Back in July 2009, Paul Graham wrote his now-classic essay, “Maker’s Schedule, Manager’s Schedule” that talks about how folks engaged in making think about their calendar differently than those managing. Makers are often engineers, but we all have moments where we’re writing that doc or making that deck, deep in focus mode and loathing interruption. Managers are often, well, actually managers and leaders, but they’re really anyone who’s highly interrupt driven and for whom work gets done in collaborative conversations.

My personal tl;dr on it:

• Folks who are in Maker mode need uninterrupted time in a row. They need to clear their time and focus on a thing free of distractions.
• Folks who are in Manager mode are often moving quickly and getting things done, so it just makes sense to reach out for a quick conversation — it’s how they (okay, we) get things done.
• If you’re in Maker mode, manage distractions. It’s okay to turn off your Slack notifications for an hour or two, get focused, and get things DONE!
• Be thoughtful when you’re in Manager mode and looking for help from someone in Maker mode.
• Be responsive when you’re coming out of Maker mode.

When you’re in Manager mode looking for something from a Maker mode person, here’s a few bits of advice:

• Check your urgency. Are you going fast because it’s urgent, or because you’re in Manager Mode, getting things done and this is the next thing? If your need is truly urgent, you should definitely interrupt … but if not, probably not.
• Is there someone else who’s not in Maker mode who can help? Frequently there’s someone like an actual manager who lives in Manager mode and can get you what you need, or at least “good enough for now.”
• Make a clear request with a clear timeline. Requests without timelines feel more urgent than they might actually be, and you might accidentally cause someone to drop more important things.

If you’re coming our of Maker mode to a bunch of messages, here’s a few other bits of advice:

• Be responsive. If folks trust that you’ll get back to them promptly, they’re a lot more likely not to interrupt.
• Be quick! A short answer now is better than a long answer tomorrow, even if the short answer is, “I don’t know. Let me go look into it and I’ll get back to you tomorrow.”
• If there’s a faster path to the info they need by asking somewhere/someone else, walk them over. Don’t just tell them “Go ask Hazeema” or “Go ask in #product-questions” … instead, forward their message to Hazeema or the right channel with “Muzdahir was asking <things> and I think this is the best group to answer.” They’ll appreciate the help and the courtesy, and they’ll go there the next time.