158 - Aviva Pinchas

Aviva Pinchas is the Head of Growth at Parabol.

She has been working remotely for 8 years, and leading remote teams for most of that time. Her workspace has evolved from a desk in the corner of her bedroom to an actual office through literally years of iteration.

Practical Setup:

• Monitor: 10-year-old Apple Thunderbolt Display ⛈ on a bamboo monitor stand
• Keyboards:
• Custom mechanical keyboard, for sitting & standing side
• Logitech POP keyboard, on the treadmill side of the desk
• Camera: Logitech Brio, standing on a yoga brick for a better angle
• Treadmill: Treadly (version 1)
• Desk: BEKANT sit/stand desk
• Laptop: Macbook on a lazy susan, so it can turn to face the treadmill

Joyful items:

• Screaming Goat
• Dumpster Fire
• Rainbow corgi rubber duckie
• Mood lighting: Philips Hue Play Light Bar & Philips Hue lightbulbs
• Chair for writing: West Elm Cozy Swivel Chair

Digital Tools:

• Wiki & task board: Notion
• Design: Figma
• Sharing with the team: Loom
• Meetings: Parabol ;)

Q/A ☕️

What is your favorite item in your workspace?

I really love my mechanical keyboard. I didn’t think that I would nerd out about something like this, but the clicking sound is somehow really soothing. It also has pastel keys, and drawings of sparkles for the escape key. And: it has a rainbow light. It’s just so unabashedly joyful and in stark contrast to traditional gray keyboards, and the distinction makes me happy. It’s also probably the object I interact with the most.

How do you spark creativity?

I find it really valuable to switch environments - that will shift my energy and let me go into new mental spaces. That’s why I have so many different options for work in my office: I can sit or stand at my desk, with my monitor - great for most work and one-on-one meetings. I can turn my laptop around and hop on my treadmill - great for larger meetings where I don’t need to type anything. I can lay in my cozy chair, with a lap pad - great for writing

How do you keep the work-life balance?

Honestly, more than ‘balance’, I think about ‘flow’. What I mean is: sometimes my life is wildly out-of-balance and strongly focused on work, like if we have something big we’re working on or I’m really excited to get something out the door. Other times, it’s the opposite: my life is wildly skewed towards home, like when I have big events in my personal life or my husband, dog or cat needs something.

Working at home is important for me to keep that flow. I really value being able to transition from work to home and back at a moment's notice, depending on what I need or want to focus on in the moment.

I also try to have firm boundaries - I’m either at work, or I’m at home. I don’t have chat notifications on my laptop or phone, I don’t have my work email on my phone, and I don’t use desktop apps (just browser apps, in a separate profile). That means when I leave work, I am gone, and I can’t be pulled back in unless I choose to step back in.