Makers' Schedule, Managers' Schedule
“One reason programmers dislike meetings so much is that they're on a different type of schedule from other people. Meetings cost them more.”
Coming back from the summer, I’ve been reflecting on the shift from a maker’s schedule to a manager’s schedule, an idea Paul Graham once wrote about, but that lived in DareData. Today I’m fully on a manager schedule.
As a manager, my days are filled with meetings and context switching. Writing code no longer fits naturally into the week. If I commit to it, it usually happens late at night or on weekends. It’s a reminder that moving between these two worlds isn’t just about time, but about mindset.
Makers tasks are different from managers tasks, as a maker you need big chucks of interrupted time in order to be productive. As a manager, it's easier to jump from meeting to task and task to meeting, managers tasks require smaller chucks of time.
A tip for managers, every time that you book a meeting with someone on a maker schedule, try not to break a big chuck of time that is free on their calendar. Try as much as possible to schedule the recurring meetings to the beginning of day / end of the day.
A tip for makers, block big chunks of time on your calendar where no one can interrupt you.
