After a long break from podcasting, I’m officially back! This episode marks my return, and I thought it would be fitting to use one of my favorite product management frameworks to explain why I’ve been away and how I finally found my way back.
Let’s talk about the “Three Levers” framework.
The Three Levers Framework
When I was just starting out as a junior product manager, my mentor Alicia shared a concept that has stayed with me ever since: whenever you’re managing a project or building a product, you only have three levers to pull:
- Resources – people, tools, or money you can bring in to help.
- Timeline – how much time you’re giving yourself.
- Scope – what exactly you’re trying to do.
That’s it. There is nothing else you can do as a product manager. Your job is to decide which lever to pull at any given situation.
I now teach this concept to all my clients. It simplifies decision-making and cuts through the overwhelm when things don’t go as planned.
And that’s exactly the framework I used when I asked myself: Why haven’t I been recording podcast episodes, even though I really want to?
Applying the Three Levers to My Podcast
Let’s walk through how I used the framework to address my long absence from podcasting:
1. Resources
I asked myself, Do I need help?
I considered bringing in a co-host or finding someone to join me on regular calls. That could give me some external accountability—if someone’s waiting on the other end every Tuesday, I’ll show up. I also explored hiring an editor or investing in new tools.
Thanks to AI, editing is easier now. There are tools that transcribe your recordings, cut long pauses, and even remove filler words. That seemed like a worthwhile investment to reduce my editing time. So yes, I pulled the resources lever a little.
But even with tools and ideas for collaboration, I still wasn’t recording. That led me to the second lever.
2. Timeline
Originally, I was releasing an episode every Monday. I thought maybe I could change the publishing schedule to be less frequent. When I gave myself a more flexible publishing schedule, I still wasn’t finding the time to sit down with a mic and record.
So finally, I looked at the third—and most powerful—lever.
3. Scope
If you’ve worked with me before, you know this is my favorite lever. In product management, when a release date looms and nothing is ready, we cut scope—we drop the fluff and build only the core functionality.
No fancy design. No extra features. Just: what’s the minimum viable product that works? What’s the main problem we are trying to solve with this feauture?
And I realized… that’s exactly what I needed to do with my podcast.
Real Life vs. Imaginary Life
When I started this podcast, I had lots of free time. I was between jobs, had just moved to England, didn’t know many people, and it was the height of the pandemic. I could take long walks, brainstorm episodes, come back home to a quiet space, and record with my professional mic. It was the perfect podcasting setup.
But now?
I run another business that keeps me on the road most of the summer. I’m a mom. I have health goals that require time and energy. My office time is limited and unpredictable. And yet, I was still clinging to the idea that the podcast had to be recorded exactly like before—same setup, same sound quality, same scripting.
That version of podcasting doesn’t fit into my real life anymore.
The truth is, I was approaching the goal of recording podcast episodes from the place of “imaginary reality” version of my life—where I imagined I could record polished episodes regularly, even though my actual days didn’t support that. And so, unsurprisingly, I didn’t record anything for months.
Once I acknowledged this mismatch, I drastically reduced the scope.
Now, I’m recording episodes during my morning walks. No scripts. No fancy transitions. Just me, a voice recorder, and an idea I want to share.
Is it perfect? No.
Is it consistent and sustainable? I hope so.
Normalize, Then Optimize
This is something I tell my clients all the time: normalize before you optimize.
We often try to perfect something before it became a part of our routine. But consistency always comes before refinement. You have to make a new behavior normal before you worry about making it efficient.
So this is my “normalizing” phase for the podcast. The plan is simple: walk, talk, quickly edit, hit publish. Once that feels routine again, I can optimize later.
Apply This to Your Stuck Projects
If you’ve had a personal project sitting idle for weeks—or months—try using the Three Levers framework:
- Resources: Can you delegate? Automate? Ask for help?
- Timeline: Can you give yourself more time—or accept that more time won’t help?
- Scope: Can you drop the perfectionism and just focus on the core?
From my experience, the scope is usually the key to unlocking progress. We imagine our future self will have more time, more motivation, or better circumstances. But if something hasn’t happened for weeks, your current approach likely doesn’t fit your real life.
So adjust the scope. Let go of the fluff. What’s the most minimal, realistic version of your idea you can start with?
Start there. Then build on top of it.
Sprint With Us in the Focus Room
If you want structured support while you build momentum on your own projects, I invite you to join The Focus Room—my private membership where we work in three-week Agile sprints.
No homework, no courses to finish. Sprint planning calls, daily check-ins, and weekly coworking with a small, supportive group.
It’s for people who want to stop dreaming and start doing. Whether you’re launching a YouTube channel, writing a screenplay, or building a side business, we help you apply Agile in a simple, human way.
Until next time—cheers,
Polina
