What is 'balance' to a PMM?

Being in Product Marketing means juggling for at least 40 hours every week. And that’s just during your work day.

But how do you find that ‘balance’ between work — and everything else that makes you, you?

And maybe I should ask a better question…is it even possible?

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What is 'balance' to a PMM?

Let’s start with the 2nd question and work our way back.

“Is having a work-life balance even possible?”

If you ask one of my favorite people on Earth, Emma Stratton will tell you to throw that phrase out.

On our final guest-episode of Season 2, she taught us to search for work-life imbalance (extra heavy on the ‘life’ part).

And she’s 110% right. Why should work get an equal balance with the rest of life?

We’ve all got different loved ones, bucket lists, holidays, and hobbies. And do any of us get to spend enough time on them?

And more importantly, do you spend enough time on the 2 things we all have in common? Our health (physical and mental).

So after talking with Emma on our show, it dawned on me. All those things deserve more than 66.6% of my time. In her words — HARMONY.

So now that we’re 2-memes deep, let’s talk about the first question: what is ‘balance’ to a PMM.

For me, it’s getting my mind off of work stuff by 5:30pm so I can spend time with my 8-month old son before bedtime.

For me, it’s taking Slack off my phone so I can’t penetrate my mind with more work thoughts after 5:30.

For me, it’s enjoying a new Fall Festival every single weekend from September 28th-October 22nd instead of doing more work.

I’ve recently realized that I’m less productive the more hours (and meetings) I work. After a certain point, I’m just a zombie trying to force productivity onto a screen.

When I think of harmony and balance, I think you need the discipline to shut off the work switch and respect your life boundaries. You can always turn it back on again tomorrow.

So the holiday season is just around the corner. And if you’re like me (Eric), that season has already started with Halloween.

Take your time to center and shift the balance back to ‘life.’

If you’re feeling overwhelmed, don’t worry. You have plenty of time to make changes.

And since you’re in an Underground Community of Non-Marketers, you can always lean on us. We have your back when things get a little to “balanced” at work.

🎙Featured Episode:
_{PMMs and the Art of Juggling Everyting: Balancing Work, Life, and Mental Health}

This episode was for each one of you who is feeling the weight of the world on your shoulders.

We go through so much as PMMs, and it’s hard to make time for ourselves. This episode we dive into:

💀What do We’re Not Marketers stress about?
💀Is fractional stress different from in-house stress?
💀How do you begin to set boundaries with work?
💀Why less time at work makes you a more productive PMM.

Check the episode here

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