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Do you also get an angry look when you say, "I need to skip this meeting to do some actual work"? How come you even have to say this? How to fix it? Well... Let's get one thing straight: To feel you've worked, you need to have an output to show. Sitting for an hour in a meeting just to say "thank you" can be a huge waste of time. This feels like a waste of time, but there is another side to this. On the one hand, I will tell you to: 1) Set daily/weekly/monthly goals and only attend the meeting that will get you closer to those goals. 2) Ask for meeting recordings/notes for those you decided to skip 3) Block your calendar to ensure you have time to focus and eat 4) Try to take breaks between meetings so it's not a painful, continuous series, etc 5) Don't be afraid to reschedule; your time is precious On the other hand, it's perfectly OK to have a few unproductive meetings a week. Wait, what? Hear me out: The Product Manager is an information hub of a product through whom a lot of people and teams relay information. Whether that is corporate strategy, marketing plan, technical development details, or user complaints, the PM will be in the middle of it. With this knowledge and a good product experience, you are sort of a guard, preventing others from making bad decisions. As long as you listen and pay just enough attention to know what is happening in the meeting, it's enough! Take the time to do some stretching or cook dinner, as long as your camera and microphone are off. Even if you don't realize this, you are still a real asset in those meetings! Just be ready to speak up or ask the right question when something feels off. Just a few weeks ago, in one boring meeting, I managed to ask just the one perfect question that resulted in reducing one initiative's development time from 3 months to barely a week. Of course, it's more complicated than that, but you know: corporate secrets, NDA, hash, hash ;) Does it mean you need to attend every meeting you are invited to on the off chance you will make a difference? No! Especially when it comes to big political/announcement meetings, where you are unlikely to speak up, not to mention contribute. However, if you land in a meeting where you only spoke up once to say "thank you", you still did work, and you shouldn't feel bad for it. A security guard doesn't waste time on nights when there are no robberies, right? And if there is pressing work that you can't do due to a meeting, don't go! After all, prioritization is the main skill we need to hold as Product Managers! Do you "waste" a lot of time on meetings? Sound off in the comments! #productmanagement #productmanager #meetings P.S. Become an effective Product Manager! Enroll in my courses at www. drbartpm. com :)