Are You Trying To Level Up With Your Hair on Fire

Overcommitment is sprinting into the future with your hair on fire.  The problem is we, as product managers are responsible for releases, the vision, customer issues, questions, etc etc.

Every day, we must say yes to almost everything.  

So we need to learn some tools.  It is less about getting more done and more about your relationship with time.

Self-management is less about getting stuff done and more about your relationship with time.

How to manage your schedule when your hair is on fire:

#1. Audit your time for a week.

Keep a detailed list of how you use the time for a week.

1. When do you get the most done? Protect and maximize that time.
2. How many breaks do you need? Schedule them.
3. What can you stop doing? Trim them.
4. What are your biggest time wasters? Trash them.

#2. Schedule interruptions.

Walk-around time / Slack Time is perfect for interruptions. Tell people you’ll walk around / Chat via Slack  at 2:00 when they ask, “Got a minute?” (A minute is never a minute.)

Put walk-around / Slack time on your calendar.

Some interruptions are opportunities, when the boss shows up, for example.

#3. Stop thinking. Move into Action.

Spend less time thinking about doing stuff. Action is thinking. You learn by doing. Finish something.

#4:  Take out the trash

Be a ruthless prioritizer.  For tasks that are low value, eliminate them.  In fact, don’t do them.  

Every day, pick your top 3 HIGH-VALUE tasks and focus on them only.  Then, once those are done, you can get to the next 3 on your list.

If you are ready to reduce stress, overwhelm, and move into product leadership, then let’s have a conversation.  We’ll build a strategy to enable you to move forward with loving your work while having an amazing work-life balance. Just schedule time here: lynnelevy.com/apply