You can code only 4 hours per day. Here's why
8 days ago
- #productivity
- #deep-work
- #software-development
- Cognitive ceiling limits deep work to 3-4 hours daily, supported by research.
- Median coding time is only 52 minutes/day; meetings consume 11+ hours weekly.
- Interruptions cost 23+ minutes to recover; for programmers, full context rebuild takes 30-45 minutes.
- Flow state boosts productivity by 500%, requiring 15-25 minutes of uninterrupted time to start.
- Four deep work strategies: Monastic, Bimodal, Rhythmic, and Journalistic.
- Managers should protect developer time by reducing meetings and promoting async communication.
- AI coding assistants don’t extend deep work hours but can help with shallow tasks.
- Optimizing for 3-4 hours of deep work leads to better quality, less burnout, and innovation.