A cup of mindfulness for Product Managers

Product management is a unique role that wears multiple hats. We are leaders with no formal authority. We lead by inspiring and aligning teams around a shared goal.

Our success depends on strong intuition, real-time decision-making, and judgment. These skills build gradually over time through experience, learning from each other, and leveraging the rich resources at our disposal.

In my experience though, when it comes to applying these skills, what matters is how present we are at a given moment, how centered we are during a passionate conversation, and how we operate under pressure.

Clarity is critical to our success. After all, driving clarity is the core value prop we bring to the table. However, our vision is muddled as we navigate through diverse information, mixed opinions, and conflicting priorities.

So, how can we improve our clarity so we can help others?

The one thing we control is how we lead each day. And a day is made of millions of moments. If we can practice mindfulness during even a few key moments, we can significantly improve the way we see the world, help bring clarity to others and move the needle, one day at a time.

Opportunities for daily mindfulness

I see four opportunities, especially for PMs, to apply mindfulness on a given day. Luckily, mindfulness is primarily a meta-activity, meaning it’s not about doing much extra but changing the way we do our existing work.

Here’s my recipe to apply mindfulness throughout the day.

1. A positive morning ritual

Research shows that the first couple of hours are the most crucial time for our productivity. This is when the brain has the most clarity and the ability to determine the outcome of a day. Yet, it’s so tempting to clutter the brain with news and emails. I find this 15-minute ritual immensely effective to resist this temptation and supercharge the day the follows.

10-minutes of silent sitting: First, right after hydrating myself and having a cup of tea, I sit down for a brief meditation. I set a timer for 10 minutes, sit comfortably and close my eyes. Then, I simply watch the breath in and out. Thoughts come and go. But I bring my attention back to the breath every time I get drifted with thoughts.

Meditation shifts the mind from the driver’s seat to a watcher’s seat, which surprisingly enough, charges my batteries for the rest of the day. Ever since I built this habit, I now crave it as I would for my morning caffeine.

Setting intentions for the day: Second, I set intentions for the day. I scribble the top activities that come to my mind on a piece of paper, without worrying about the priority and sequence.

Writing primes our brain to focus on what matters most for that day. I am often surprised to find all my intentions accomplished, even though I didn’t have that paper with me.

FUDs: Third, I journal my FUDs (Fears, Uncertainties, and Doubts). This de-clutters my mind to be clearer and more receptive throughout the day. Our brain is wired to warn us against potential threats. Most often these threats are irrational. So, when we write these down, we not only relieve our brain of this load but also put a rational spin on them.

The moment we write our concerns or worries down, we will either find a solution or realize how unfounded the fear is. Even if it’s real, we have now acknowledged it and that itself frees up the brain. This helps improve the clarity we seek in our jobs.

The key is to keep the whole morning ritual less than 15 minutes to make sure you can sustainable this daily habit.

2. Interactions

Being present in meetings: As PMs, daily interactions, especially meetings, form an important aspect of our job. While a meeting can be overwhelming, it’s a fertile ground for mindfulness.

I often find myself getting anxious or fidgety during meetings. But when I become mindful of my posture, sitting straight with feet grounded, uncrossed, and relaxed, it changes the ballgame. My anxiety transforms into gratitude (for being lucky to be part of this conversation), awed (how amazing my co-workers are) or curious (how I can potentially help this conversation).

I also find it helpful to jot down notes, or random ideas with a pen rather than checking emails or multitasking.

Most importantly, I bring the focus back on breathing, to make sure I am present in the room.

These tangible activities set us up to active listening during the conversations which make it easy to identify patterns, connect dots and offer guidance and solution — which is why we participate in meetings in the first place, don't we?

Curating internal conversations: Building a shared alignment is a core to a PM job. An alignment is built through incremental meaningful conversations. And our internal conversations have a surprising way of surfacing out into external conversations. So, if we curate our thoughts to be positive and grateful for our coworkers, customers, or partners, it brings incredible authenticity to our conversations. And, more trusted and deeper conversations lead to better outcomes.

Assuming positive intent: Finally, we want to assume positive intent from others. Resentful, offending interactions are fairly common, even if you have a great rapport with your teammates. If we can assume positive intent, it puts us at ease and leads to a healthier relationship with our teammates.

3. Flow time

As PMs, our real contribution comes through painting a vision, building a strategy around it, and executing it. The former is often harder than the latter because it’s so easy to get lost in the daily chores.

The proven technique is to carve out a flow time each week. Yet I struggle to stick to a consistent strategy-time. Here are a few tricks that have helped me.

Optimize brain cycles: Time of the day matters. I find the first half of the day or a post-workout hour to be an optimal window for flowtime when the brain is clear and fresh.

Timeboxing: I usually set a timer for an hour. This is important. It is easier for our minds to commit to small, finite duration. If possible, I get in a room with a whiteboard, paper, and a pen, leaving digital devices outside.

And then, I still get stuck because I wait for that bright idea or the inspiration to get me started. What I found useful is to simply get started by scribbling the top problems or top ideas. And then, I let intuition and creativity just flow through. And if I followed the morning ritual truthfully, this just works, as the law of inertia.

Once the timer goes off, I digitalize the whiteboard by taking a picture or translating it into a word doc.

4. Unwind

This is the last and relatively easy part. Yet, it’s so easy to forget.

By the time we are home, we probably have had a hundred different conversations with a dozen people or teams at different levels of complexity. Unless we are mindful, our brain is likely to pick on things that didn’t go well.

Recalling the day-wins: Instead, this is an opportunity to acknowledge what went well. Even on a tough day, there is always something that went well. I recall simple things, like a successful last-minute demo, a cheer from a colleague, or a sumptuous lunch.

Studies show gratitude lowers cortisol levels to help us relax and have a good night’s sleep. That way we can wake up fresh for the next day.

We get paid for the ideas we bring to the table. Having a healthy reset is important to have an energetic start the next day.

What’s the ROI?

So, who are we? We are product managers. We get paid for bringing ideas, intuition, and energy to the organization. And our impact is measured by the ROI we deliver through our product.

To deliver those results, we need to lead each day intentionally and mindfully. In this case, I am suggesting 16 minutes of total investment in your work schedule.

Just a few minutes of mindfulness, just a cupful of mindfulness every day, will deliver tangible outcomes like better meetings, cleaner specs, crisper user stories, and a robust roadmap. And this all, in turn, will deliver better product and people outcomes.