Maker’s Schedule, Manager’s Schedule covers the difference between work that needs an individual to focus on a task for a long period of time and work that needs an individual to talk to and coordinate with others. The concept of Flow, or being in the zone, also involves non-interrupted blocks of time that allow you to get deep into work.

Look at your calendar, and the calendars of people you work with. Are the people who need individual focus getting interrupted by short meetings in the middle of large blocks of “maker time”? Could those meetings be “chunked” to leave more uninterrupted time?

While managers do need to spend more time talking to people in shorter blocks they are also usually involved in strategy and longer term planning. Do they have enough blocks of uninterrupted time to get into the bigger picture problems or put together documents, presentations, etc.

Does your schedule match the work you do?