I used to text and drive.
I’m not proud of this.
Years ago, I had a job that required a two-hour commute. One morning, pulling into the company parking lot, distracted and tense, I hit another car.
My hands were already sweaty. My jaw was clenched. My mind was racing.
That was before the impact.
At the time, I believed something dangerous:
To do my job well, I had to be “always on.”
I even got feedback that I “wasn’t responsive enough.”
What that really meant was simple:
Someone Slacked me.
I didn’t respond immediately.
They didn’t like it and complained.
The Day I Walked Away
Fast forward to early 2021. The height of the pandemic.
One afternoon at 3:30 p.m., I closed my laptop and walked away for an hour.
No Slack.
No email.
No phone.
I sat with a notebook and sketched.
Boxes. Arrows. Half-formed ideas.
The old me would have felt guilty. Like I was slacking off. Like I was falling behind.
Today, I schedule this on purpose.
I call it thinking time.
What You’ll Learn Today
Why being always-on is killing your best thinking.
The real source of burnout for product managers.
How constant responsiveness leads to shallow work.
What productivity actually looks like at a senior level.
Practical ways to protect your attention and focus.
Burnout Isn’t About Hours
We talk about burnout like it comes from working too much.
But for product managers, it often comes from something else:
Never mentally turning off.
Even when we’re not typing, our minds are still running:
Replaying that stakeholder meeting
Stressing about Jira tickets
Wondering if the team is blocked
Drafting answers to questions no one’s asked yet
Checking Slack “just in case” something happened
We wear responsiveness like a badge of honor.
But if we’re honest, it’s often a mask for fear:
Fear of looking unproductive
Fear of being left out
Fear of being labeled “unresponsive”
Fear of being replaced
That fear turns us reactive.
Slack becomes our to-do list.
We respond instead of reflect.
We move fast. But we don’t think deeply.
Slow is Smooth, Smooth is Fast
When I stopped treating “thinking” like a luxury, everything changed.
I stopped chasing requests and started shaping direction.
I made better product decisions.
I managed stakeholders more intentionally.
I communicated with more clarity.
I realized a counterintuitive truth:
You can’t think if your brain is always on.
You can’t lead if you never pause.
The U.S. Navy SEALs, one of the most elite forces in the world, have a saying:
“Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast.”
Their work involves intense planning, extreme pressure, and life-or-death stakes.
In those moments, rushing feels tempting.
But rushing leads to mistakes.
So they train to move deliberately. Methodically. Calmly.
And by slowing down, they actually move faster, with fewer errors and better outcomes.
Product work is different. But the principle holds.
The Real Definition of Productivity
Productivity isn’t about cramming more into your calendar.
It’s about creating space to act with clarity and intention.
Real productivity looks like:
Thinking without interruption, so real insight can surface
Getting enough sleep, so your brain actually works
Having a clear mind, so decisions are thoughtful, not reactive
Moving with purpose, not someone else’s urgency
You can’t buy more time.
You have to choose it.
And that means saying no to things that feel urgent, but aren’t.
How I Reclaimed Focus
A few years ago, I made a decision:
I would treat my attention like the precious resource it is.
Here’s what I did.
I turned off all notifications—on my phone and at work
Only my wife, my kids, and my mother could reach me immediately
Everything else could wait
I scheduled:
1 hour of thinking time every week
30 minutes of personal retrospective every Friday at 4:30 p.m.
No screens.
No devices.
Just a pen and a notebook.
I also started communicating boundaries. Clearly and calmly.
The world didn’t end. Most people respect boundaries when you actually state them.
The Power of Saying No
I began saying no to most “brain pick” requests.
Exceptions existed, of course. If the CEO needed time, I made time.
Everything else got qualified:
Is this aligned with my priorities?
Does it require my thinking? Or just my availability?
If it’s important, we schedule it.
If not, it waits.
Today, I get requests like this every day:
“Can I pick your brain?”
“Can you review this deck?”
“Five minutes to check out my demo?”
“Can you review my resume?” (for free)
I decline them all.
My mental space is non-negotiable.
Instead, I share what I know through:
This weekly newsletter
Podcast interviews and webinars I’m invited to
My digital products, courses, and training
99% of it is 100% free.
What Changed
Here’s the surprising part:
My performance didn’t suffer. It dramatically improved.
Because:
A clear head leads to better performance
Better performance leads to better decisions
Better decisions lead to better outcomes
Protecting my time didn’t just make me a better PM or leader.
It made me:
A better husband
A better son
A better dad
And that’s worth everything to me.
Practical Ways to Start
Here’s what you can do — starting this week.
1. Put Slack and MS Teams in their place
Set notification hours.
Use Do Not Disturb.
Do it guilt-free.
2. Schedule “Thinking Time”
Block 30–60 minutes per week
No agenda.
No devices.
It may feel weird at first. Pretty soon you’ll wonder why you hadn’t done it much earlier.
3. Decide what deserves your full attention
Ask yourself:
Is this the roadmap?
A critical decision?
A 1:1?
A customer moment?
Those deserve your undivided brainpower.
4. Redefine “urgent”
A Slack message is rarely ever a fire.
Most “urgent” requests aren’t urgent at all.
It’s amazing how many “urgent” things solve themselves in 12–24 hours.
5. Model the behavior
If you’re a senior PM or product leader:
Lead by example.
Your behavior sets the standard.
If you never unplug, your team won’t feel safe doing it either.
The Bottom Line
If your brains feels foggy, scattered, or anxious, it’s not a productivity problem.
It’s a signal.
A signal that says: you’re not meant to be always-on.
Your best work when you’re present.
And presence requires turning things off.
Protect your mental space.
That’s all for this week.
Have a joyful week, and, if you can, make it joyful for someone else too.
cheers,
shardul
Here are 4 ways I can help you today:
Strategy Design Workshop: Transform scattered priorities into clear, actionable direction. I’ll facilitate your team through a customized workshop to align stakeholders and create strategies that actually get executed instead of forgotten. Book a call.
Product Management Audit: Get a clear picture of what’s working and what’s holding your team back. Through a systematic analysis, I’ll evaluate your strategy, processes, roles, metrics, and culture. You’ll walk away a practical set of findings and actionable recommendations to strengthen your product organization. Book a call.
Corporate Training: Elevate your entire product organization. I’ll teach your team how to think and act strategically, craft outcome-driven roadmaps, and dramatically improve how they deliver measurable results that matter to your business. Book a call.
Improv Based Team Building Workshop: Boost creativity, trust, and collaboration through improv. Your team will problem-solve faster and work better together. Book a call.
Shardul Mehta
I ❤️ product managers.