Succeeding as a product manager isn’t about getting rid of chaos — it’s about learning how to manage it.
After all, being a product manager requires continuously juggling a multitude of tasks, from collaborating with other teams to analyzing data. That’s why product managers must rely on helpful tools and practices to stay organized and be ready to handle any challenges that come their way.
At Cisco ThousandEyes, Product Manager Icaro Vazquez relies on various tools — both tangible and intangible — to manage time and energy. For instance, while Figma is helpful for illustrating and sharing UX mockups, practices like handing his phone off to another person during focus time is critical to staying on track.
According to Vazquez, product management is all about balance — and without it, burnout becomes an unwelcome possibility. By leaning on his toolkit, he has managed to avoid feeling overworked while prioritizing other important aspects of his life, like exercise, which helps him recharge.
For Vazquez, chaos is an unavoidable aspect of the product management field, but with the right tools in place, it doesn’t have to hinder an individual’s productivity or personal life. Read on to learn more about the tools he uses to mitigate chaos, how these tools have enabled him to level up at ThousandEyes and the advice he’d offer to other product managers eager to more effectively manage chaos.
About Cisco ThousandEyes
Cisco ThousandEyes aims to help organizations deliver better digital experiences. The company’s platform, collective intelligence and smart monitoring agents help organizations understand how their customers and employees reach and experience different apps and services.
Vazquez’s Tools for Mitigating Chaos
- Calendaring focus time: “This has worked wonders for me, since people know I will not be available at that time.”
- Roadmapping: “I enjoy using the Jira roadmap feature. It has saved me a lot of time creating roadmaps and tracking how things are progressing with the projects associated with my products and company highlights overall.”
- Mockups: “I enjoy using Figma. It does a good job illustrating and sharing UX mocks and managing the iteration flow. I also like Balsamiq as a quick app to illustrate initial mocks and to do a handoff/idea dump from the product manager to the designer.”
- Slack/messaging apps: “I like Slack; it’s way more efficient than email. I usually only look at email maybe once or twice a day because Slack enables me to take care of many things at once.”
- Book apps/Apple Books: “I use Apple Books, but there are many good apps out there that help.”
- Strava: “I use it all the time, which helps me disconnect. I like to exercise, and Strava helps me do that; it allows me to totally disconnect, reboot and think about other stuff besides work.”
- Ditch the phone: “Put your mobile phone away during focus time so you actually get stuff done. I have someone take my phone during focus time.”
How has your toolkit allowed you to level-up at ThousandEyes? What important tasks are you able to accomplish by automating some of the more tedious processes?
It has allowed me to produce more and higher-quality work and has enabled me to actually have balance between my work and personal life. If there is no balance, it is a sure way to burn out, so always keep balance.
“It has allowed me to produce more and higher-quality work and has enabled me to actually have balance between my work and personal life.”
What is one tip you would share with a new product manager who is trying to minimize chaos on their team?
You won’t be able to eliminate chaos. It’s part of your product management life, and it comes from many places: crazy founders in startups, reorganizations at big companies, market changes and more. So my tip is to be comfortable with chaos and comfortable knowing you will not be able to get everything done; work on the most important things for your user and your product.
