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I'm not sure the problem is with the physical decibel level of office noise at all. My workplace is silent as a tomb, we all have our own offices with closing d
by nulagrithom 9y ago
I'm not sure the problem is with the physical decibel level of office noise at all. My workplace is silent as a tomb, we all have our own offices with closing doors, and I still bring headphones to work.
Sure, even something little as phone chatter can be distracting, but the main distractions come from people just passing by and saying 'hi', or worse, actually needing something from me and interrupting my work. Headphones and a closed door tend to signal that I'm busy, but even then someone will knock on the window and see if they can come in.
People are intentionally distracting, and I think it's something that's way harder to fix than just a stop light indicating noise level. It has to be "fixed" on multiple levels. Having an office culture of "just stop by their desk" is a huge problem, but I can't imagine being unavailable because there's so many distractions that really are urgent and need my synchronous interaction right now. That's a tough thing to fix.
- bckygldstn 9y agoI agree with this, I am fortunate to have the opposite situation at work. We have an open office with lots of visual and auditory noise. But I am rarely interrupted by other people, we have a good culture of asynchronous communication, and I do most of my work alone. So I'm pretty productive in my shared cubicle with headphones and dual monitors.
- freehunter 9y agoSimilarly, when I get on a plane the first thing I do is put on my headphones. I don't often listen to anything though, most times I'm reading comic books. But the signal to the person sitting next to me is "don't bother me", and most times people understand it immediately.
- kinkrtyavimoodh 9y ago>> but even then someone will knock on the window and see if they can come in... People are intentionally distracting,... I think it is, like most things, about balance. I would not like it if the workplace had an implicit culture that strongly discouraged people from going and talking to other people without going through red tape (set up a meeting or similar). What's the point of being in a common space then? Might as well just work from home. I think there is value in those spontaneous conversations (sometimes all you need is a one line response for what would otherwise have wasted your whole day), and I think people who assume that sitting with headphones on all the time means they should never be 'disturbed' are being a bit uncharitable.
- nulagrithom 9y ago> I think people who assume that sitting with headphones on all the time means they should never be 'disturbed' are being a bit uncharitable. I stop feeling charitable when I start missing deadlines and can't get any work done because of constant interruptions. Is there a more clear way that I can signal I need fewer interruptions than a closed door and headphones? Just a couple hours each day without being interrupted would be great.
- kinkrtyavimoodh 9y agoI do sympathize with the need for some alone-time, and if you are using the 'headphone' method for just a few hours, I think it's pretty good. Just that there are often people who have their headphones on practically the whole time, and then expect to never be interrupted
- Double_a_92 9y agoWhat do you work that you as a single person have deadlines? Usually in SW development those are as a team. So it doesn't matter if you help your teammates?
- nulagrithom 9y agoSolo dev
- ShakataGaNai 9y agoMaybe it combos with a closed door, but I've worked in several open office environments and NEVER has anyone respected the headphones.