You hit the nail right on the head.
This is the main thing that non-programmers (i.e. Management) need to understand about "Programmers" and the key to "Manage" them effectively.
> The greatest people are self-managing -- they don't need to be managed. Once they know what to do, they'll go figure out how to do it. What they need is a common vision. And that's what leadership is: having a vision; being able to articulate that so the people around you can understand it; and getting a consensus on a common vision.
Related quote from Scott McNealy : "Agree and commit, Disagree and commit, or get out of the way."
Too many times Management/Leadership devolves into giving orders without having a clue. It then becomes nothing more than a power trip to the detriment of everything and everybody.
All "Good" people just need Autonomy, Vision, Freedom and stellar Results will auto-magically follow.
When writing code you might have written 10 lines of code in the past week, but the next day you write 200 because you've been thinking about the structure of the solution. In this way you might be working even if you're going on a walk or doing the dishes.
This isn't unique to programming, of course.