Templates
The Software Engineer week
A weekly schedule for software engineers that protects the morning for code: a 15-minute standup at 09:30, deep work coding from 10:00 to 12:30, code review at 14:00, and the gym three evenings a week.
Mon
- Standup09:30–09:45
- Deep work code10:00–12:30
- Code review14:00–15:00
- Gym18:00–19:00
- Read21:30–22:00
Tue
- Standup09:30–09:45
- Deep work code10:00–12:30
- Code review14:00–15:00
- Read21:30–22:00
Wed
- Standup09:30–09:45
- Deep work code10:00–12:30
- Code review14:00–15:00
- Gym18:00–19:00
- Read21:30–22:00
Thu
- Standup09:30–09:45
- Deep work code10:00–12:30
- Code review14:00–15:00
- Read21:30–22:00
Fri
- Standup09:30–09:45
- Deep work code10:00–12:30
- Code review14:00–15:00
- Gym18:00–19:00
- Read21:30–22:00
Sat
- Read21:30–22:00
Sun
- Read21:30–22:00
The week, day by day
- Monday: 09:30 Standup (15 min), 10:00 Deep work code (2 h 30 min), 14:00 Code review (1 h), 18:00 Gym (1 h), 21:30 Read (30 min)
- Tuesday: 09:30 Standup (15 min), 10:00 Deep work code (2 h 30 min), 14:00 Code review (1 h), 21:30 Read (30 min)
- Wednesday: 09:30 Standup (15 min), 10:00 Deep work code (2 h 30 min), 14:00 Code review (1 h), 18:00 Gym (1 h), 21:30 Read (30 min)
- Thursday: 09:30 Standup (15 min), 10:00 Deep work code (2 h 30 min), 14:00 Code review (1 h), 21:30 Read (30 min)
- Friday: 09:30 Standup (15 min), 10:00 Deep work code (2 h 30 min), 14:00 Code review (1 h), 18:00 Gym (1 h), 21:30 Read (30 min)
- Saturday: 21:30 Read (30 min)
- Sunday: 21:30 Read (30 min)
Why it works
- One long coding block a day beats four short ones; context is expensive to rebuild.
- Reviews after lunch fit the post-lunch energy dip and unblock teammates the same day.
- Standup right before deep work turns it into a start signal.
Make it yours
- On-call week? Shorten the deep block and add a daily 30-minute buffer.
- Remote team in another time zone? Move review to when their questions arrive.
Use it
Open the week builder, paste the line below and adjust the times to your life:
Questions
How many hours of coding a day are realistic?
Two to four hours of focused coding is a strong day for most engineers; the rest goes to reviews, meetings and reading.
Use this week in Cutline
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Keep reading
Who it is forSoftware engineersA weekly planner for developers: protect long coding blocks, keep meetings in one window, see your Google or Outlook meetings in the same week. Free.GlossaryMaker's schedulePaul Graham's essay: makers need long uninterrupted blocks; managers work in one-hour slots.GlossaryDeep workDeep work is focused, distraction-free work on hard problems. Cal Newport named it in 2016.IntegrationsGoogle CalendarLink Google Calendar to Cutline in about a minute: your Google meetings show in your time-blocked week, and your Cutline blocks show in Google Calendar.