7 Product Managers Share Their Productivity Tips

If you could alter how your brain works, what would you change? My guess is that many product managers would manifest the power to multitask even faster. (Barring the ability to read customers' minds.) Unfortunately, none of us can — poof! — make magic happen. But?research ?proves that we can rewire our brains to incorporate new learnings. When we train ourselves to adopt more efficient practices, we can hack our way to better productivity.

You do not need supernatural abilities to be more productive. Sometimes it just takes reflecting on what you are doing now and embracing something new.

Product managers are?multi-faceted . You have to think big while delivering on the details — steering?strategy ?down to feature definition in order to guide the success of the product. And you sit at the center of a?cross-functional product team . Having influence demands the flexibility to balance priorities and personalities so you can achieve more together.

It is not uncommon to feel stretched — some days will be gratifying while others are overwhelming. Even the best find it challenging to manage every request and task that comes through. Of course, it helps to find a daily?routine ?and to trim work based on whether it?aligns with ?goals.

The adage goes that you do not need to work faster, only?smarter . Identify how you can create extra space in your day to focus on the most meaningful work — whether that means declining a meeting or setting aside 10 minutes to review objectives. When you minimize to-do's that are wasteful, you create an opportunity to make today better than yesterday.

It can be useful to learn what works for others — so I asked Aha! experts to share their productivity tips. These folks represent members of our product and customer teams — who know Aha! software well and use it every day. These tips are most relevant if you are an Aha! user, but I suspect you might find some nuggets of wisdom either way.

Here is what they had to say:

Delegate

"As much as you might like to, you cannot do everything. Product managers should delegate tasks — while avoiding unnecessary meetings or back-and-forths. Look for efficient ways to share the workload. I like assigning?to-dos ?or submitting?work requests ?to get right to the heart of what I need from my team." —?James Harris , Strategic Success

Filter

"Product managers are communication hubs. Updates are always streaming in from various teams. Experiment with how you can reduce the noise. Personally, I like to filter which?notifications ?I receive so that the most important updates are surfaced the fastest — and it is clear where I need to respond."—?Todd Meyer , Customer Success

Integrate

"Every team manages their work and time differently — which makes reliable integrations a necessity. Seek out tools that keep teams connected and offer two-way integration. Even better if they are within the same product suite for a completely?unified environment . My personal favorite integrations are automatic?status updates ?for consistency as work moves from product to design to engineering."?— Jeff Tucker, Product Management

Manage

"Product managers have to be especially intentional with their time. Create a personal?agenda ?that lists your goals, follow-up items, meetings, and tasks. Make sure the first thing on the list is the most important task to complete today. And if the items are too big to tackle at once,?break them up ?into bite-sized chunks."?—?Nathaniel Collum , Product Management

Pivot

"When you are asked what is coming next for your product, your answer probably varies depending on your audience. For that reason, I like to?save multiple versions ?of my roadmap. For example, if you have an internal version with?target dates ?for delivery, save a separate one for customers?without firm dates ?in case things slip. Having both lets me pivot quickly and share what is relevant. That is a huge time-saver!" — Chris Quigley, Product Success

Prioritize

"As a product manager, you get feature requests from all directions — leadership, peers, and customers. Prioritizing these requests can be time-consuming. It helps to have a system. I use a?scorecard ?to evaluate strategic alignment, customer or business impact, effort, and even product value. This helps with quick decisions and clarity for stakeholders. I also rank features by score to ensure we deliver a lovable product." —?Julie Price , Product Management

Standardize

"Standardization makes life easier and drives a shared understanding of what you want to achieve. Templates are great for this. I use them for?meeting notes ,?releases , even?roadmaps . They help you focus on what needs to get done and what you need to communicate in less time. And since teams always change, templates help maintain continuity when onboarding new teammates." —?Jeanette Resnikoff , Product Success

Time management is a stimulus for achievement. As a bonus, it will make you more confident in your role over time.

I hope these tips inspire you — or at least give you one idea that you can implement right now. If you are feeling particularly down about performance or productivity, sometimes the best you can do is reset. Go for a run,?pet your dog , and get back in tune with what you care about. Reflection (and refreshment) might be the best productivity tip of all.

How do you find ways to save time in your day?

About Brian and Aha!

Brian de Haaff seeks business and wilderness adventure. He is the co-founder and CEO of Aha! — the world's #1 product development software. He is also the author of the bestseller Lovability . Brian writes and speaks about product and company growth and the adventure of living a meaningful life.

Aha! is a very different type of high-growth SaaS company. We are self-funded, highly profitable, and 100 percent remote. We provide the world's #1 product development software so teams can build products that customers love. More than 5,000 companies use our suite of tools which includes Aha! Create , Aha! Ideas , Aha! Roadmaps , and Aha! Develop . And they rely on our training programs via Aha! Academy to become product development experts. We are recognized as one of the best fully remote companies to work for, champion the Bootstrap Movement , and have given over $1M to people in need through Aha! Cares . Learn more at www.aha.io .