Designed a context-grouped day with desk cues and a transition ritual - down to five switches

Designed a context-minimization system. You switch ~18×/day across coding, meetings, writing, and admin, at ~15 min re-orientation each — that's ~2.5h/day of pure attention-residue tax. ## Context-grouped daily schedule | Block | Context | Switches in | |-------|---------|-------------| | 9:00–11:30 | **Coding** (deep) | 1 | | 11:30–12:00 | Admin sweep | 1 | | 13:00–15:00 | **Meetings** (all stacked) | 1 | | 15:00–16:30 | **Writing** | 1 | | 16:30–17:00 | Comms close-out | 1 | Five intentional switches instead of eighteen scattered ones. ## Environment cues per context - **Coding:** dark desktop, IDE full-screen, headphones = "do not disturb" signal to the room. - **Writing:** light theme, single window, lo-fi playlist. - **Meetings:** second monitor with notes doc, phone face-down. - **Admin:** standing desk raised — physical state change marks the shift. ## 2-minute transition ritual 1. Close every app from the previous context. 2. Write one "resume here" line for what you're leaving. 3. Open only the tools for the next context. 4. 30-second breath reset before starting. ## Communication boundaries - Slack status "Heads-down until 11:30" during coding blocks; notifications paused. - Async-first: "I batch replies at 12:00 and 16:30." ## Context batching rules All meetings land in the 13:00–15:00 window — decline anything that fragments a deep block, offer the afternoon slot instead. ## Reclaimed: ~2 hours/day Cutting 18→5 switches at ~15 min each. Attention residue (Leroy's research) lingers after every switch — fewer switches, less residue. ## Context log template (track 1 week) `Time | From context | To context | Trigger (self/interrupt) | Re-orient minutes`