Focus, Timeboxing, and 80/20

Table of Contents

• Workflow
• Common Patterns
• Guardrails
• Quick Reference

Example

Scenario: Engineer overwhelmed with tickets, meetings, code reviews, and a complex feature.

80/20: Ship payment feature (biggest customer request, revenue impact) = vital 20%.

Weekly Plan:

• Mon-Wed mornings (9-12): Deep work on payment feature (no meetings, Slack off)
• Mon-Wed afternoons: Code reviews, standups, pair programming
• Thu-Fri: Batch meetings, planning, admin, lower-priority tickets

Outcome: Feature shipped in 3 days (18 hours deep work) vs. estimated 2+ weeks with constant interruptions.