Best of 2021: Time Management: How to Break Down Your Work Hours

In this episode of the How to Succeed in Product Management Podcast, marketing professor Jeff Shulman and The Product Management Center advisory board member Soumeya Benghanem welcome Alex Selby (Amazon) and Swati Goel (Facebook) to talk about time management. Today’s focus is on how much time PMs need to allocate for structured and creative meetings, checking with customers to gather data on existing products, and breaking down your day strategically so you’ll have time to refresh your thoughts and replenish your creativity.   What to Listen For: 00:00 Intro 02:17 Why is time management and productivity important? 07:02 Breaking down your day with time bucketing 09:45 For PMs, unstructured, unfocused time is critical 11:47 Block out an hour for yourself everyday 14:29 Deciding how much time to put into strategy versus execution 18:45 Business priorities and where you’re product is at 20:41 From 90/10 to 60/40 time allocation with customers 28:33 Look for product adjacent roles or tasks that you can take on 33:20 Pick up patterns from the first customers and bring back to the team for planning 36:03 Learn more about the Inclusive Product Management Accelerator program 38:01 The writing culture in meetings is an artifact while building a product 42:07 Balance between outcome driven structured meetings and allowing creativity 44:23 Allow for creative sessions but facilitation is still needed 48:25 Start conversations with a wide approach first 49:20 Choose which meetings are mandatory for you 51:31 Time management takes a little bit of practice 53:02 How often should PMs check on customers 56:55 “Be specific and strategy in spending your time.” - Alex Selby 57:51 Listen to How to Be More Productive (Ep. 243)