321 - Mariana Castilho

Mariana Castilho is currently a Senior Product Designer at Vercel. She is also a Product Design Mentor at 10x Designers, helping people expand their design skillset through live workshops and async lessons.

She was previously a Product Designer leading Web at Universe.

Twitter → twitter.com/mrncst

Inside Mariana's Workspace

Setup:

• Macbook Pro 14 M
• Dell UltraSharp 27 4K
• Grovemade wool desk pad
• Apple Magic Keyboard
• Apple Magic Mouse
  
• Apple Magic Trackpad
  
• Airpods Pro 1st Generation
• Webcam Logitech StreamCam

What is your favorite item in your workspace?

Honestly, I love home sprays and candles. For me, it's really important to be in a cozy, clean space, and how it smells is a huge part of how I set the mood. I also love having my dog around while I work, so he's also an essential assistant in getting some work done.

How do you spark creativity?

Museums (one of my most essential sources of inspiration), art, eating in a good restaurant, books, video games, films, and being outdoors. My partner helps me a lot with that because I often see myself inside my office facing a screen for hours straight, and she motivates me a lot to take breaks, go outside and touch some grass. I do completely see that, after having a walk outside, my ideas flow much better. It does wonders for me.

How do you manage work-life balance?

I still haven't completely figured it out, as I work quite a lot. I love what I do for a living, so it rarely feels like actual work, which leads me to invest a lot of time and energy in it. But I also love spending time with my family, friends, and my partner. Remote work helps me have a healthier work-life balance as I can take some breaks in the middle of the day to make myself lunch, walk my dog, or call a friend. These small bits of affection towards myself and others during the day help keeping me mentally healthy.

What do you think is the main benefit of remote work?

For me, it's really about being able to work from where I want - I spent ~2 years living in Paris, and after I started to work remotely, I came to Brazil to spend some time in my hometown, and I'm very grateful for having this opportunity. Also, being able to manage my working time as I want is really precious. Sometimes I feel tired in the morning, so I take it easy on myself, and if I feel more productive at night on that day, I'll jump into work. Having this flexibility helps me to respect my mind and my body while increasing the quality of my work.