As a product manager, different priorities are always vying for your attention. It is all too easy to get absorbed by a plethora of tasks and feel like there isn’t enough time in the day. However, allowing your work life to creep over into your personal life can be dangerous. The resulting fatigue, stress, and lost time with friends and loved ones makes it very easy to get burned out at work. So how does a product manager stay on top of their busy professional lives without burning out? The answer is supporting 
a balance between work and life outside of your job to enrich both aspects of life.
The Steps to Taking Charge:
The Power of Positive Attitudes
Have you ever heard someone tell you that attitude is the key to success? If you have, they are right. Negativity is proven to spread at work; being around people with bad attitudes can drain your energy and take a toll on your emotions. Surround yourself with positive people who view life as an opportunity to be seized, and who maturely deal with the stresses and challenges of work. Furthermore, try to look at your own goals and expectations positively, even in tough situations. This will reduce your level of stress and make it easier to finish quality work on time.
Live Well
Between TV ads, our mothers, and medical professionals, we are constantly being told to live healthy lives. Although we do not generally think of our physical health as an integral part of our career, it can have a huge impact on our performance. Eating well, getting sufficient sleep, and exercising regularly are all proven to reduce stress and keep us sharp on the job. Living a healthy lifestyle can be challenging at first, but it will improve your motivation and quality of work.
Schedule Time for Yourself
Juggling the many responsibilities of being a product manager in conjunction with maintaining your personal life or managing the lives of your kids can be very overwhelming. It can feel like there is no time to relax or enjoy the activities that you love, but your ability to develop professionally depends on your ability to take time for yourself. Stress builds and builds until there is a way to release it, and sometimes you just need to take some time for yourself to unwind.
Prioritize
In the realm of product management it often feels like there are too many deadlines. The clock is ticking and you have a thousand tasks to complete—it seems like you will never get everything done on time. However, when we start telling ourselves that we can’t complete something, our brain naturally puts a mental block on the activity and we lose our motivation. When we keep a positive attitude and prioritize what needs to get done most urgently, we have the ability to roll up our sleeves and finish whatever needs to be done. This strategy actually makes us much more efficient, and it makes task completion less stressful and time consuming.
Live in the Moment
Perhaps the most valuable skill to have as a product manager is emotional intelligence. The stresses of life can be very distracting from the work at hand, and it is imperative to be able to put your efforts into one task at a time. Part of prioritizing is being able to focus your energy on one point of your to-do list and put everything else aside. Furthermore, letting your personal life affect your mood at work can be distracting and frustrating. Living in the moment and focusing on what is at hand is the key to being productive. When you are relaxing, you should also live in the moment and create barriers to stress creeping into your personal time. A little bit of relaxation and stress relief can go a long way towards keeping yourself sane!
The Rewards of Work Life Balance
Work-life balance does not require cutting your professional or your personal life short; it is about maximizing both elements of your life. When you have mastered the skills that help you keep balance in your life, you will work more efficiently and simply be happier. It is difficult to make all of these changes overnight, so take them in stride. Start with one of these steps, and once you begin to notice the positive impact it has on your life, you will be motivated to continue exploring methods of balancing your professional and personal lives.
