Tim Campos21 November 2020

Doubling Facebook's Workforce Productivity & Fixing Your Calendar - Tim Campos - #248

0Frameworks

10Insights

Insights & moments

The myth-busts, hot takes, explainers, and tools worth keeping.

Myth Buster· 1

Myth Buster06:30

Why Email Is Inefficient and Failing

Tim Campos argues that email is fundamentally broken because it assumes every message will be read and processed, leading to overwhelming volume and poor signal-to-noise ratio. Unlike modern platforms like Facebook’s News Feed, which rank content by relevance, email lacks intelligent filtering, forcing users to manually triage hundreds of messages daily.

Email assumes every message must be read, creating unsustainable cognitive load.
Most professional communication now happens via Slack, Teams, or Zoom Chat.
The only thing email still does well is act as a global directory.
Newer tools like Slack have higher signal due to access controls and recency bias.

“Email is incredibly inefficient... about 80 of these things are not things that are important to me.”
Tim Campos · 07:00

“The news feed basically recognizes that there's only so much time that I have to process information in a day.”
Tim Campos · 07:30

#email#communication#productivity tools#information overload

Hot Take· 1

Hot Take20:30

The Best Engineers Are the Laziest

Tim Campos shares that the most effective engineers are often the 'laziest' — they automate repetitive tasks to avoid doing them manually. He recounts how he automated his internship job, freeing up six hours a day, and praises a programmer who automated everything from coffee brewing to sending fake 'working from home' emails.

Top engineers hate repetitive work and build systems to eliminate it.
One developer automated responses, database rollbacks, and even coffee machine control.
Tim automated his own job as an intern, reducing eight hours of work to two.
Automation compounds over time, increasing capacity without added effort.

“The best engineers are the lazy ones — they don't like to do repetitive work.”
Tim Campos · 22:00

“He wrote a script that waits exactly 17 seconds then hacks into the coffee machine... orders a latte ready when he walks in.”
Chris Williamson · 21:30

#engineering#automation#productivity mindset#work smarter

Explainer· 4

Explainer16:30

How We Doubled Facebook's Workforce Productivity

As CIO at Facebook, Tim Campos led initiatives to double workforce productivity by focusing on revenue per employee. This was achieved through extreme optimization — from rebuilding badge scanners to reduce entry time by milliseconds, to deploying tech vending machines so employees could self-serve equipment, and automating hiring workflows to reduce the burden of scaling recruitment.

Used revenue per employee as a key metric to track productivity gains.
Optimized even tiny delays, like badge scanner speed, to improve throughput.
Deployed automated vending machines for tech accessories to reduce helpdesk load.
Automated repetitive HR tasks like candidate scheduling and performance reviews.

“We used revenue per employee... we also looked at profit per employee.”
Tim Campos · 16:30

“By moving the badge reader from underneath a plate of glass to on top of the plated glass, we were able to get an improved…”
Tim Campos · 18:00

#productivity#workforce optimization#facebook#automation

Explainer14:00

Why the Calendar Is Fundamentally Broken

Tim Campos explains that calendars are disconnected from actual work — they don’t coordinate agendas, aren’t used to schedule meetings (which happen over email or text), and only become relevant after decisions are made. Woven aims to fix this by integrating planning, scheduling, and follow-up directly into the calendar workflow.

Calendars are used as administrative afterthoughts, not planning tools.
People schedule meetings over email, then send calendar invites retroactively.
Woven builds a calendar system that integrates with existing tools but works smarter.
The real challenge is interoperability with non-users without burdening them.

“The system that we use to manage time is generally very disconnected from the things that we're doing.”
Tim Campos · 14:00

#calendar#time management#woven#productivity software

Explainer26:30

How I Use Time Blocking to Protect Focus

Tim describes his weekly time-blocking strategy: Mondays are reserved for strategic planning, Wednesdays are meeting-free for deep work, and recurring blocks ensure goals drive the calendar — not just reacting to others’ demands.

First two hours of Monday are sacred for strategic planning.
Team avoids meetings on Wednesdays to maximize focus time.
Time blocking ensures important work gets scheduled, not just urgent tasks.
Normative weekly schedule aligns actions with long-term goals.

“The first two hours of my week are strategic planning time that I save for myself.”
Tim Campos · 26:30

“We're not going to spend time meeting on Wednesdays — that allows us all focus time.”
Tim Campos · 27:30

#time blocking#focus#weekly planning#deep work

Explainer30:00

Balancing Maker Time and Manager Time

Tim discusses the importance of distinguishing between 'maker time' (deep work like coding or writing) and 'manager time' (reactive tasks like emails and meetings). The key is boxing reactive work so it doesn’t consume all creative capacity.

Maker time produces disproportionate value but requires focus.
Manager time is necessary but can dominate without boundaries.
Most people aren't deliberate about protecting maker time.
Top performers like Zuckerberg and Buffett guard proactive time fiercely.

“Maker time — you're coding or authoring. Manager time — you're responding to others.”
Chris Williamson · 30:30

#time management#deep work#focus#productivity

Story· 1

Story25:00

The Life Coach Exercise That Changed My Career

Tim shares how a life coach had him fill out a 'This Is Your Life' card with 100 years marked. Circling his current age and retirement goal created urgency, leading him to quit a high-level semiconductor job to start his own company — proving how visualizing time shapes decisions.

Exercise involved writing out 100 years and circling current age and retirement.
Created visceral awareness of limited time and inspired major life changes.
Led Tim to leave a top executive role to pursue entrepreneurship.
Demonstrates power of long-term thinking in time management.

“He had me circle when I wanted to retire... it created urgency to make tough decisions.”
Tim Campos · 25:30

#time perspective#life planning#career change#mindset

Q&A· 1

Q&A46:30

Will Woven Expand Into Task Management?

When asked if Woven will add task management, Tim explains that events are already tasks — and draft events could become a powerful collaborative task system. The challenge is bridging Woven with external tools like Asana or CRM systems where people currently store tasks.

Events in Woven are de facto tasks with time and collaborators.
Draft events could evolve into a full task management system.
Biggest hurdle is interoperability with existing task tools.
Scheduling links allow tasks to auto-convert into calendar events.

“Events are tasks. We just both share it — a time block is a task.”
Tim Campos · 47:00

#task management#woven#product roadmap#calendar

Tool· 1

Tool40:00

How Woven Uses Analytics to Improve Time Use

Woven integrates analytics directly into the calendar home screen to show users how they’re spending time on priorities like recruiting or product work. This real-time feedback helps adjust behavior instead of relying on memory or manual reports.

Analytics are visible on the app’s home screen to reduce friction.
Tracks time spent on key goals: recruiting, marketing, investor relations.
Provides trend data to spot rising meeting fatigue or declining focus areas.
Reduces need for executive assistants to generate performance reports.

“The mission of the company is how people spend time on what matters most.”
Tim Campos · 40:30

“By integrating analytics into the calendar, we've made it easy for you.”
Tim Campos · 44:00

#woven#analytics#calendar#productivity tool

Takeaway· 1

Takeaway35:30

Every Minute of Planning Is Worth Ten Minutes of Doing

Tim emphasizes that planning is undervalued because doing feels productive. But without planning, urgent tasks crowd out important ones. He advocates for dedicated weekly planning and daily reflection to stay aligned with long-term goals.

Planning prevents firefighting and keeps focus on meaningful work.
Daily reflection reveals what got done and why priorities were missed.
Urgent tasks often displace important ones unless blocked in advance.
Journaling helps track progress and emotional satisfaction.

“Every minute of planning is probably worth ten minutes of doing.”
Chris Williamson · 36:30

“At the end of the day I look back — what did I get done? — and write it down.”
Tim Campos · 37:30

#planning#reflection#productivity#habits