Investment Time

Personal growth

We use 10% of our time for personal growth. During this time, named "Investment Time", we do not work for clients. Instead, we focus on initiatives that improve our skills or contribute to the community. Here are some ideas for Investment Time:

  • Write a post on the BNB blog.
  • Contribute to an open source project (maybe your own!).
  • Study a new tool or technology.
  • Mentor a teammate and teach them a skill.

This is "Investment Time", because it's time you can invest in yourself to grow as a professional and progress in your career.

In an effort to avoid any ownership problems, please avoid working on personal projects that you might not be comfortable co-owning with the BNB team at large. If you have any questions about this, feel free to check in with your mentor.

Tracking your Investment Time budget

You get 100 hours of Investment Time every year. You are required to track against this budget by using EverHour, there is a task named "Investment Time" under the "Internal" project.

Whenever you're doing something for your personal growth, whatever the activity might be, you should be tracking against that budget. There are a few exceptions: Conferences, All Hands, 1:1s and Team Retreats are not considered Investment Time and should not be tracked. When in doubt, talk to your mentor to figure out if a particular activity is Investment Time or something else.

Once you hit the yearly budget you're done for that year and need to wait for the next one to use more Investment Time. Considering the full budget is given for every full year, if you joined Brand New Box mid-year you will get a smaller initial budget.

Client work and Investment Time

We work for clients from Monday to Friday. It's on you to find the right moment for Investment Time, any arrangement works as long as clients are given full priority.

While you're free to use your Investment Time whenever you like, there are a few options that are known to work:

  • First/last hour of the work day.
  • A few hours when the client's team workday hasn't started yet.
  • When client work slows down, reserve a few days to focus on Investment Time.

You're encouraged to use your own judgment and manage your schedule accordingly. If in doubt, ask your team lead or mentor!