How Product Managers can Work on What Matters Most
“Am I working on the right things?”
For years, I asked this question almost daily, both in my personal and professional life. I wanted to know: How can I spend my time working on the things that matter most?
Like many of you, I’ve lived much of my life attempting to accomplish 100 things simultaneously. I was trying to please everyone and respond to every request. As a result, I scattered my energy and my time. While I made some progress, it often was stressful and came at the expense of the most meaningful things.
Managing products is no different. As product people, I’m sure you understand this well. We’re inundated with requests from customers, teammates, partners, executives, and internal stakeholders.
When we agree to do it all, or worse, include every request in our products, we wind up with no time for things that matter or feature-bloated and weak products.
The concepts of the book are summarized in one sentence: “Less, but better.” If there’s a single statement for product managers to live by, that would be it.
I’ve often thought that product leaders can learn lessons about building better products from the methods we use to prioritize and improve our personal life.
My free book The Essentialist Product Manager blends my passions of essentialism, mindfulness, and product management into ideas that you can bring into work and your life to make it all more fulfilling.
The methods in this book may sound simple. But, I promise you they are not easy. They require setting new habits, thinking deeply about what’s important, and making tough decisions about what not to work on.
I distilled many of the lessons I’ve learned about prioritizing products, business, and life. If you’re a product leader or you aspire to build great products, I hope this book inspires you to make a more meaningful contribution.
