4 ms·

> because he couldn't walk up behind me to see me working, he secretly installed a program on my computer that took a screenshot every 30 seconds > The irony

> because he couldn't walk up behind me to see me working, he secretly installed a program on my computer that took a screenshot every 30 seconds > The irony was that I was probably the most productive person in that office (in my humble opinion). The easiest and the most efficient way to ruin my productivity is to look at my screen. I can't work (nor can I pee - a funny coincidence, that's called "paruresis") when somebody is watching.

uoaei 7y ago
Same here -- until recently the door nearest my desk was the one the CEO would use to enter/leave the office. The first thing you see when you open that door is my 21" screen, and it was nerve-wracking the whole time. Now that I'm home I'm so much more relaxed, and way more productive as a result.
jlarocco 7y ago
Off topic, but related to this... I had, what I felt, was the best seat in the office at my previous job. We had an open office with short cubicles and standing desks, and the cubicles were arranged so that two people shared a small area with two desks/cabinets/etc. For a while, it was wonderful. My "cube-mate" worked from home 4 days a week and only came in for meetings, and we had a window on one side and an empty desk on the other. It was about as great as an open office can be. And then my manager moved into the cube nextdoor, and arranged his desk so that when he stood at his standing desk (which was most of the time), he was looking directly over the cube wall at me and my monitors. It made me very self-concsious and uncomfortable, and was (a small) part of the reason I left, TBH.
- downerending 7y ago
  Looking back over my career, there's an obvious inverse correlation between being watched and being productive. Well, except that I'm able to look productive while being watched, and arguably that counts as "productivity". Just not the kind the company probably had in mind. Works the other way as well. I don't want to be able to see what others are working on--open offices are also distracting for this reason.
  - mcv 7y ago
    I've always been terrible at looking busy. At my very first job, I'd written a bunch of macros and scripts to generate my code directly from the functional design, so half the time I would be leaning back watching all my scripts do their thing. My boss hated it. Over time, I think I've gotten better at looking busy while reading HN. I don't think there's a very strong correlation between looking busy and being productive.
- Chirael 7y ago
  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read HN through lynx for this exact reason.
- nepthar 7y ago
  You know, I've always wondered why there are so many stories about these middle management types who seem to pay so close attention to things that are _not_ employee productivity. I guess on first glance, it may appear that "looking busy" corrates to "getting stuff done", but why not cut out the middle man and pay attention to what the employee actually does?
  - greedo 7y ago
    That requires the middle managers to actually understand the jobs and responsibilities of their staff. For me, this hasn't been the case in over a decade. Since my current boss doesn't really have a technical understanding of what's involved with his teams responsibilities, he instead simply feeds metrics to his boss (also not technical). These metrics range from tickets closed, system uptime, and "automation." I would love to have the Bobs come in and ask him what he actually does here. It's also important to realize that what middle management wants and what its staff thinks is important usually diverges. Middle management wants to look good, to climb the ladder. Staff generally wants someone to provide guidance, and remove obstacles. If middle management isn't technical, there ends up being a gap. My favorite is a manager who hired a DevOps admin. This person had never touched Docker, yet after a one week course, was put in charge of our environment. Needless to say, he's made Docker look really bad due to his inexperience. The manager looks good though, because our stodgy company is using Docker. My second is the manager who was hired to manage our SQL and Oracle team. He has no experience with either database, and was a pity hire by our VP. He's been wonderful.../s
    - prox 7y ago
      It’s like I am reading the rough draft script for Office Space 2
  - watwut 7y ago
    My experience with middle management is the one of incompetence and personality that enjoyes little power trips. I had also good managers, but imo, the way companies are organized currently attracts and promotes leaders that are bad at leading part.
  - 7y ago
dilipray 7y ago
> (when the screenshot was taken - this was in the late 90s BTW)
ravenstine 7y ago
I'm only like that because I know that someone looking at my screen will either misinterpret what they are seeing or they will ask a question that requires a lengthy answer(a domain they have little understanding over yet is under their authority), so my brain goes into overdrive trying to figure out how to answer them in a way that gets them to go away as soon as possible.
Tomte 7y ago
For a time at an old employer I had a desk with a glass wall directly behind me. On the other side of the glass wall was the pause room, with the coffee machine and everybody gathering. That felt really awkward.
hef19898 7y ago
I developed that paranoia over ten years ago in my first real job. The only desk available was the one right next to the door. With the back to the door. Everyone who entered the office had no choice but to stand in my back and look at my desk and screen. Still flinch when someone comes up behind me when I'm working, even it's my kids.
jameslevy 7y ago
This is one reason why it's really not natural for some of us to do whiteboard coding interviews, or even CoderPad, etc. interviews. It's like trying to pee when someone is watching you, although that's not an analogy I would encourage job seekers to make to a hiring manager.
- lmohseni 7y ago
  I've failed several CoderPad interviews in a row, it's to the point where if a job listing specifically mentions CoderPad, I won't apply :\
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
nineteen999 7y ago
My touch typing goes to pieces whenever somebody is watching for some bizarre reason. It's like my fingers get self conscious and start tripping over themselves. I'm normally a 75-80 WPM typist.

uoaei 7y ago

Same here -- until recently the door nearest my desk was the one the CEO would use to enter/leave the office. The first thing you see when you open that door is my 21" screen, and it was nerve-wracking the whole time. Now that I'm home I'm so much more relaxed, and way more productive as a result.

jlarocco 7y ago

Off topic, but related to this... I had, what I felt, was the best seat in the office at my previous job. We had an open office with short cubicles and standing desks, and the cubicles were arranged so that two people shared a small area with two desks/cabinets/etc. For a while, it was wonderful. My "cube-mate" worked from home 4 days a week and only came in for meetings, and we had a window on one side and an empty desk on the other. It was about as great as an open office can be. And then my manager moved into the cube nextdoor, and arranged his desk so that when he stood at his standing desk (which was most of the time), he was looking directly over the cube wall at me and my monitors. It made me very self-concsious and uncomfortable, and was (a small) part of the reason I left, TBH.

downerending 7y ago
Looking back over my career, there's an obvious inverse correlation between being watched and being productive. Well, except that I'm able to look productive while being watched, and arguably that counts as "productivity". Just not the kind the company probably had in mind. Works the other way as well. I don't want to be able to see what others are working on--open offices are also distracting for this reason.
- mcv 7y ago
  I've always been terrible at looking busy. At my very first job, I'd written a bunch of macros and scripts to generate my code directly from the functional design, so half the time I would be leaning back watching all my scripts do their thing. My boss hated it. Over time, I think I've gotten better at looking busy while reading HN. I don't think there's a very strong correlation between looking busy and being productive.
Chirael 7y ago
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read HN through lynx for this exact reason.
nepthar 7y ago
You know, I've always wondered why there are so many stories about these middle management types who seem to pay so close attention to things that are _not_ employee productivity. I guess on first glance, it may appear that "looking busy" corrates to "getting stuff done", but why not cut out the middle man and pay attention to what the employee actually does?
- greedo 7y ago
  That requires the middle managers to actually understand the jobs and responsibilities of their staff. For me, this hasn't been the case in over a decade. Since my current boss doesn't really have a technical understanding of what's involved with his teams responsibilities, he instead simply feeds metrics to his boss (also not technical). These metrics range from tickets closed, system uptime, and "automation." I would love to have the Bobs come in and ask him what he actually does here. It's also important to realize that what middle management wants and what its staff thinks is important usually diverges. Middle management wants to look good, to climb the ladder. Staff generally wants someone to provide guidance, and remove obstacles. If middle management isn't technical, there ends up being a gap. My favorite is a manager who hired a DevOps admin. This person had never touched Docker, yet after a one week course, was put in charge of our environment. Needless to say, he's made Docker look really bad due to his inexperience. The manager looks good though, because our stodgy company is using Docker. My second is the manager who was hired to manage our SQL and Oracle team. He has no experience with either database, and was a pity hire by our VP. He's been wonderful.../s
  - prox 7y ago
    It’s like I am reading the rough draft script for Office Space 2
- watwut 7y ago
  My experience with middle management is the one of incompetence and personality that enjoyes little power trips. I had also good managers, but imo, the way companies are organized currently attracts and promotes leaders that are bad at leading part.
- 7y ago

dilipray 7y ago

> (when the screenshot was taken - this was in the late 90s BTW)

ravenstine 7y ago

I'm only like that because I know that someone looking at my screen will either misinterpret what they are seeing or they will ask a question that requires a lengthy answer(a domain they have little understanding over yet is under their authority), so my brain goes into overdrive trying to figure out how to answer them in a way that gets them to go away as soon as possible.

Tomte 7y ago

For a time at an old employer I had a desk with a glass wall directly behind me. On the other side of the glass wall was the pause room, with the coffee machine and everybody gathering. That felt really awkward.

hef19898 7y ago

I developed that paranoia over ten years ago in my first real job. The only desk available was the one right next to the door. With the back to the door. Everyone who entered the office had no choice but to stand in my back and look at my desk and screen. Still flinch when someone comes up behind me when I'm working, even it's my kids.

jameslevy 7y ago

This is one reason why it's really not natural for some of us to do whiteboard coding interviews, or even CoderPad, etc. interviews. It's like trying to pee when someone is watching you, although that's not an analogy I would encourage job seekers to make to a hiring manager.

lmohseni 7y ago
I've failed several CoderPad interviews in a row, it's to the point where if a job listing specifically mentions CoderPad, I won't apply :\

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

nineteen999 7y ago

My touch typing goes to pieces whenever somebody is watching for some bizarre reason. It's like my fingers get self conscious and start tripping over themselves. I'm normally a 75-80 WPM typist.