Effortless Time Management for Product Managers
Brooke David, Product Manager
Take One Step Forward
The day you find out about a roadmap risk, new project, sales training gap, or strategy shift — take one step towards solving it (no matter how small.) Continue doing this every chance you get. Starting is the hardest part, so get it out of the way and get to the good stuff!
When tasks pile up at the same time…
Take a step back (literally!), drink a cup of coffee or tea, and create a month view calendar — plan ahead — take action so that on your busiest days all you have to do is show up and execute.
Analysis Paralysis & Perfectionism
Hurry up and fail — just get moving and get started! Alternate zooming in and zooming out — the most important thing is to cover the basics (go back and fill in the nuance and color when time allows). Also, good work doesn’t usually take as long as your brain believes it will. Stop telling yourself those tasks you’re dreading will take longer than they actually will.
Create your ideal environment
When you feel stuck, listen to your favorite music, learn something new about your product, listen to a product podcast, and step outside of your environment and take a walk — do something, make a change — whatever works for you to break down your blockers and make you happy.
Be creative, nothing is too silly or mundane if it makes you feel good and promotes productivity.
Slow is fast and fast is slow
In the agile world of rapid delivery, value yourself and your team enough to slow down and be curious about finding the right solution. This is a must for productivity. Even more so, value yourself enough to put sleep, and thoughtful solutions above stressed-out perfectionism.
Priorities & Your Dream Job
At any given time, don’t hesitate to stop and think about the life you want to live and how much your current work activities are related to that. What is important to you right now? What might make a huge difference to you down the road? Be inspired by how your activities at work today are related to the future you want to create for yourself and your product tomorrow.
Happy Product Managing!
— Brooke David
