Product Manager Burnout

Four ways to alleviate and prevent the burn

It is easy to get overwhelmed as a product manager, on any given day you can wear multiple hats to fill in gaps. One moment you’re working on the strategic roadmap, the next, leading a project stand up, then sketching out designs for the user experience design, it’s a lot. You may not be able to completely avoid burning out, but you can limit the impact.

Unfortunately, people don’t realize that they are burning out until it’s too late. Here are seven signs you can use to identify you’re headed there and how to make a change.

1. In meetings for more than 4 hours each day
2. Can’t recall when last you took a vacation
3. Unable to innovate new ideas
4. Physical and mental exhaustion
5. Neglecting your health
6. Working after hours consistently
7. Managing lots of ambiguity

Now that you know some of the signs, what can you do to make changes?

1. Tip 1: Delegate tasks
2. Tip 2: Create processes
3. Tip 3: Set focus time
4. Tip 4: Take a break

Tip 1: Delegate tasks

Product managers are known to be a little bit of a perfectionist, that’s why they’re product managers! But perfectionism and delegation are always at odds. You may think that no one can do this task as good as you could, and you’re probably right. But you will also continue to burn yourself out and reduce the developmental growth of others on your team. Delegation helps you build value in your product. There are so many tasks you need to complete as product manager, but do they all need to be done by you? Evaluate your workload and see which items can be managed by others. Where delegation fails is when you delegate tasks to others without providing any guidelines, training, or support. Yes, it will take some time to get someone else up to speed, but in the long run, it will benefit you greatly. To feel more comfortable delegating tasks, you can create a framework and templates for others to follow if you need things done in a specific way. Do not hand over tasks without following up again, feedback loops are essential in delegating, and you need to check-in to make sure milestones are reached and tasks are unblocked.

Tip 2: Create processes

Processes provide a framework to manage chaos and uncertainty. Ambiguity comes with the territory of being a product manager. Most of the requests received are vague, not well thought through. It takes a lot of time to sift through what customers are really asking for and how to make sure you are meeting their core needs and creating growth for your product. There are a couple ways you can cut down on the ambiguity.

1. Request templates: Any stakeholder that has a request usually does not provide the amount of details you need to understand the intended outcome. By creating a framework for accepting requests, you can cut down on a lot of ambiguity and back and forth communications before you begin processing the request.
2. Prioritizing new requests – Creating process allows you to determine priorities and focus on the most important tasks. Not every task will have the same level of urgency, and urgency can vary from customer to customer, size, and impact on your product. If you create guidelines ahead of time for how to determine what should go first, it allows you to create a manageable flow of work.

Tip 3: Set focus time

One of the main jobs you are hired to do is to strategize. You cannot strategize if you are inundated with daily tasks, endless to-do lists, and hours of meetings. Every week you should set aside time to focus on at least one strategic item. It does not have to be a ton of time, but if you get in the habit of setting an hour aside to focus on one loft goal, it will help you get out of the day-to-day and thinking about tomorrow. Whether you refer to it as scary hour, power hour, it’s essentially the time you put aside to be your most productive. Close out noisy apps that may get you distracted, play a low-fi track (if you need some white noise) and focus on what matters. Pick the time of day you are most alert and productive and block it off on your calendar.

Tip 4: Take a break

There are times when you need to step away from your desk for a bit. Whether that’s for a few extra minutes, or a few days, taking time off allows to reduce feeling burnt out. There are many studies that show how letting your mind and body take breaks are essential for productivity and overall well-being. Our bodies need time to rest and recover from mental and physical strain. Breaks allow us to replenish our energy and reduce feelings of fatigue and burn out. Small breaks can be taken through quick stretches, short walks or even breathing exercises. These mini breaks help reduce your stress by reducing your cortisol (the hormone associated with stress) so that you can get a boost in energy throughout your day.

When you take extended breaks away from your desk, it allows your mind to explore new ideas and perspectives. If you are scrambling at the end of the year to use your vacation days, you may already be burnt out. Extended time away can help maintain your work-life balance and increase motivation.  If your company offers unlimited paid time off, even better, use it wisely and pay attention to the unspoken rules of that benefit.

You’re probably thinking about how taking time off just results in more work when you get back. Rethink this. If you delegate your tasks properly, create processes so that your team knows what’s the priority, set focus time so you’re ahead on strategy, then that break doesn’t seem so bad, does it?  You may not be able to avoid burning out, it happens. But, acknowledging it when you see the signs and be willing to make changes is a great step towards managing the chaos.

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