Maker's Manager's Schedule: How To Fit The Schedule To The Person

Paul Graham came up with the concept of the maker’s and manager’s schedule. Nowadays it’s a cornerstone for anyone trying to maximize their productivity. This framework offers profound insights into two types of work schedules: the one suited for makers (creatives) and the other for managers (strategists). Graham wrote an essay about it with the same name which you can easily read online. He is the founder of the renowned startup accelerator Y Combinator, and he recognized that different types of work require different types of time management.

The Maker is tailored to those who do creative, deep work. They perform their best work under prolonged concentration. Software developers, designers, writers, artists, engineers, and generally anyone who “makes” things are makers. Makers thrive under long blocks of uninterrupted time. These can be hours or even days distraction-free. They absolutely hate disruptions like meetings or impromptu discussions, since their workflows are derailed by them. Makers typically have specific objectives in mind for their focused work sessions — new product or software features, chapters of books, sections of paintings.

The Manager is for those whose roles primarily involve overseeing tasks and other people. Managers work in shorter, fragmented time intervals. The majority of their days is spent in what a Maker would consider disruption: meetings, emails, and other communications-related activities. The polar distinction is that Managers do work in short time segments broken into half-hour slots or so. In contrast to Makers, Managers thrive on communication and expect frequent interruptions. Their primary responsibility is setting priorities and making decisions for others to see that the team is directed toward a broader goal.

The problem is that this divergence can result in friction when both work types are expected to align on one calendar. When Managers impose meeting-heavy schedules on Makers, their creative flow is ruined, resulting in low productivity and frustration. Makers find it a challenge to explain how impactful it would be for them to have uninterrupted work bouts. Meanwhile Managers struggle to understand why Makers want fewer, longer blocks of time. Makers simply require deep thinking which does not really work under frequent context-switching. Managers, on the other hand, need to be quick on their feet and profit from a fragmented schedule. Resolving this clash, whether for yourself as a Maker or Manager, or for your organization, is going to provide a priceless performance boost.

Real-life example of the Maker-Manager schedule clash:

• Tech Industry: in countless tech companies, engineers and designers (makers) protest against meeting-heavy schedules imposed by leadership (managers). This has resulted in the widespread adoption of things like “no meeting days” or specific time blocks dedicated solely to design or software architecture. Such company policies help maintain creative teams productive while still accommodating necessary coordination and oversight for Managers.

• Software: the coders themselves need uninterrupted hours to program complex features or solve critical bugs; the project manager might spend their time coordinating tasks however.

• Writing: the journalist needs dedicated time for research, writing, and editing; the editor or content manager would, in contrast, spend their day assigning articles and reviewing drafts.

• Creative: a graphic designer needs undisturbed hours for their illustrations and artwork; a creative director would spend their time overseeing multiple designers’ projects and giving them feedback.

How to use this mental model as a Maker: (1) block your calendar — set specific periods in your day for deep, focused work, and communicate these time blocks to your team for them not to interrupt you during said time; (2) eat the ugly frogs — prioritize your most critical creative tasks during your peak energy hours; (3) delegate or schedule the rest — designate specific times for emails, meetings, and communication, and capitalize on tools like “do not disturb” modes to minimize disruptions; (4) put everyone on the same page — communicate to your team just how important uninterrupted work blocks are for creative tasks.

How to use this mental model as a Manager: (1) respect the Maker — be aware of your teams’ creative schedules and avoid requesting immediate responses or meeting attendance during their deep work hours; (2) meet purposefully — make meetings efficient by setting clear agendas, so as not to run into the renowned “3-hour meeting that got us absolutely nowhere”; (3) batch the people work — instead of constant back-and-forth messaging, do all your communication-related work in fewer, scheduled, purposeful updates to minimize distractions for Makers and save yourself time.

Note: the clash between Maker and Manager schedules has become even worse due to the emergence and omnipresence of remote work. This is because we can be reached anywhere, anytime. Thus the result is an overworked Manager with a filled schedule and a constantly disrupted Maker. No bueno.