For software developers, uninterrupted time is gold. Paul Graham, famed essayist and Y Combinator co-founder, highlights this tension in his essay Maker’s Schedule, Manager’s Schedule. Developers thrive when they can enter a deep flow state, producing high-quality work without interruption. Managers, in contrast, often measure productivity by the number of meetings and collaborative sessions scheduled—an approach that directly clashes with a developer’s ideal workflow. A single meeting at the wrong time can shatter hours of focused work.
Remote work, once seen as a developer’s sanctuary, has ironically amplified this problem. The pandemic made Zoom and other video conferencing tools ubiquitous, making it trivially easy for managers to summon staff for meetings at any time. Where once attending a meeting required physically walking to a conference room—creating natural friction—now a meeting is just a click away, and the barriers to booking them have all but disappeared.
This ease of scheduling has had a subtle but powerful effect on company culture. Developers are now more frequently pulled into discussions that may not directly pertain to their work, while Zoom’s convenience encourages over-inviting participants who might not even need to attend. The result is a work environment where constant interruptions are normalized, and deep focus becomes a rare commodity.
The real challenge lies in balance. Teams need to recognize the value of uninterrupted development time and consciously protect it, even in a remote-first world. Managers must learn to respect “maker time” and carefully consider which meetings are truly necessary, ensuring that developers can maintain flow and productivity without being drowned in a sea of calls. Ultimately, protecting focus isn’t just a developer concern—it’s a business imperative.