A Q&A with Kayleen Standridge, product manager at ClickUp, on must-have productivity tools, habits, and workflows

Each week we talk to people we admire to learn about how they work: their processes, the tools they use, and what drives them. It's an opportunity to get a sneak peek into how other builders and makers do their jobs. So you might get inspired and learn something new, or, at the very least, get a song recommendation.

This week we talked to Kayleen Standridge, product manager at ClickUp, an all-in-one project management platform.

p.s. – Kayleen's current song on repeat is The Sound of Settling, so feel free to listen while you read to put you in the mindset 🙃.

What do you do?
I’m currently working as a product manager for integrations at ClickUp! My role involves the day-to-day product execution but also long-term strategic thinking about how we are going to drive the roadmap. I also make sure integrations, exports, and imports are scalable across ClickUp as a whole. I spend a lot of time on user research, diving into analytics, and figuring out, what's working and what’s not. Lastly, I work to ensure that the product as a whole is great and that users are getting a great user experience. It’s a lot of fun!

What is one tool you can't imagine your life without?
Does it have to be a tool? I LIVE for Spotify. I use it every day on my way to work. Also, ClickUp. We use ClickUp at ClickUp and that’s pretty sweet.

What other tools do you use?
I use Slack for communication, Sublime for text editing, and Postman for testing API endpoints. I also use GitHub Desktop for making small changes in our codebase without having to open the terminal.

Which tool have you discovered recently?
Jam! Love the ability to really dive in and get bug data and console data super quickly!

One thing that you learned recently about how to be more productive and happy at work?
Trying to not stress about the little things. Own your mistakes and work towards growing 1% every day. Also, have fun! I like to use dad jokes throughout the day and make our work environment light-hearted.

A favorite feature of your desk setup?
Giant monitors and the cool pic above my desk. The giant ClickUp mousepad that I have

What book are you reading right now?
I love reading comics on Webtoon. Right now, I am reading Eleceed and it’s awesome. It’s one of the best comics I’ve ever read.

That's it! Hope you discovered a new tool or workflow you love. Follow Kayleen's work at clickup.com, and at @kayleenstandridge on LinkedIn.

Want to read more tooling recs from top product experts? Check out SeatGeek's QA stack and Airtable's top tools for product managers.