Paul Graham's short essay on the incompatibility between how makers (programmers, writers) and managers need to structure their time — and why meetings are so destructive for creative work.
“This is the single essay I send to every founder who complains they can't get anything done. 15 years old and more relevant than ever.”
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The part about 'speculative planning' is underrated — the idea that you schedule your week differently once you know you have a meeting coming, even days in advance.
Been sharing this with every PM I've worked with for 10 years. Some get it. Most schedule another meeting.
Remote work proved this thesis spectacularly. Engineers who went remote reported 2-3x more deep work time. Then management started adding more Zoom calls and we lost it again.