In my last blog, I shared my experience and point of view on Platform Engineering.

(click here to read previous blog post on Platform Engineering through my lens)

In this post, I want to share what a week in the life of a Platform Engineer can look like, based on my own experience and what I’ve heard from other platform folks too.

Take this with a pinch of salt. Every organisation is different. Their needs are different, and their platform is different too.

Also, writing about “a day” doesn’t make much sense for platform work. Some days are calm and planned. Some days are pure interruptions and support. So a week view feels more honest.

One regular thing across most teams is a daily standup. In my current setup, the team is in the same timezone, so standup is straightforward. In many organisations though, platform teams are geographically distributed. In that case, teams either find a common overlap window or do async standups using Slack or similar tools.

One more note before we get into the days: this is my cadence, but different teams do it differently. Some do maintenance weekly, some fortnightly. Some do planning weekly, some do it once every two weeks. The point is not the calendar, the point is protecting time for the right kind of work.

A common theme across the whole week is keeping an eye on alerts and support channels. If something looks recurring or noisy, we investigate it properly. The goal is not just to react, but to reduce future noise and prevent repeat issues.

Monday

For me, Monday is usually “Maintenance Monday”, but I do it fortnightly. In one of my previous places, we did it weekly.

This is the time we focus on reducing toil and clearing tech debt. Upgrading dependencies, patching things, dealing with vulnerabilities, tidying up rough edges, and generally keeping the platform healthy. It’s not the most glamorous work, but it’s one of the most important.

Fortnightly, I also have a 1:1 with my manager on Monday. I genuinely think 1:1s are essential, not just for platform engineers but for anyone. It’s a space to talk about career progression, current challenges, how things are going, and sometimes just a normal chat.

We also have a retrospective meeting fortnightly. It’s our chance to look back as a team, discuss pain points, celebrate wins, and bring up any burning questions or tricky platform topics that need attention.

Tuesday

Tuesday is where I usually focus on project work. Some weeks it’s deep work and building improvements. Some weeks it includes ad hoc tasks that pop up.

Fortnightly, we also have a planning meeting. This is where we go over the task board and check a few things:

  • Are there any blockers?
  • Does everyone have enough work and the right kind of work?
  • Is there anything urgent that we need to prioritise based on business needs?

Planning sounds simple, but it saves a lot of pain later.

Wednesday

Mid-week is still focused work.

We also run a weekly open door session. This is where we invite our “customers”, meaning internal developers, to drop in.

It usually helps with a few things:

  • We can share what is coming up on the platform
  • Developers can ask questions and clear doubts
  • Teams can suggest improvements or feature requests

Sometimes a 15-minute conversation can save days of back-and-forth in a support channel.

Thursday

Thursday is usually about continuing the work and trying to wrap things up before the weekend.

If something is nearly done, this is the day I try to finish it. If it’s risky or half-baked, I’d rather not rush it just to “close the week”.

This is also the day where we might do some final checks, tidy documentation, or leave things in a good place for whoever is on-call.

Friday

It’s friyay.

Friday often has some kind of broader meeting, like a tech all-hands, show and tell, or a business all-hands. It’s a good way to stay connected with what’s happening outside the platform team.

If the week has been intense, Friday is also a good time to reflect a bit, write down learnings, and set the team up for a smoother next week.

Saturday and Sunday

Usually, nothing happens.

But if someone is on-call for out-of-hours, weekends can include incidents, false alarms, or planned maintenance work.

On-call is a big part of platform engineering in many organisations, and it shapes the week.

In my case, I typically do:

  • In-hours on-call: once a month, for one week (during business hours)
  • Out-of-hours on-call: once a month, for one week (evenings and weekends)

While on In hour support week

When I’m on-call, project work can take a backseat. My focus shifts towards support and reliability.

Internal developers reach out in a support channel, and I help them troubleshoot issues, unblock them, and guide them to the right approach. If an incident happens and the platform is involved, I join the incident channel and help resolve it.

Final thoughts

So overall, that’s what a week in the life of a Platform Engineer can look like. Some weeks are calm and planned. Some weeks are support-heavy. Some weeks are full of maintenance and small improvements that make a big long-term difference.

How does your week look? Do you have a similar cadence, or something totally different? Let me know in the comments.