Trying to be an Impactful PM? Be Proactive with Your Time ⏰
As the third quarter is about to end, I did a self-reflection on how I was doing in my role as a Product Manager. To put things into perspective, I did a time-tracking exercise to see if I made efficient use of my time. I also looked up my Trello list to see what I have done in the past quarter.
With the data in hand, I was surprised that many of the more long-term focused initiates I set out to do were still in the backlog. My weekly “Done” lists were filled with following up on bugs, handling localization requests from local teams (mostly copywriting changes), and liaising with local reps on product launches.
On one hand, we have been expanding our presence globally (we released a new version of our app to different countries in the first half of the year), improving app performance, and helping the local teams to operate in a more efficient manner. On the other hand, we did not spend much time on shipping features that could deliver a 10x user experience and drive long term business growth.
Product management has always been about managing trade-offs. The more time we spend on bug triaging, the less time we have to talk with our customers. Pursuing short-term impact implies fewer resources for our long-term vision. Time should be spent on driving alignment across all teams, and collaborating with different stakeholders to come up with solutions that create value for our users and business.
Of course, there’s nothing wrong with delivering these quick wins, but this is not what I set out to do. Execution and delivery are important, but developing a long-term product strategy is paramount.
And here is the “aha” moment. I tend to overvalue tasks with certain and immediate impact, but I had underinvested in opportunities that could be beneficial in the long term. I slipped into a trap of instant gratification. 🤯
The human brain tends to value immediate benefits more highly than future reward. Bug triaging is relatively simple, and shipping low-hanging fruit features is a no-brainer. Solving these immediate problems is rewarding. On the contrary, roadmap planning is long-term focused: it requires consistent efforts for several weeks or months and with no immediate payoff.
At the end of the day, even though I knew I should be spending more time on strategic planning, my daily schedule was occupied with “short-term” or routine tasks, and I failed to spare some deep thinking time to think holistically on product strategy.
To avoid overinvesting in tasks with an immediate payoff, I started to do the following simple things to keep myself in check and help me follow through on my plans.
a. The Ivy Lee Method 🔀
Ivy Lee method is a 100-year-old, simple 15-minute daily routine for you to effectively prioritize your time:
- At the end of each workday, write down the six most important things you need to accomplish tomorrow. Do not write down more than six tasks.
- Prioritize those six items in order of importance.
- When you arrive tomorrow, concentrate solely on the first task. Work until the first task is finished before starting moving the second task.
- Continue the process through each task. At the end of the day, move any unfinished items to a new list for tomorrow.
- Repeat this process every working day.
The prioritization at the end of each workday is the most difficult and important step. I have to review what I have done that day and reprioritize the remaining tasks. It’s the time to ask myself if the remaining tasks are still urgent, and also to plan ahead on what I should be doing first thing the next morning. This process allows me to remove distractions, weed out work that does not fit with my priorities.
b. Calendar Blocking ⏹
The Ivy Lee Method helps me to trim away things that aren’t necessary and keeps my daily tasks manageable, but how do I make sure the tasks I set out are in line with my long term goals?
The answer is simple, a weekly schedule.
I first identify the top 3 areas I should spend the most time on:
- Execution and Delivery
- Roadmap and Strategy Planning
- Team and Personal Growth
Then I structure my day accordingly. Instead of spending every day on a little bit of the three, I will time-block and focus on just one each day.
- Execution and Delivery (Mon, Wed) — Sprint Planning, Issue Triage, Release Planning, Project Sync-up, etc.
- Roadmap and Strategy Planning (Tue, Fri) — Backlog Grooming, Metrics Checking, Problem Discovery, User Research, Cross-countries and Functional Team Sync-up, etc.
- Team and Personal Growth (Thurs) — Industry Readings, Blogposts, Team 1-on-1, Doing an online course, etc.
I explicitly block my time on Google Calendar so whenever a teammate checks my availability for random meetings, they will know right away if it aligns with my priorities. This technique helps me design my day in a proactive way rather than being reactive to the demands of others. Of course, I still give myself some flexibility when arranging meetings or sync-ups with other teams.
The idea of calendar blocking is not to make people work their schedule around me, but to nudge myself whenever I add things to my calendar, reminding myself of what I should be focusing on that day.
In Closing
People tend to think time management is about doing more, but in fact, the value of time management is about doing more of the right things
People tend to think time management is about doing more, but in fact, the value of time management is about doing more of the right things. Especially for product managers, we are judged not by our output but the outcome and value delivered to our users and the company.
The techniques I’ve shared above helped me become aware of where my time is spent, whether I was using my time effectively, and proactively fight against the temptation of being distracted.
More Resources:
The Akrasia Effect: Why We Don’t Follow Through on Things
Q&A: How should product managers prioritize their time? | Inside Intercom
