Benjamin Franklin rightly said about organizing, “For every minute spent organizing, an hour is earned”.
Organization and habits are indistinguishable. In this blog, we are going to see how being organized helps product managers.
What is Being Organized?
Being Organized is not a one-time activity, it requires a persistent effort. James Clear has clearly mentioned Success is the product of daily habits—not once-in-a-lifetime transformations. It is necessary to make it a habit so that you can be in control of your life, make better choices, and manage your time.
In short, you are organized when everything is in the place it belongs.
Why Do You Want to be Organized?
Being organized is not meant by tracking the set of multiple lists. To be organized you first have to define the goal of the needs to get organized.The purpose of setting goals is to win the game. The purpose of building systems is to continue playing the game. True long-term thinking is goal-less thinking. It’s not about any single accomplishment. It is about the cycle of endless refinement and continuous improvement. Ultimately, it is your commitment to the process that will determine your progress.
How to be Organized?
Being organized simply boils down to knowing where our time goes and what needs to be done.
Map your activities link to the calendar. Have a to-do list and set reminders for your activities. When you start, at first sight, this might look difficult to do. It will hardly take 10 minutes per day to do this, 5 minutes in the morning, and review at the end of the day before you sign out for the day from work. As a PM, you will be able to realize that it will help in the long run.
Benefits of Being Organized as a Product Manager
There are many benefits of being organized for Product Managers.
The top 5 benefits are below:
- Reduces Stress
- Increases Productivity
- Feel Empowered & Energized
- Frees up time to spend on your hobbies
- Improves Your Sleep
The below picture shows the 5 benefits.
We are going to see these benefits in brief below.
Reduces Stress
Staying organized will reduce your cortisol levels. Cortisol is the body’s primary stress hormone.
Increases Productivity
Clutter, ie. disorganized is the enemy of creativity. Being disorganized leads to being burnt out and overwhelmed. When you are organized you can easily track the activities and achieve your goal.
Feel Empowered & Energized
When you see you are achieving things, it empowers you and energizes you to do more.
As we have already discussed, it’s a pattern that follows in itself. It will reshape your life and energize you.
Frees up time to spend on your hobbies
Being organized allows you to free up time to do the things that you enjoy most. It simply boils down to knowing where our time goes and what needs to be done.
Improves Your Sleep
Instead of being awake at night thinking of all of the things that you need to put on your to-do list for the next day, pause before you go to bed, and write down the things you need to achieve the next day.
Being organized can significantly help you to improve the quality of your life.
I hope this article helps you to enhance your product leadership by being organized too!
References:
Atomic Habits – by James Clear