5 Time Management Hacks to Increase Your Productivity as a PM

Hey there, product people! 👋

If you’re like me, there are never enough hours in the day. As a product manager, you’re the go-to person for everyone: devs, designers, stakeholders, customers which means your calendar is perpetually packed. Balancing between strategy, execution, and meetings often feels impossible, but over the years, I’ve picked up some time management hacks that keep me (mostly) sane and productive. These aren’t silver bullets, but when put into practice, they can free up hours each week for deep work and strategic thinking.

Let’s dive in. Here are 5 of my go-to time management hacks that will help you get your work done and keep your head above water.

1. Time Blocking: Structuring Your Day for Focused Work

Time blocking has been a game-changer for me. Instead of tackling work as it comes, I carve out blocks of time on my calendar dedicated to specific tasks or themes- strategy, emails, roadmap planning, stakeholder updates. It’s simple, but effective: by scheduling deep work blocks, I create uninterrupted windows for high-impact work.

Here’s what this looks like: Each Monday, I start by planning out my “big rocks” for the week- usually strategic tasks that need full focus. Then, I plug these into my calendar as 1-2 hour blocks. Meetings and emails are “batched” into other blocks (more on that soon) so I don’t end up task-switching all day.

Tools that help: Google Calendar is perfect for setting up time blocks. For a little extra customization, I also recommend Notion or TimeBloc, which make it easy to visually plan and adjust as needed.

2. The Pomodoro Technique: Making the Most of Every Minute

The Pomodoro Technique is great for those afternoons when you’re struggling to concentrate. The premise is simple: 25 minutes of focused work followed by a 5-minute break, repeated four times. After the fourth “Pomodoro,” you take a longer break. It sounds basic, but it’s shockingly effective at building momentum.

How I use it: Pomodoro works best for smaller tasks, like organizing my inbox, prioritizing feature requests, or handling those recurring project check-ins. Once I start, I’m usually “in the zone” and able to keep going beyond that first 25 minutes.

Recommended apps: I swear by Focus Keeper for Pomodoro tracking, but there are plenty of others, like Be Focused or even built-in timers on most task management tools like Trello and Notion.

3. Task Batching: Grouping Similar Tasks for Efficiency

As product managers, we’re constantly switching gears, and it can be exhausting. That’s where task batching comes in. Batching means grouping similar tasks together to avoid the productivity drain that comes with constant context-switching.

My approach: I batch all my meetings together in the afternoons whenever possible, leaving my mornings for focused work. Similarly, I’ll dedicate an hour every few days to address emails or check in with the dev team on progress. By clustering these similar tasks, I’m able to stay in “meeting mode” or “email mode” without losing time switching back and forth.

Pro Tip: Identify recurring tasks or low-focus activities (like catching up on Slack messages) and batch them. It’s amazing how much time you can save by tackling them all at once instead of spreading them throughout the day.

4. Balancing Meetings and Deep Work: Guarding Your Calendar

PMs often face a meeting overload problem. Everyone wants your input on everything, so blocking out “meeting-free” times is critical. It’s a delicate balance, you want to stay engaged and accessible, but not at the cost of your productivity.

How I manage it: I reserve Mondays and Thursdays as “deep work days” with minimal meetings. If a stakeholder wants to catch up, I politely offer alternative times, prioritizing this focused time. On these days, I dive deep into roadmap planning, user feedback analysis, or other tasks that require my full attention. The key is not just guarding this time but communicating to your team why it’s necessary.

Try this template: Start with two “meeting-free” slots per week and increase from there if it works. Mark your calendar with these as “Focus Blocks” to avoid scheduling conflicts.

5. Top Time Management Apps for PMs: Tools to Optimize Every Day

Time management isn’t just about discipline; it’s about working smart, and there are some fantastic tools out there designed to keep us on track. Here’s my current shortlist of favorites:

• Todoist: A simple but powerful task manager that helps keep my to-do list organized. I especially like its ability to sort tasks by priority.

• Clockify: For tracking how I spend my time, Clockify gives me insights into where my hours are really going, helping me identify tasks I can delegate.

• Trello: Ideal for managing my project tasks and keeping my team updated, all in one place.

• RescueTime: This app runs in the background, tracking how I spend time online. It’s helpful for identifying (and limiting) time on distractions.

These tools don’t do the work for you, but they make it so much easier to prioritize, track, and keep your work on the rails.

Realistic Execution

Before you dive in, keep in mind: productivity strategies work best when they’re adapted to your needs and team dynamics. Trying to implement all five at once can be overwhelming, so start small and build gradually.

My recommendation: Begin with time blocking or task batching- these two give you the most bang for your buck without requiring major habit changes. Once those feel natural, experiment with Pomodoro or try out some of the apps I mentioned. The goal is to build a system that supports your unique flow, not to “follow the rules.”

Remember, these hacks are flexible; adjust as needed until you find what feels right.

Resources

• Books: Getting Things Done by David Allen, Deep Work by Cal Newport

• 15 Productivity Hacks for Product Managers

As product managers, we’re always in demand, but we only have so many hours to work with. The hacks I’ve shared: time blocking, Pomodoro, batching tasks, managing meeting loads, and leveraging tools are all about taking control of that time so we can focus on what matters most.

Here’s my challenge for you this week: pick just one of these strategies and try it. Maybe you block out your mornings for deep work or experiment with Pomodoro during a long project. Track the results, tweak the process, and see if it makes a difference. And when it does, I’d love to hear about it!

Until next time, keep building awesome products.