Most lifehack articles are written by people of modest accomplishments, and, personally, I find it difficult to take them seriously. Doctorow has accomplished quite a lot - certainly, far more than most of the productivity "gurus" - and I think it's much more interesting to hear what he thinks is important.
It's true Doctorow is accomplished, but it is also true that most accomplished people cannot be objective about the factors behind their success. It is one thing to have all the skills and motivations to succeed; another to be able to report on those skills and motivations with enough honesty to teach others.
That's a good point. I do think that when advice is very detailed and specific, it's more likely to be accurate. When people are fooling themselves, or trying to fool their audience, with this kind of thing, they usually speak in generalities. It's too much mental hard work to make up something very specific, like "You should use vim or something like it", followed by detailed reasons why that's a good idea; that, to me, has the ring of something Doctorow has thought about a good deal. I'm _not_, of course, speaking of 'specifics' like the "20 minute" number he talks about; it's a detail, sure, but one that is very easy to make up.