Why Most Productivity Advice Fails

Why Most Productivity Advice Fails

Most productivity advice is designed for managers, not makers. Developers need long stretches of uninterrupted focus — what Cal Newport calls deep work.

The Maker's Schedule vs Manager's Schedule

• Manager's schedule — hour-long blocks, meetings every 30 min, context-switching is expected
• Maker's schedule — 3-4 hour blocks, a single interruption can cost 23 minutes of recovery

What Actually Works

1. Protect 2-3 hour blocks for deep coding
2. Batch meetings and communications into specific windows
3. Use async communication by default
4. Plan tomorrow tonight — wake up knowing what to build

In the next lessons, we'll build a practical daily system around these principles.