Time Management for Developers: The Maker's Schedule

Paul Graham wrote about the "Maker's Schedule vs. Manager's Schedule".

• Managers: Live in 1-hour blocks. A meeting is just changing blocks.
• Makers (Devs): Live in 4-hour blocks. A single meeting at 2 PM ruins the afternoon.

Protecting Flow State

It takes ~20 minutes to load the "context" of a complex codebase into your brain. If you are interrupted, that context dump is lost.

Strategy 1: Cluster Meetings Try to push all meetings to the morning (9-11 AM) or a specific day. Keep the rest of the day contiguous.

Strategy 2: The Pomodoro Technique (Modified) Standard Pomodoro (25m/5m) effectively breaks coding flow. Try the Ultradian Rhythm:

• 90 Minutes Deep Work: notification off, phone away.
• 20 Minutes Rest: Walk away from the screen.

Estimating Time

Humans are terrible at estimation. Hofstadter's Law: It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter's Law.

Rule of Thumb: Estimate the task, then multiply by 3.

• "I can fix this bug in 1 hour" -> Buffer for 3 hours.

Burnout Management

You cannot code for 12 hours a day. Your brain is a muscle; it needs recovery. If you are stuck on a bug for 2 hours, Stop. Go for a walk. Your subconscious will solve it.

Quiz

Conclusion

Productivity isn't about typing faster. It's about protecting your attention span. Guard your calendar like a dragon guards gold.