I'm going to do 35-hour weeks during the summer or something.'"

This kind of pendulum approach helps accommodate Bolam's natural enthusiasm for particular projects, he said, while still allowing him to step back when he's overtaxing himself.

"But yeah, if I get really excited, I might get into it," he said. "If I decide I need to do more personal, I'll bow out of it."

Though Bolam said he benefits from time spent at either extreme, he tries to aim for a somewhat consistent baseline.

"Most of the time, I am trying to target like the 40 hours a week, because I want that work-life balance," he said. "I've got more to life than just working, right?"

The concept of "work-life balance" is often hotly debated in the business world, with CEOs and business leaders often weighing in on how they view it.

Amazon cofounder Jeff Bezos has called it a "debilitating phrase" because "it implies there's a strict trade-off." Bezos has said he prefers to view the relationship between work and personal life as a "circle."

"I find that when I am happy at work, I come home more energized," he said in a 2016 interview, adding that "when I'm happy at home, I come in a better boss, a better colleague."

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has said people should instead focus on "work-life harmony."

'Focus blocks' and no morning meetings

Bolam said part of his strategy for managing his daily workload during projects on tight timelines includes "focus blocks" — calendar blocks dedicated to going head-down on a task.

"While I am open to people coming in, I do shield my time," Bolam said. "Nearly 50% of my week is focus blocks. I try not to do any meetings on any mornings. I'm a morning person and get a lot done in the mornings, so I will not take meetings until after lunch. And that's worked pretty well for me."

Setting aside entire days for individual work can also be helpful, Bolam said.

"I try to make it so Wednesdays and Fridays, I don't have any meetings," he said. "And then also, I try to put all my one-on-ones on Monday afternoons."

Occasionally, Bolam added, especially when a project has gained a significant degree of forward momentum and he's determined to get things done, it can be more efficient to eschew meetings altogether.

"In times where I'm doing that, yeah, like I'll just disappear for like two or three weeks," he said. "Well, not disappear. But I will cancel lots of these meetings."

Particularly for those that are early on in their careers, Bolam suggests determining where you're most needed — and likely to be "valued."

"You're trying to lean into your strengths, but your management chain or your team around you doesn't care about your strengths? Go and find a team that likes your strengths and go there," he said. "And you're going to be way happier. It's going to work much better for you."