We have this crazy culture of instant responsiveness. Just like we cannot wait until thing compiles, we have IDE to tell us we didn't finish the sentence before we can even finish it. The same goes for our managers and customers. I am not convinced it is really more productive.
I think my ideal workweek (as a programmer) would be:
Monday: Do all the administrativia - email, meetings, status, planning for the week and so on. No real work done.
Tuesday-Thursday: Work on a single thing (or maybe two things if one becomes finished or blocked) without any external interruption (except maybe fire). During these 3 days, main work would be done.
Friday: Work on infrastructure, tools, configuration, cleaning things up, and similar stuff. Maybe prepare for next Monday.
Everything work related would be planned to go to the correct day (except emergencies).
It would be interesting if someone could try a similar setup (and share their experience).
The last place I worked at I had to take a lot of calls, mostly pointless, internally. I also got a huge amount of emails about things like the dishwasher not being emptied or the state of the kitchen in another office, and mixed in with that would be the occasional email from someone who would be very annoyed if I didn't reply, even to just acknowledge that I'd seen their email.
The current place at is a lot smaller and more chilled out and it seems to really make a difference. I don't have a phone because everyone I would talk to is in the same room with me, and I've received 6 emails so far this year for the same reason. Anything work related goes into chat so we can check back on it later, things that are more permanent go in jira/confluence, and that's that.
The amount extra work I get done is insane. I could probably do 2 hours at this job to every 8 at the last place.
I think my ideal workweek (as a programmer) would be:
Monday: Do all the administrativia - email, meetings, status, planning for the week and so on. No real work done.
Tuesday-Thursday: Work on a single thing (or maybe two things if one becomes finished or blocked) without any external interruption (except maybe fire). During these 3 days, main work would be done.
Friday: Work on infrastructure, tools, configuration, cleaning things up, and similar stuff. Maybe prepare for next Monday.
Everything work related would be planned to go to the correct day (except emergencies).
It would be interesting if someone could try a similar setup (and share their experience).