Building My Personal PM Stack: Tools, Habits, and Resources I Swear By
From chaotic to clear, here’s what powers my product management game
“A tool is only as good as how you use it.”
— Me, after trying 10 different backlog tools and still missing deadlines 😅
When I first became a Product Manager, I was overwhelmed by just how many tools there were out there — Notion, Jira, Miro, Productboard, Trello, Asana, Amplitude… the list goes on.
I kept asking: What do I actually need to be effective?
Fast forward to today — I’ve built my own PM stack that balances productivity, prioritization, and people.
Here’s what it looks like.👇
🧰 TOOL STACK
Let’s start with the tools I can’t live without — and why they work for me.
1. Notion — My Brain Outside My Brain
I use Notion for:
- Meeting notes + weekly planning
- Roadmaps (linked databases = magic)
- Personal OKRs and team retros
- Feature briefs and research docs
🔗 My favorite PM Notion templates
🧠 Bonus tip: I use Notion AI to summarize calls or product feedback quickly.
2. Jira + Confluence — The (Annoying But Useful) Execution Core
For sprint planning, dev tasks, and delivery — Jira is still king.
Confluence helps me document feature specs, release notes, and internal FAQs.
⚠️ Pro tip: Keep your Jira board dumb simple. Complexity kills momentum.
3. Figma + FigJam — Visual Thinking for PMs
Even though I’m not a designer, I live in Figma:
- To drop comments on prototypes
- To collaborate on wireframes with Design
- To run async brainstorming with stakeholders in FigJam
4. Miro — Big Picture, Big Wins
For journey mapping, stakeholder alignment, and cross-team workshops — Miro is unbeatable.
📍 Favorite use: “PM Alignment Maps” where I drop team goals, user needs, and product strategy into one board before quarterly planning.
5. Slack + Loom — Communication on Steroids
Slack is obvious — but Loom is my secret weapon.
It helps me:
- Share feature walkthroughs in 3 mins
- Record async updates for cross-timezone teammates
- Cut down on unnecessary meetings
🔁 HABITS THAT KEEP ME SANE
Tools are just one side of the coin — habits are what keep it all running smoothly.
🌅 1. Monday Morning: “Product Pulse” Check
Every Monday I do a 30-minute check-in with myself:
- Review roadmap progress
- Check metrics on recently shipped features
- Skim support tickets, churn feedback
- Write a 1-pager for the week’s top focus area
📆 2. Daily Stand-in (Instead of Stand-up)
I send a Slack update every morning:
- What I did yesterday
- What I’ll focus on today
- Any blockers
Helps my team and keeps me accountable.
🧩 I use the Standuply Slack bot to automate this.
📚 3. 30 Minutes of Learning Weekly
Every Friday, I block 30 mins to:
- Read a blog post from Lenny’s Newsletter
- Watch a YouTube breakdown of a product teardown
- Scroll the Product Management subreddit for wisdom (and chaos)
📖 RESOURCES I SWEAR BY
Here’s my holy trinity of PM learning:
1. Books
- Inspired by Marty Cagan — 📘 Link
- Escaping the Build Trap by Melissa Perri
2. Newsletters
3. Communities
🎯 TL;DR: What Makes a Good PM Stack?
✅ It helps you stay focused on what matters
✅ It empowers communication without noise
✅ It evolves as your role evolves
There’s no “one-size-fits-all” here. Try, test, tweak.
🧠 Want to Build Your Stack?
💬 Drop a comment or DM me on LinkedIn. I’d love to swap tips or share my templates.
And if you’re overwhelmed by tools, remember this:
Your calendar and your habits are the best tools you have.
Thanks for reading! Follow me for more blogs on product thinking, tools, and real-world PM lessons.
✍️ Written with coffee, Notion, and a dash of imposter syndrome.