Day in the Life of an Introvert Product Manager

👋🏾 Join me on a day in the life as a Product Manager at a tech startup (and as an introvert)
Since starting my new PM job at Coda, I’ve been learning a ton about the product, my team, and what it really means to be a Product Manager. Today, I’ll take you along with me as I hop between Zoom meetings, respond to a never-ending thread of Slack messages, and prepare for Friday demos (with a cameo by Yogi). 💃
〰️ relevant links 〰️
🗂️ My Product Management playlist - • Why I’m Going Back to ...
🚀 Exponent’s PM Course (affiliate) - www.tryexponent.com/?ref=hars...
〰️ timestamps 〰️
0:00 - Productive morning
1:27 - The beauty of working from home
2:25 - My day as a Product Manager
3:09 - How I plan my day
4:07 - Coffee break
4:41 - Managing my energy as an introvert
5:43 - Lunchtime
6:36 - Today’s schedule
7:52 - Reflections as a new PM
9:54 - Chill evening routine
〰️ connect 〰️
📸 Instagram - / harshibar
💼 LinkedIn - / hyerramreddy
🐦 Twitter - / harshibar
🍳 Cooking KZbin - @souschefharshibar
〰️ setup 〰️
💻 Laptop - amzn.to/3rnLtjE
🖱️ Mouse - amzn.to/37IlGdX
🎥 Camera - amzn.to/2WIwoLf
📱 Icon Pack - gum.co/icons-by-harshibar
⌨️ Keyboard - mechanicalkeyboards.com/shop/...
〰️ music 〰️
🎧 Epidemic Sound - www.epidemicsound.com/referra...
🎧 Louie Zong, ambrosia (apples) - louiezong.bandcamp.com/track/...
🎧 Louie Zong, granny smith (apples) - louiezong.bandcamp.com/track/...
🎧 Louie Zong, jazz (apples) - louiezong.bandcamp.com/track/...
🎧 Louie Zong, charlie brown’s day off (jazz) - louiezong.bandcamp.com/track/...
〰️ disclosure 〰️
This video is not sponsored. Some of the above links are affiliate links. Using these links is the best way to support me and my everlasting desire to find that Indian parent approval 🙃
〰️ editing effects 〰️
Math Overlay - • Video
Meeting GIF - tenor.com/view/no-more-meetin...
Windows Error Sound - • Microsoft Windows XP E...
Manmadhudu Scene - • Manmadhudu Telugu Full...
Spongebob GIF - tenor.com/view/frantic-ah-spo...
Person doodles - www.figma.com/community/file/...
Celebrate GIF - c.tenor.com/Hhrkd8gE_9cAAAAi/...
〰️ tags 〰️
harshibar, day in the life, harshibar day in the life, day in the life of a product manager, day in the life as a product manager, product manager day in the life, product manager, product manager role, product manager first day, product manager startup, startup product manager, day in the life as a pm, day in the life of a pm, wfh vlog, harshibar product manager, pm day in the life, product management, day in the life product manager, startup day in the life, tech vlog, wfh
#harshibar #productmanager #dayinthelife

[@harshibar]

👩🏽‍🍳 hello! i’m making cooking videos now: www.youtube.com/@souschefharshibar

[@chandramoulidasari3946]

Akka finally you remembered that you have a channel🙏😂

[@harshibar]

😂 thanks for your patience!

[@svijayrao]

I can totally relate with you. As a Product Manager, I spend abt 5-6 hrs daily on meetings. Gets very tiring and exhausts you moving between different meetings. As an introvert, I just want silence and me time.

[@happy7akira]

May I ask how you deal with this situation? Thanks!

[@AhmetKaan]

*If you are reading this, never ever give up. We will succeed. I'm cheering for you!* Have a great day! 🖤

[@warrior_1309]

Thank you so much for this beautiful comment.

[@evelynshares]

the shot of yogi getting comfy is the cutest thing I've seen all day! loved getting a peek into another PM's workday, thanks for sharing ☺

[@harshibar]

hehe he loves that bed so much 🥰 and glad you liked the video! I watched a ton of yours when I was about to start my job ☺️

[@evelynshares]

@@harshibar 🥺🥺

[@girlanonymous]

Hi Harsh nice to see the ins and and outs of being a product manager and that you’re doing well. Thank you for the upload have a great weekend!

[@harshibar]

Thanks for watching! Hope the video was helpful ☺️

[@user-bw2xm7pn2j]

@@harshibar Hi harshibar, I have sent a product partnership proposal for your consideration. please have a look

[@ketanshende9]

Yayyy!!!! Yogi is back :) And good to see you Harshi with yet another great video! Keep going on! ☀

[@harshibar]

Thank you! Yogi missed everyone ☺️

[@jaymca730]

Fantastic video. I am a PM at a tech startup and an introvert. It was really challenging at first to manage my energy & keep from burning out. Love that you take breaks and get some quiet time.

[@harshibar]

quiet time is essential :)

[@manikumar.17]

Hi Harshi, it’s been nice to see your videos and sharing your personal experience with us, that was much helpful and keep going.

[@harshibar]

Thank you! ☺️

[@blueazul2007]

I hope your PM life is still going well, thanks for a glimpse. As a fellow PM, I definitely need more time to escape with my family and pup.

[@keyikumlen.zeliang6179]

Glad to see you posting again! :))

[@harshibar]

Feels good to be back!

[@ShivamMishra-td3jz]

Feels like your looks got changed, you look a bit mature now. Personality is sweet and ground to earth as always. Love❤️

[@rameshprasath1513]

Finally a video after long time!! Good to see you.

[@harshibar]

More to come!

[@aneeshguptaag]

Feels like a lifetime but happy to see you back😄

[@harshibar]

thanks for sticking around!

[@keepproductive]

What - how did I miss this, congrats!! :)

[@harshibar]

Thanks!!

[@himajasharma4806]

I liked that omelet part 😂 I'm glad you didn't edit it out. Great video btw!

[@atj8697]

After long time, good to see you again 😀

[@harshibar]

thanks, it's been so long!

[@harshitaditya7147]

Finally a video after a long time.

[@harshibar]

Hope it was worth the wait :)

[@janvikalra6490]

Queen PM right here!

[@harshibar]

ayy from the queen herself ❤️

[@cosmicgeo001]

Maybe one of the best day in the life videos I’ve seen for a PM. Seems manageable but won’t know unless I do it…

[@harshibar]

thank you!! and yeah like almost other tech jobs, it’s definitely manageable :)

[@_HMCB_]

Really missed you. Watching this made me realize it. I’ve always found you interesting and am happy you found it to Coda. It’s been a while since I tried it. I think because the documents when embedded/shared seemed really slow to load. I’m going to head back simply because you’re with the company. Thanks for gracing us with your presence. By the way: what tablet is that? Love the grid and perforated pages.

[@harshibar]

Thank you! And hope you enjoy using Coda again -- I'd love to hear any feedback you have. And here's my notebook (I've already bought a second one!): www.amazon.com/Maruman-MNEMOSYNE-Notebook-Inches-N105/dp/B07YQMBTS2

[@_HMCB_]

​@@harshibar My comment keeps getting deleted; apologies if they’re duped… LOL. I thought it looked familiar! The grids and perforated pages made me think I’d seen it before. Sure enough, I bought that notebook years ago and also a smaller index one. The best notebooks ever. Paper quality was amazing. I got mine through Jetpens because they carry all sorts of Japanese products. Thanks for reminding me!

[@browntechdaddy]

Just discovered your channel, and these videos are so insightful! I'm trying to transfer roles internally at a FAANG company from software engineer to PM, but I'm definitely also an introvert who likes having solo focused time. Awesome to see a fellow introvert thrive as a PM. Also cool to see south Indian food, I feel like our food is definitely underrated

[@harshibar]

Glad you're liking the videos! For what it's worth, I know a lot of PMs who are also introverts, so we're not alone :)

[@browntechdaddy]

@@harshibar Awesome to hear :)

[@calvinrai5770]

Yogi seems like the perfect coworker!!

[@harshibar]

I would have to agree :)

[@InFocus_app]

Hi Harsh! My wife got 2 degrees of Information Systems from best University in my country. Now she got job of system analyst after after 15 years of coding. She is very happy!

[@harshibar]

Happy to hear it!

[@gajender6075]

Ohhhh finally video came !! This is more waiting for than I did for Bahubali part -2 😂😂. But finally came !! Please harshi try to do some fast !!

[@mesbashazu9201]

Wow. That's a very long commute! lol.🤣🤣

[@msarikonda]

Harshi akka vachesarochh😍!!!

[@jon932]

what brand is your chair?!? how do you like it? I like that you can put the arms up!

[@yadneshtiwari]

That fun fact : PM roles makes u talkative 😄

[@harshibar]

I’ve been changed 😂

[@David79YT]

Please make an unboxing video of the iPhone 13 pro! Even though I'm not a product manger, I actually have an iPhone 13 Pro Max to shoot these videos on my channel, and the quality turned out pretty good, so I really want to see how you set up your new phone like I did before outside of my channel

[@AhmetKaan]

*You can't change your situation, you can only change how you deal with it. Life will always happen, the question is; "Are you going to put in the work?"*

[@susa88ify]

Hey where did you buy the wooden monitor stand? That looks cool.

[@harshibar]

It’s from Amazon! Here’s a link: smile.amazon.com/dp/B08CMR217G/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_i_5Z5JQS7NFC4TZHQKHBT9?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

[@chirudeepvanjamUX]

Hey harshi! I like your content. Love from Andhra Pradesh. Please make a video why you switched to product management and PM vs SDE

[@pranay_kumar]

There is lot to learn and us being young generation engineers need to know so much that happened in past and work in the present and have a vision for the future. Its hard but its what defines us. #SolveProblemsforever lol. All is well ;)

[@melvinasogu1315]

Please I wanted to know, do you have meetings every day?

[@jaimesmith1086]

Thanks Harshibar for creating this video. I am wondering If I can get your thoughts on this - I recently discovered product management but my impression so far is that I can be paid well (sweet sweet tech salary), don't need to code, don't need any special certifications/MBA/MS Computer Science (or any specific degrees for that matter) or specific experiences. Seems too good to be true. Wondering if I am missing something?

[@harshibar]

That’s true that PM is a pretty non technical role with a lot of perks from working in tech. Though I would say it’s not always a walk in the park, like any job! The work hours are similar if not more than that of an SWE, given PMs ultimately take ownership across many projects. Also, depending on how you like to work, having a lot of meetings can feel more tiring than coding (for me, at least 😅).

[@mukhlisaabdurakhimova2572]

Great videos 👍

[@harshibar]

thanks!

[@boudicca7070]

Hi Harsh. Do you do resume rewrite/review?

[@CD-zz6ml]

I quit my SWE job at a FAANG level company in 2021 and after soloing it for 8 months thinking about returning to the tech field as a PM or maybe give engineering another chance. The last position didn’t respect my time and had brutal on call shifts, so looking for something with work life balance.

[@harshibar]

Sweet! Yeah, the work life balance as a PM is definitely different than SWE, and no on call is a bonus :)

[@nithikak3081]

Can u please explain me how this software engineer works for you which is better in terms of relaxing spend more time with family (product manager or SWE)

[@nikitasoni9732]

Any advice on how to crack Associate Product manager interview without any prior experience in the field and being a total fresher

[@kishensoni6423]

Hey! Had a question - did you just jump straight onto being a PM rather than working up from APM?

[@Agrover112]

May I ask how is a Product Designer diff from a Product Manager?Also if we see from a Ladder/Level perspective where would UI/UX roles land compared to a PM in an Big Tech Organization?

[@nandanaviswanath5413]

Finally got your videoo

[@harshibar]

haha, thanks for waiting!

[@swapnilkamble1180]

Welcome after log time Making video 🤗🤗

[@quantum3712]

Hey , as person from a non IT background, is coding necessary to break into a role of PM? Thanks

[@liam1902]

Nope. I've mostly worked with PMs that are non-technical. A Technical Product Manager (TPM) might have some insight on the tech stack and underlying code behind a product, but a Product Manager (PM) mostly needs to know the features of the product(s), how the customer(s) use it, and the vision of the the product(s) that are in line with the company you work for. However, you'll still need some type of experience that would be favorable towards you landing a PM position.

[@saivamsi8126]

relatable :)

[@sahithimuthyala9558]

Omg Telugu girlie PM!? Love to see it😍

[@harshibar]

☺️

[@barsugur7127]

Beautiful videos 😂 like

[@Ali17418]

Where is mock interview channel?

[@proto_Atlas]

Hello there. Have been following your channel since your i-phone review. I did purchase the mini after watching your review and couldn't be happier. Nevertheless, your inputs here are extremelly helpful and practically useful for me. I've been continuously shifting gears and transitioniong from one role to another, currently moving away from Customer Success, and your videos like this one are such a breather and informative. Thanks a ton. Cheers, more power to you my friend.

[@harshibar]

thanks, pravin! so happy you love your iphone mini -- i heard they might not be bringing it back for the iphone 14 😱

[@8yvbm]

I know your job isn’t specifically TPM but I have a TPM interview for Google coming up. Do you have any advice/resources? I’ve only given SWE interviews before.

[@harshibar]

I haven’t done TPM interviews before, but I imagine they are a blend of SWE interviews (especially on systems side) and PM. I’d recommend checking out Exponent and the Lewis Lin communities for resources and interview buddies!

[@8yvbm]

@@harshibar thank you!

[@shrijaghosal19]

Hey, I am also a newly appointed product manager. I am working on a startup section of a IT company and am former Marketer . So I am responsible for all the aspect of the product. It's been one month. But I feel there is lot that i need to learn. Some times I'm little scared too. What if the decision i am making or the marketing plan i am building is not enough. Do you have any advice?

[@harshibar]

I’d lean on your team for feedback and thoughts. What I realized is that the PM is rarely the sole decision maker, and most companies don’t expect that. You often will be working heavily with engineering, design, and marketing. So, you’re not alone - ask your team for support!

[@raishasingh8130]

thanks for this video.. can you please make one on flipkart runway competition?? its exclusively for females and will give internship opportunities to the winners.. I am in my final year and really want to try my best for this competition.. plz guide

[@nithin3476]

Chapati with lady'sfinger curry is 🥳👄

[@KaramikoAlexander]

Hi Harshi, is it hard to work as an introvert product manager? as an introvert, I am not comfortable interacting with more than 1 people at the time.

[@harshibar]

It can sometimes be a little overwhelming and can tire me out after a long day! That being said, I know a lot of introverts who are PMs (including myself), so it’s something you can adjust to for sure.

[@huaweihonor7714]

Hello. Wich online course or study resource would recommend for PM ? Do you think is it necessary strong technical programming skills? Kind regards,

[@harshibar]

Hi! I’d recommend Exponent for PM interview prep. You don’t need much technical skills for the per se, but they do help in general! The most companies will ask in an interview are general systems-level questions.

[@ramprabath7352]

Standing tribute missionary

[@ankurverma8792]

As fresher how can I become product manager ?.

[@Randomguy48279xyz]

👍

[@ayomideo7931]

How much coding, if any are you using day to day?

[@harshibar]

Very little, maybe a few hours a week in SQL, if that.

[@girlengineer23]

Hi your videos are really good, I love them a lot ☺ I have few doubts regarding PM role. 1. What skills are required ? 2. How much technical knowledge is required ? 3. In your interview were you asked regarding coding ? 4. Do you code in your current job as a PM ? 5. Can a person with no strong coding background get into this ? Sorry to shoot a lot of questions. But I just want to know properly about this field as I want to prepare for this but I have no proper guidence for this. I hope to get your answers for these questions when you are free.

[@harshibar]

Thank you so much! To answer your questions: 1. The skills required vary and can be broad, including some technical prowess, communication, writing, organization, etc. 2. A lot of PMs don’t have formal tech knowledge and learn informally. That being said, it surely doesn’t hurt! 3. Not coding, but sometimes system architecture questions. 4. Only in SQL if needed!

[@harshibar]

And for your last question, for sure! It really depends on your experience, so if you have a business or tech background, even without coding, you should be good!

[@girlengineer23]

@@harshibar Thank you so much for your reply 😊

[@sparsh_editx]

movie: 2012 😂😂 only thing in the whole video that I am good at

[@harshibar]

😂

[@Aquariusmoon_lover]

Okay so can you do that job online and is that job headache Actually I'm planning out for my future but I'm still teen lol but bruh it's necessary everyone just keep asking me what i wanna do as job and i use to be aaaa idk 😐 but now I am thinking towards PM!

[@darrelasare5608]

I think there's a job called Content Management Specialist, they make and maintain WordPress sites for companies.

[@arjunnaiduavula]

Wow 6 meetings in a day, I thought 4 meetings was overload and exhausting

[@harshibar]

And that was a light day 😅 usually it’s more like 8-10

[@lyash8064]

would u do day in life telugu?

[@harshibar]

I’ve done two in the past, and am planning another one for this spring :)

[@Naveen-cu6lv]

I am waiting for your video mainly product manager pls 🙏 make some content about product manager and resource

[@harshibar]

What other Product Manager videos do you want to see?

[@Naveen-cu6lv]

1.Product manager skills 2. Does Product manager need MBA or Product management certification? 3. Free resources to learn Product management 4. Fundamentals of Product management 5. Road map of Product manager (important) 6. How do you learn the skills and become a product manager.

[@nithikak3081]

Can u please explain me how this software engineer works which is better in terms of relaxing spend more time with family (product manager or SWE)

[@santhoshp422]

New video after a long time!! Hope you are doing well.

[@harshibar]

It took me a month to slowly edit the video 😅 thanks for bearing with me!

[@khushbutamboli4556]

Hi! I'm working as Solution specialist and interested to shift to PM. Could you please share certification course. Also requirements for this certification.

[@abhinavchandra2366]

Are you telugu speaking native person

[@godofsyco4615]

U r from Andhra Pradesh 🤨🤨

[@shyamgupta532]

plz make a video on Innovaccer Hackercamp challenge.. they will give jobs upto 15 lacs. very good opportunity for students like me, i really want to win

[@heyarvee]

Revlon 😂😂😂

[@harshibar]

what a great scene 😅

[@thosewhowander5815]

You work at CODA?!?!?!?!?!

[@harshibar]

🤓

[@bernds.2925]

What is this for a monitor stand? Girl, you look very stressed unlike your other videos. Take care of yourself and give yourself more time out❤

[@youracherrynut442]

wait you're playing wordle all wrong lol (on purpose?)

[@harshibar]

I got nervous on the camera and forgot all the rules 🙃🙃

[@Katich94]

Take care of your knees as your running on hard road and not track. P.S: Invest in good shoes and don't over train yourself