I’m looking for advice on maintaining good work-life balance while working as a product manager. Recently I went to a workshop where a well-known PM expert talked about how product managers need to put in extra hours to really excel at their job. This got me thinking about whether this is just how things are in the tech industry.
The main challenge I face is constantly jumping between different tasks and meetings. As a PM, I spend most of my day in calls with various teams and stakeholders, which leaves little time for deep work. This makes me feel like I need to work late just to catch up on the actual planning and strategic work.
Is this normal for product management positions? How do other PMs handle this situation? Any tips for managing time better or setting boundaries would be really helpful.
Love that you’re thinking about balance early! Turn off your phone after 7pm - trust me, nothing will explode. Group similar tasks together instead of jumping around constantly. You’ve got this!
The meeting trap is absolutely real for PMs, but you can fix it with smart scheduling. I block 2-3 hour chunks for deep work and treat them like actual meetings - no exceptions. Schedule your strategic thinking when your energy peaks (mine’s early morning before the meeting madness starts). Weekly stakeholder check-ins instead of random requests cut my interruptions by about 40%. The trick is telling your team upfront about your focus blocks. Most people respect boundaries when you’re honest about needing uninterrupted time for roadmaps or user research.
that workshop guy probably never juggled kids and other responsibilities. I rank everything by priority and cut the bottom 30% - just say no to it. Use async communication instead of meetings whenever possible. My best strategic thinking actually happens away from my desk.
That “expert” sounds like another workaholic pushing grind culture BS. I’ve been a PM for 6 years - some weeks get brutal, but if you’re constantly working late just for basic planning, your process is broken.
Say no to pointless meetings. Half could be emails anyway. Stop trying to be in every conversation. Delegate more to your team leads and only jump in for actual fires.
Took me way too long to learn that being “always available” just makes you a bottleneck.
Work expands to fill whatever time you give it. Stop giving it all your time.
