Hey Warrior,

Most creators and entrepreneurs constantly think they have too little time to get their work done.

But the problem is usually that they are managing their time wrong.

There's a powerful concept of “maker time vs manager time”. If you learn and apply that, you can 10x your work output.

Today I'll show you how you can optimize your time and how you can use AI to help you with that.

We’ll cover:

• Why it's important to understand the difference between maker time and manager time

• What the "Maker-Manager Scheduler" Prompt is

• How to use the prompt to optimize your time and 10x your productivity

Let's jump in!

Read time: 5 minutes

🧠 Why it's important to understand the difference between maker time and manager time

Picture this: you're completely immersed in writing your blog post. Every word is just flowing out of you like a gentle stream.

Then suddenly, you see a message pop up on your phone: "Hey, are you joining?"

Shit, you forgot about the meeting.

So you quickly jump into the meeting. It's some random guy that hit you up on Twitter and wanted to "explore potential synergies."

Now 30 minutes later, the call ends, and you get back to work. But now it takes you almost an hour to get back into the flow…

This happens all the time and it leads to:

• Feeling like you “worked” all day but didn’t get much done

• Constantly feeling behind on your most important work

• Your business growing very slowly or not at all

To fix this, we first need to understand what maker time and manager time is.

Maker time is when you're fully focused on creating. Examples are writing, coding, or designing. It requires deep concentration and uninterrupted blocks of time.

Manager time, on the other hand, is when you're in meetings, answering emails, or handling administrative tasks. It's more fragmented and reactive.

Managers are most productive when they fill out their time with as many work blocks as possible. But makers are most productive when they have big blocks of uninterrupted work.

This also means that as a maker, you really only have 10 of these blocks per week (assuming 4h in the morning and 4h after lunch). And the problem is: Just ONE call in one of these blocks essentially makes the entire block unproductive, taking you down from 10 to 9 per week. That’s 10% of your time!

But most people aren’t either a maker or a manager. Usually you’re both and you need to come up with a schedule mix that will allow you to do both types of work, but separately.

By understanding and optimizing your maker and manager time, you can:

• Increase your productivity without working more hours

• Suddenly “work” a lot faster than other people

• Reduce your stress and burnout permanently

And today, I'm going to hand you a prompt that will help you determine your perfect maker vs manager time schedule.

🤖 The "Maker-Manager Scheduler" Prompt

This prompt will help you create a personalized weekly schedule that optimizes your maker and manager time.

The prompt takes as input your responses to three assessment questions about your current role, responsibilities, and tasks.

The prompt will then output:

• An analysis of your maker vs. manager tendencies

• 2 suggestions for optimized weekly schedules

Here's the prompt:

You are an AI assistant designed to help people assess their work style and recommend optimal schedules based on the concept of maker time vs. manager time, as described by Paul Graham. Your task is to analyze the user's responses to three assessment questions, determine if they lean more towards being a maker or a manager, and then recommend two possible weekly schedules. 
First, present the assessment questions to the user:

<assessment_questions>

1. Describe your current role and primary responsibilities: [Your input]
2. What are the main outcomes or deliverables expected from your position? [Your input]
3. List your top 5 tasks, starting with the ones you spend the most time on: [Your input]

</assessment_questions>

After receiving the user's responses, analyze them to determine if the user is more of a maker or a manager in their current role. Consider the following:

Makers typically need large blocks of uninterrupted time for tasks like writing, coding, or designing.
Managers often have schedules divided into hourly blocks for meetings, calls, and administrative tasks.

Based on your analysis, calculate a rough percentage split between maker and manager tendencies (e.g., 70% maker, 30% manager).

Next, recommend two possible weekly schedules that optimize the user's time based on their maker/manager split. Keep these guidelines in mind:

Assume a Monday to Friday workweek.
For maker schedules, there are only two work blocks per day: 4 hours before lunch and 4 hours after lunch.
Manager schedules can be more flexible, with shorter time blocks for various tasks.
Consider the need for regular tasks that might require daily attention.

Present your recommendations in the following format:

<analysis>
Briefly explain your assessment of the user's maker vs. manager tendencies, including the approximate percentage split. 
</analysis> 

<schedule_recommendation_1> 
Describe the first recommended weekly schedule, explaining how it accommodates both maker and manager needs. Include a visual representation of the week using ASCII art or a simple text-based table. 
</schedule_recommendation_1>

<schedule_recommendation_2> 
Describe the second recommended weekly schedule, explaining how it differs from the first and why it might be preferable in certain situations. Include a visual representation of the week using ASCII art or a simple text-based table. </schedule_recommendation_2>

<conclusion> 
Summarize the key differences between the two schedules and provide guidance on how the user might choose between them or adapt them to their specific needs. 
</conclusion> 

Remember to tailor your recommendations to the user's specific situation, considering factors like the nature of their work, the balance of solo tasks vs. collaborative work, and any constraints mentioned in their responses.
Do not output XML tags. Use headers with markdown.

How to use this prompt:

1. Copy and paste the prompt into your LLM of choice (e.g. Claude or ChatGPT)

2. Fill in the assessment questions with your own context

3. Run the prompt

Here's an example output that Claude gave me when I answered the questions with my context:

The prompt provides a clear analysis of my maker vs. manager split and two thoughtful schedule recommendations tailored to my solopreneur role. The visual representations make it easy to understand how to structure my week for optimal productivity.

💡 Wrapping Up

In today's lesson, we learned how to optimize our time using the concept of maker vs. manager time.

Here's a quick recap:

• It's crucial to understand the difference between maker time (uninterrupted creative work) and manager time (meetings, admin tasks)

• The "Maker-Manager Scheduler" Prompt helps you analyze your work style and create personalized schedules

• By structuring your week to accommodate both maker and manager needs, you can dramatically increase your productivity

But remember: these recommended schedules are starting points. Feel free to adjust them based on your specific needs.

The key is to protect your maker time from your manager responsibilities.

Thanks for reading!

If you enjoyed this, consider forwarding this newsletter to a friend or colleague.

What would you like me to write about in the next post? Reply to this email and let me know.

Moritz

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