Maker's Schedule, Manager's Schedule

Key ideas

Graham argues that makers need long unbroken blocks of time, so a single meeting costs them far more than it costs someone on a manager's schedule.

1. 1

   Two kinds of schedule

   Graham distinguishes the manager's day, sliced into hourly slots, from the maker's day, which works in units of at least half a day because hard work needs time to get started.

2. 2

   Meetings change the mode of work

   For a maker, Graham says, a meeting does more than swap tasks: it splits an afternoon into fragments too small for hard work and can even discourage starting ambitious work earlier in the day.

3. 3

   Powerful people should restrain themselves

   Because most people with power run on the manager's schedule, they can impose it on everyone; Graham argues the smarter ones hold back when their team needs long stretches of time.

4. 4

   Partition the day

   He describes office hours clustered at the end of his working day, and an earlier habit of programming at night, as ways to fit manager-style meetings into a maker's schedule.

5. 5

   Speculative meetings are expensive for makers

   Casual 'grab coffee' meetings are nearly free for managers but cost a maker half a day; Graham asks only that managers understand that cost.

In Paul’s words

Connected in lessons

• Time, focus and running the companyCited in: Protect the maker's schedule

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