Protect time for focus and flow
Flow, or flow state, is when you are able to immerse yourself in an activity such that you are able to increase the quality or volume of work. It requires a lack of interruption or context-switching, and can be a source of great satisfaction.
But it can take time to get into a state of flow, and any little distraction can break it.
“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.”
—Paul Graham
Cameron Moll recommends blocking out time on your calendar, called a focus block, to reduce context switching. He tested this with a team where they agreed to block out Tuesdays and Fridays from 9 AM to 1 PM, and all day on Wednesdays. He also recommends creating time blocks in 30 or 60 minute increments (could be back-to-back), so they look like meetings to “would-be overschedulers.”