Meta’s CTO doesn’t feel the heat very often.
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Andrew Bosworth helps oversee Meta, a company that consistently sets high standards and cuts low performers. The division he oversees — Reality Labs — has also had significant product rollbacks and layoffs.
As one of Mark Zuckerberg’s key lieutenants, it’s anything but a chill job, and Bosworth was recently asked “How do you deal with work stress?” in a Wednesday ask-me-anything he hosted on his Instagram.
“I don’t feel stressed out that often,” he responded. “It happens to me four or five times a year.”
Bosworth narrowed down his stress to one feeling: busyness. When he’s over-scheduled, Bosworth said that he’s not sure he’ll have enough time for the “important work.” That’s his “trigger,” he said.
“When I start to experience the stress, that’s a useful signal for me,” he said. “What is the important work that, if you dedicated the time to it, you would be okay? And, how do we reprioritize the urgent stuff that’s being noisy?”
Bosworth’s other strategies to mitigate stress include deep breathing, exercise, and spending time with his wife and kids. He also likes to talk about it with someone, he said, especially with his wife.
Executives use different strategies to handle stress. CEOs told Business Insider that they teach yoga, take long walks, and spend time in nature.
Bosworth’s boss, Zuckerberg, told podcaster Joe Rogan in 2022 that waking up and looking at his phone felt like he was being “punched in the stomach.” To reduce his stress, Zuckerberg said he exercises in the mornings.
For some, the stress drives executives to quit. Others say it makes their work better. As for Bosworth, he didn’t think that his stress management strategies were very unique.
“It’s all very conventional stuff, I think,” he said.
