The maker's schedule comes from a 2009 essay by Paul Graham. Managers work on an hourly grid where a meeting is just one more slot. Makers — writers, programmers, designers — need half-days of unbroken time, so a single meeting in the middle of the afternoon can wreck the whole afternoon, not just the hour it occupies.
Why it matters
It explains why a calendar that looks mostly free can still produce no deep work: the gaps between meetings are too short to start anything demanding. Fragmentation, not total meeting time, is the real cost.
How to apply it
- Cluster meetings into one part of the day or a few days of the week.
- Offer meeting slots only at the edges of the day.
- Put your own focus blocks on the calendar before anyone else can.
- Replace status meetings with short written updates.