You can tell what people priorities are by what they allow on their calendars.
You can tell a lot by breaking down what fills peoples workdays. Paul Graham, founder of Y Combinator, breaks them down into one of two categories :: makers or managers.
There are folks who spend most of their day managing either other projects, or people. And there are those who spend their time making – creating concepts, planning new campaigns, producing content, etc.
In real life, most of us spend our days racing to balance making and managing.
We set out bright-eyed and fresh in the morning with bold plans to focus on something big and exciting … but get pulled into meetings and putting out fires … all under the inglorious title of “managing”! This culminates in friction-frustration, especially if you are a writer, developer or a designer!
But … with a some minor tweaks, you can create a schedule that gives you time to concentrate on what’s important and keep up with meetings, emails and fire-brigade tasks.
Step 1 :: Examine your calendar
Graham penned an essay in which he defined how different roles use their time on how they see their function ::
Managers calendar :: A manager’s schedule follows an appointment book format where each day is divided into hourly intervals. Graham refers to this as the “schedule of command.”
Makers calendar :: Creative’s utilize larger units of time in a fashion more efficient for their context heavy work. They tend to block time by the half day and focus deeply on the topic at hand, such as designing, writing or developing.
Step 2 :: Learn your team’s style + preference
Each type of schedule works by itself, but problems arise when they both collide. As managers, its important for us to learn the fundamentals of our team and their creative preferences, to get the best out of them.
Manager Tip :: The most powerful people operate on the manager’s schedule and they are in a position to make others on the team react to their rhythm … if they choose to. But smart managers can restrain themselves, if they know that the creatives who work for them need longer segments of uninterrupted time to be productive. This is the ultimate goal for any manager.
Step 3 :: Create a schedule to make and manage
The easiest way to solve the manager versus maker challenge is to just do both … but on different days. Split up your week with separate maker and manager focus days.
If you’re a manager who like me, also makes big contributions to your team, this approach can solve a number of issues ::
- You enter each day knowing what and where your focus is. You can eliminate the guilt of blocking time for focused work and delaying emails.
- Your team will have clearer expectations of access to you. Virtual meetings and video chats can be scheduled on specific days, giving everyone more time and space for their maker schedule.
- Each person will have to re-evaluate what requests are truly urgent … this is an added bonus!
I hope this short article has helped coach you into being more aware of your time, your teams time and protecting collective focus for making and managing. Now put the kettle on and make something great today! Cheers, Nicola ☕
