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Noisy Coworkers And Other Sounds Are A Distraction In Workplace

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Re: Noisy Coworkers And Other Sounds Are A Distraction In Workplace

#121

Post by ArkyBeagle »

pzh wrote: post #74
6DM wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel your pain. One thing that used to really irk me was a manager (with an office) that would have loud speakerphone conversations with the door wide open... I used to use ear buds to block it out, but I don't recommend it. It actually does damage your hearing. I didn't figure that out for a while. Luckily my hearing has seemed to improve a bit. I highly recommend over the ear noise cancelling head phones. They ge…

I'm curious... could you explain what you specifically meant by ear-buds being damaging to your hearing? Were you blasting the volume to drown out environment noise or were you talking about noise-canceling earphones? (I personally use noise-canceling earphones a lot, and the only bad thing I've heard is that they may cause vertigo in some people...)

The Who were the loudest band in the world for a very long time. but Pete Townsend attributes headphones in the studio for most of his hearing loss.

Re: Noisy Coworkers And Other Sounds Are A Distraction In Workplace

#122

Post by buckbova »

> Dooley says he found the carrot-munching funny.

If you have an open office, no eating at your desk period. Show some respect for your co-workers.

I worked next to an apple eater some time ago, slurping and chomping on his apple every day. Drove me insane. But every so often there was the bag of baby carrots. Which although less disturbing lasted much longer.

Then there's the fish eaters and microwave popcorn eaters. Don't bring that into the office. Keep it in the lunch room, eat outside or don't bring it in!

Re: Noisy Coworkers And Other Sounds Are A Distraction In Workplace

#123

Post by ArkyBeagle »

boomzilla wrote: post #19
Matachines wrote: post #9

Another thread where most commenters will advocate for remote work and/or private offices. I agree. Dan Luu recently said this about Peopleware, which advocates for offices and is highly regarded: > This book seemed convincing when I read it in college. It even had all sorts of studies backing up what they said. No deadlines is better than having deadlines. Offices are better than cubicles. Basically all devs I talk…

It's kind of a different software that are being developed these days. Software development used to be highly original, analytical and creative, but now it's like endlessly iterative on the same problems and tools. That explains the number of programmers/engineers around. My guess is that the highly selective group of engineers who are still working on the most original problems sit in their own office (preferably th…

In my last job, it started out with all offices to accommodate devices under test and test equipment. It went to large cubes still with enough space for test equipment.

Then all the equipment had to go into the lab, with a network connection. Fine, I pressed little ARM boards into service doing what we had to do near the target. On their dime, without an approved project. They we lost that lab and had to reuse a chem. lab where you had to wear goggles for no good[1] reason.

[1] they closed the building with the offices and good labs. It sat there literally mouldering. It will have to be torn down. That design of building cannot be "stored" with no HVAC.

At some point it's not about cost - you're the bloody Ogallala Sioux and they're "pushing you off the land."

Did I mention I don't work there any more? They are free to six-sigma the remaining nothing into the purest of management oblivion.

Re: Noisy Coworkers And Other Sounds Are A Distraction In Workplace

#124

Post by Swizec »

clifanatic wrote: post #110
Matachines wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's sort of a silver bullet: Individual offices around an open area. Want to work alone? Close door. Want to work alone but be aware of things going on? Leave the door open. Can't stand working alone? Go to the open area.

> Can't stand working alone? Go to the open area. But the low-grade sadists that rise to positions of authority in U.S. corporations will punish the people that don't go to the open area. It's not about what you produce, it's about how much torture you're willing to self-inflict.

> It's not about what you produce, it's about how much torture you're willing to self-inflict.

Could it be about social dynamics? It's like caching. When you're thinking about whom to give an opportunity to, are you going to think of the friendly person that you see every day, or to that guy you've heard of once who's always in his office and might be a myth?

Re: Noisy Coworkers And Other Sounds Are A Distraction In Workplace

#125

Post by brazzledazzle »

speeder wrote: post #80
pklausler wrote: post #10

The problem with open office plans is that it takes just one noisy person to spoil it for everybody. If managed carefully and actively, they can work -- it just takes an manager willing to correct bad behavior or send sick people home. Where I work, I have a budding tupperware percussionist, three imminent victims of whooping cough, some parents managing high-maintenance offspring over cell phones, and one guy who co…

I have ADHD, meaning that open office is great to distract me... But also, one of the symptons of ADHD, with the "H" there, is that people must move, in my particular case one of the things I tend to do is tap my nails on the desk, use tupperware as drums, or if a actual musical instrument is nearby, even if I dunno how to play it, I play it. So, ADHD person in open office not only has terrible productivity due to ot…

One important thing to note for people reading this is that hyperactivity doesn't always persist into adulthood with the other symptoms or is greatly reduced and is often turned inward (mental fidgeting).

As far as your firings go, if you haven't watched this video and/or read this doctor's books they really help with understanding exactly what you're dealing with: https://youtu.be/SCAGc-rkIfo

It's long but worth watching at faster playback speed and in manageable chunks. Key takeaways: "Attention deficit" is less of a symptom and more of a measurable consequence of other symptoms: Impaired inhibition/impulse control, excessive irrelevant activity and impaired persistence (think discipline). Once you understand why you fail you can start addressing or working around your gaps, particularly the ones that any medication you may be on fail to address.

Re: Noisy Coworkers And Other Sounds Are A Distraction In Workplace

#126

Post by hasbroslasher »

ArkyBeagle wrote: post #121
pzh wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm curious... could you explain what you specifically meant by ear-buds being damaging to your hearing? Were you blasting the volume to drown out environment noise or were you talking about noise-canceling earphones? (I personally use noise-canceling earphones a lot, and the only bad thing I've heard is that they may cause vertigo in some people...)

The Who were the loudest band in the world for a very long time. but Pete Townsend attributes headphones in the studio for most of his hearing loss.

Until Pete Townsend gets a medical degree I'm disinclined to just take his word for it.

Re: Noisy Coworkers And Other Sounds Are A Distraction In Workplace

#127

Post by ArkyBeagle »

ritchiea wrote: post #16

I will never understand why this is such a point of contention on HN and why it isn't accepted that some people legitimately prefer open office plans while others prefer quiet. And even more practical and intelligent would be to offer different kinds of spaces so that people can choose where to work based on a particular mood. But instead we just get weekly complaints about open offices. I'm probably more productive…

In my case, "organic information about the company" is off-topic and of negative value to actual performance of my duties. In my experience, most companies are that way - all the gnosis is just just-so stories about how people think things work. It's exactly Moneyball.

I spend more time debunking that with them in real time than I really have to spare. In very nearly every case, what this is is a set of myths that people use to "move up the organization." The problem is - it only works very rarely.

I would be just fine with a dedicated 2-hour socializing interval per week. Don't get me wrong, I can stand and BS all day with the best of 'em. The problem is that it's fundamentally venal and I lose respect for my cow-orkers that way.

"But you sound like an a.....e." Perhaps, but I'm still doing this 32 years later and all the people who played politics who are my age are either burned out or sold out. Which, selling out is really the point of the corporate exercise, but I like the work.

It's just boring. It's boring watching people trying to outshine each other. The people who are REALLY GOOD don't really even have to try - they have to have discipline and make their version of the thing work, but competition really isn't about exciting horse races that are a hair apart - really good people are just really good. The smart money is about letting the really good rise. But absolutely nobody likes that.

And frankly, if you're out of work, I'm out of there.

Re: Noisy Coworkers And Other Sounds Are A Distraction In Workplace

#128

Post by ArkyBeagle »

dasmoth wrote: post #66
ritchiea wrote: post #16

I will never understand why this is such a point of contention on HN and why it isn't accepted that some people legitimately prefer open office plans while others prefer quiet. And even more practical and intelligent would be to offer different kinds of spaces so that people can choose where to work based on a particular mood. But instead we just get weekly complaints about open offices. I'm probably more productive…

Has anyone tried "free choice"? My suspicion is that it won't irk brillantly because even the loudest open-plan advocates generally perceive private offices as higher-status. Also, once people are in separate offfices you do need to think about information exchange slightly more actively (a good thing IMO -- but potentially a bit of a shift for the folks who find open plan, listen-in-on-everything to work well)

That's exactly right - the decision is made on status lines instead on practical consideration. And it's not the sort of "status" HN'ers prefer :)

Re: Noisy Coworkers And Other Sounds Are A Distraction In Workplace

#130

Post by mwfunk »

ar15saveslives wrote: post #85

It's better to work in somewhat noisy environment, where everybody can stare at your monitor, than commit suicide after two years of sitting in dark gloomy gray-walled cubicle without any natural light. I honestly can't understand people that can work in those depressing conditions.

Different people are different. Crazy huh?
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