And What's That Pop-up Function in Outlook Called? I'm Pretty Sure It's Not "Pop-up Function."

Everybody quotes from this piece by Paul Graham, so why shouldn't I?

There are two types of schedule, which I'll call the manager's schedule and the maker's schedule. The manager's schedule is for bosses. It's embodied in the traditional appointment book, with each day cut into one hour intervals. You can block off several hours for a single task if you need to, but by default you change what you're doing every hour.

When you use time that way, it's merely a practical problem to meet with someone. Find an open slot in your schedule, book them, and you're done.

[...] But there's another way of using time that's common among people who make things, like programmers and writers. They generally prefer to use time in units of half a day at least. You can't write or program well in units of an hour. That's barely enough time to get started.

When you're operating on the maker's schedule, meetings are a disaster. A single meeting can blow a whole afternoon, by breaking it into two pieces each too small to do anything hard in.

Managers and makers are not just social roles, they're also useful concepts to describe ways of working different people are comfortable with - or not. I've seen some makers in manager's roles, but not vice versa, which probably has to do with the fact that you can become a manager by being a good maker, but it rarely happens the other way around.

A related thought that isn't all that insightful but that I haven't seen anywhere else: There are basically two kinds of e-mails in a work context: The e-mail as letter ("I am attaching the first draft of... Please give feedback by the 31st.") and the e-mail as phone call ("Jason came round while you were out and asks you to contact him asap.") If your Outlook settings have new mail pop up for a few seconds at the bottom of the screen, you are in the e-mail as phone call mode.

Me, I'm definitely a maker-type person. I'd like to read and write mail once a day, preferrably in the evening when the proper work is done. If you are like me, be aware that there are probably people who expect you to treat your inbox like a phone. Brutal violence may ensue.