TC: 160K Product Managers: How much time do you all spend on meetings (on average) in a day? Asking for a new PM (aka me). At my new company, there are times I hardly get 2 hours of desk/focus time out of the 8 hour work day. The rest is spent on meetings (and it's pretty much the same throughout the week). Whether with internal stakeholders or customers. To the point that it has started affecting my mental health. Zoom fatigue is so darn real. And back to back meetings are super overwhelming. I am fairly new at this company and it has gotten so taxing already (with being pulled into so many meetings in an adhoc manner). Feel like quitting and joining another org with a culture of not-just-appearing-busy (and with no tangible results from those 6 meetings lasting 30 mins each) but actually getting shit done and that has a bias for action. Am I over-reacting/ burned out or is this how it is for all the other PMs out there too? 4-5 hours of back to back meetings daily and crazy context switching? Please help a fellow PM and share tips for staying sane. Thanks. #tech #productmanagement #product
I am an SRE, i spend 7 hours in meeting and then 6 hours after that to complete my daily individual taksks 😂
I resonate with this. Every decision needs to be a meeting now and have to spend time outside of the calendar day to get actual work done. Are you an introvert? Fatigue can be higher if you are. Try to manage your calendar aggressively. Block out slots for doc writing/prds/data analysis/actual work.
Yes, an introvert here! What do you do if people keep pulling you in on adhoc meetings (asking if I'm available on Slack), despite the calendar being actually blocked? There have been times when my lunch break has also been hijacked, although the calendar was blocked for that😣
😣 Completely understand. I used to get really pushed over with such last minute meetings as well. I now check for the level of urgency for such requests and ask them to find a slot on my calendar. I know it might come across as snarky, but getting some confidence from the fact that other folks on my team do it as well. I've come to realize that cut throat prioritization is the only way to manage meetings vs actual work during WFH. If not, you'll get pulled in all directions and have no time left for yourself. However, if it is with your manager or senior manager, can't do much - need to sacrifice that lunch break. 😕
I’m an IC and spend about 5-6 hours a day in meetings that I rarely need to be in or participate. I am very fatigued from it, and I don’t think it’s an introvert/extrovert thing. Who wants to sit in meetings where your participation is barely required?
Yes. Frustrating for everyone I suppose. Just meant that as a basically shy introvert I have noticed that these meetings drain me out more than some of my more energetic extroverted colleagues. Basically v little energy to do actual work in slots between meetings. Just the sheer amount of people interaction and the baggage that comes along with it - small talk, conflict management and what not.
Yeah know what you mean. I’ve found some more extroverted people have the opposite problem where they talk a lot in meetings so they don’t get fatigued but then it takes away the focus from the meeting so I can see problems on both sides
Ruthless prioritization. Stick to efforts that impact your main metrics. Ask everyone else to F off.
Being relatively new in this organization, I'm trying to build relationships during my first 90 days as a PM. Prioritization at this stage has just gone out of the window, to be honest. But guess it's about time...before people start setting unrealistic expectations for me.
Oh. First 90 days you should be spending a lot of time in meeting stakeholders, customers. So it's fine. Relax
Agreed. But from what the other veteran PMs say...this is the culture here. Insane amount of time spent on meetings each day🙊 But lets see how it goes. Fingers crossed!
4-6 hours here. I agree with Google about ruthless prioritization. You’re going to need to learn to say no without damaging relationships. With practice you will get better at it.
please dont blame a tool that enables you to do your work. difference is probably that you are not in a conference room in office.
That was not the point of this post, obviously!