Flow State, Metered

This article explores the author's personal experience transitioning from traditional, hands-on programming to AI-assisted development. It contrasts the deep 'flow state' of writing code line-by-line with the new cognitive mode of 'conducting' agents that generate code. The author notes that while execution becomes abundant, attention becomes underloaded, leading to a need to manage more tasks and consume more tokens, introducing a 'meter' (cost) into the workflow. The piece reflects on the changing nature of programming, the loss of direct engagement with code, and the implications for developer experience and focus.