Nelson Batalha is a Technical Lead at Accel in London.
Accel is a leading venture capital firm that has invested in companies like Slack, Spotify, Dropbox, Etsy, Atlassian, Braintree, Vox Media, and many more.
What software tools are most important for your daily work?
What items make up your workspace?
What is your favorite item in your workspace?
My keyboard, I'm still excited to use it months after purchasing it. The pleasure in typing, the colours and geometry it adds to my setup, the satisfying typing sound. Other items don't impact as many senses and the keyboard is the only item I have for which I haven't found a flaw yet.
How do you spark creativity?
I find that I am more creative when I'm happiest and excited. But creativity for me often follows a long period of research. Among other benefits, the research helps me find what excites me and it gives the confidence needed to create.
Previously I found it helpful to temporarily work in a different environment, which usually meant a brisk walk. But science seems to suggest it's actually the walking that's more beneficial!
How do you manage work-life balance?
Despite not seeking it in the past, I've been lucky enough to always have teams where this was the norm. So any lack of work-life balance was always entirely on me. But when I want that balance, I find that being very strict with work hours is enough, bearing in mind the team fit is already there.
What do you think is the main benefit of remote work?
It's hard to say in general what the main benefit is for everyone when it should vary per person and their job type. But for me, my productivity increases.
I can be much more focused when needing to think or code, due to less interruptions and the silent environment. It's also easier to do pauses without a big context switch from accidentally meeting colleagues (although that has other benefits!).
