Check Deep Work

🧘 by kevinmarch

Check Deep Work

Audit calendar on designated deep work days. Alert if someone booked over protected time and offer to reschedule or decline.

Configuration

Define deep work days in config:

# config.env
DEEP_WORK_DAYS=tuesday,thursday
PROTECTED_HOURS_START=9
PROTECTED_HOURS_END=17
EXCEPTIONS=standup,1:1 with manager

Default: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9am-5pm protected.

When to Run

• Scheduled: 8am on deep work days
• On-demand: User asks "check my deep work" or "audit my calendar"

1. Confirm It's a Deep Work Day

Check if today matches configured deep work days.

• If not a deep work day, exit with: "Today isn't a protected day. Deep work days: [list]"
• If user triggers manually, run anyway on any day

2. Pull Today's Calendar

Get all calendar events for today during protected hours:

• Meeting title
• Start and end time
• Duration
• Attendees
• Organizer (who booked it)
• Whether user accepted, tentative, or no response

3. Categorize Events

Allowed (don't flag):

• Events matching EXCEPTIONS (e.g., daily standup)
• Events the user created themselves
• All-day events (usually blockers)
• "Focus time" or "Deep work" blocks

Violations (flag these):

• External meetings booked by others
• Internal meetings during protected hours
• Recurring meetings that crept in
• Meetings user hasn't responded to

4. Assess Severity

For each violation:

• Duration: How much deep work time does it consume?
• Movability: Is this a 1:1 (easy to move) or a 20-person meeting?
• Organizer relationship: Manager vs. peer vs. external
• Notice: When was it booked? (Today = urgent, last week = planned)

5. Generate Report

# 🧘 Deep Work Audit: [Day, Date]
Protected hours: [Start] - [End]

## ⚠️ Violations Found: [X]

### [Meeting Title] — [Duration]
- **Time**: [Start - End]
- **Organizer**: [Name]
- **Impact**: [X] hours of deep work blocked
- **Recommendation**: [Decline / Reschedule / Keep]

### [Next meeting...]

## ✅ Allowed Events: [X]
- [Standup] — [Time] (exception)
- [Focus block] — [Time] (your blocker)

## Summary
- Total protected time: [X] hours
- Time blocked by violations: [Y] hours
- Remaining deep work time: [Z] hours

## Quick Actions
Reply with:
- "decline all" — Decline all violations
- "decline [#]" — Decline specific meeting
- "reschedule [#]" — Propose new time
- "keep all" — Accept the violations today

6. Take Action

Based on user response:

Decline:

• Send decline with polite message: "I keep [Day] for focused work. Could we find a time on [alternative days]?"
• Remove from calendar

Reschedule:

• Check user's availability on non-deep-work days
• Propose 2-3 alternative times
• Draft reschedule message to organizer

Keep:

• Accept the meeting
• Note this as an exception

7. Proactive Protection (Optional)

If violations are frequent:

• Suggest adding calendar blocks ("Focus Time") during protected hours
• Recommend setting working hours in calendar settings
• Draft an auto-response for meeting requests on deep work days

Prevention Tips

Share with user if meeting creep is chronic:

1. Block the time: Add recurring "Focus Time" events
2. Set boundaries: Update calendar working hours
3. Communicate: Tell your team which days are protected
4. Decline fast: The longer you wait, the harder to decline

After Running

Summary:

• "🧘 Deep work check complete"
• "✅ No violations — [X] hours of uninterrupted focus today"
• Or: "⚠️ [X] meetings during protected time — see options above"