a day in the life of a software engineer

Woah, I finally have the time to write this blog that’s been on my mind recently!

"a day in the life of a software engineer"

This phrase has changed the trajectory of my career and set me on the path to my current life. The first time I heard it was in a YouTube video that caught my attention right away. Yup, it was that 4-minute clip from Mayuko’s channel.

I watched that video and thought,

“Wow, that’s cool! I want to be a software engineer too!”

Back then, I was working as an IT Support Analyst, clearing the queue of tickets raised by our manufacturing operators and engineers. I worked hard, did my 12-hour shifts, and then chilled at home with "How I Met Your Mother." Life was perfectly fine.

But now that I think about it, the scariest thought to me, even to this day is , that could have been the rest of my life...

I thought I was trying hard

So, what happened was that after earning my Bachelor’s Degree in 2018, I had already spent two years in my IT Support role, but I dared myself to start looking for opportunities. With a lot of dedication, humiliation, and embarrassment, I finally landed a software engineer position at a humble systems integration company, even though it meant a pay cut. I was a complete novice, totally new to writing code.

Six years have passed, and along the way, I’ve worked in multiple industries, on various products, and with different teams. Reflecting on what I’ve achieved over the years, one thought popped into my head a few days ago: I still need to write a blog about the rite of passage many fellow developers have shared that motivated me in the first place. So here’s a day in the life of a software engineer from my POV.

DISCLAIMER: The following information is based on my experiences at multiple companies.

The Morning

I usually wake up around 7am but sometimes I toss and turn in my bed for that extra few minutes. I can still hear the Sleep music playlist on my Spotify and with my eyes closed, think about the tasks I need to tackle today. I go through my morning routine—making my bed and switching the music to Buddhist chants to start my day. After a shower and getting dressed, I feed my cat Jie Mao and play with him for awhile.

I'm impatient naturally so I have my own boiled eggs or tea eggs that I've prepared over the weekends. I gulp down one or two, pack my laptop bag, and commute to the office.

Since I work hybrid, if it's on work-from-home day, I would straight away open my laptop to start working. The commute isn’t bad; public transport is smooth, and I usually arrive at the office around 9:45-10 AM. I see other coworkers coming in at that time too, so I’m not too late—phew!

The Office

My first task of the day is to read emails and check Slack, WhatsApp, Skype, or whatever communication tool the company uses. If there aren’t any major issues, great! Time to open my Kanban board.

Over the years, I’ve worked on agile scrum teams where we usually plan what to do in the next sprint on Mondays, groom the backlogs, clarify requirements, and estimate tickets—typically using Jira boards. It’s easy to track what’s done, what’s blocked, and what’s in progress.

I usually have an item in the "In Progress" column, so I dive into that task. Depending on the item, I put in the effort to solve the problem. If things aren’t clear, I ping the Product Manager or Business Analyst and call for a quick huddle. Time flies when you’re coding, and before I know it, it’s lunchtime around 11:30 AM-12 PM.

The Lunch

Sometimes, I have lunch with my coworkers, but if most of them are remote, it’s an own-time, own-target lunch break for me. I head to the nearest food court or hawker center, listening to music while I chow down.

After a 30-minute lunch break, whether alone or with coworkers, I take some time to wind down, play, or just chill. Offices usually have a foosball or pool table for us to enjoy.

The Standup

In scrum, we have a daily quick meeting called "Stand Up," where everyone shares what they did yesterday, what they’re doing today, and updates on their tickets. During this time, we also clarify details like the schema of a JSON response, styling, and technical discussions about upcoming features. Stand-ups can be quick or might extend into longer calls.

The term "Stand Up" comes from the fact that everyone stands during the meeting to keep it short and avoid tired legs. However, after the pandemic, stand-ups transitioned to Google Meet or Zoom, leading to some folks oversharing and prolonging meetings. A person from the team, called the "Scrum Master," leads the stand-up—this could be the lead engineer, product manager, or business analyst.

Finally, the coding

After the stand-up, it’s time to write some code. I brainstorm and aim to finish my tasks by the end of the day. I push my code to Git, and that feeling of accomplishment is fulfilling. I review my work before assigning reviewers and also provide feedback on others' work so we can all align and improve. Once tickets are reviewed and approved, branches are merged to dev or staging, depending on urgency. Some quick bug fixes get merged straight to production to resolve issues promptly, with those fixes then synced to lower environments.

If a feature is complete, the Quality Assurance (QA) engineer usually tests it. If the QA role is missing, I inform the product manager or business analyst about the changes, and they confirm the features. Features get launched if everything runs smoothly and no major bugs are found during testing.

Bye Office!

At the end of the day, I clock out and commute home. Sometimes, I walk around to stretch my legs or grab dinner on the way so I won’t need to cook when I get back.

6 PM to 7/7:30 PM flies by due to the commute and dinner. At home, I usually unwind by watching some series or movies. On some nights, I work on side projects, adding features and making updates. I would also paint or sing depending on my mood. Some of my paintings are here and my karaoke covers are here.

On days when I don’t feel sore or tired, I hit the nearby gym or go jogging or cycling around the neighborhood. Otherwise, I play with my cat and check his litter box—--- (talk about being a full-time cat dad!)

this is the end hold your breath and count to ten

After 10:30-11 PM, I wind down, take a bath, brush my teeth—just my nighttime hygiene routine—while listening to some lo-fi beats. By 11:30 PM or sometimes midnight, I start to feel sleepy and play my sleep music playlist again. The air conditioning is cold, the bed looks cozy, and I tuck myself under the blanket, closing my eyes, ready to do it all over again the next day.

Alright, that's it.

This is my take on a day in the life of a software engineer. In the end, being a software engineer isn’t just about writing code; it’s about keeping things consistent, managing time, balancing work-life, and taking pride in knowing that every line of code and every enhancement in our software products has the potential to make a difference in people’s lives.

So, as I close my eyes for the night, I look forward to tomorrow’s adventures. There will always be new challenges to tackle and ideas to explore. I hope my blog sparks some motivation for the next generation of developers too. And I just want to say one thing to the fellow developer who shaped my career with that simple 4-minute clip:

Yo Mayuko!!! I DID IT!!!!