Comment by clifanatic | Hacker News Reader

Comment by clifanatic | Hacker News Reader

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I'm in one of those (inescapable) open-office nightmares right now. All day, every day, people are talking right next to me, making it impossible to concentrate. They're not even talking about work, they're talking about cars, or kids, or movies, or inane bullshit. I don't care that they're talking (and apparently management doesn't either, because since we're in a panopticon, if I know it, they know it too), but when they do it five feet away from me, I can't block it out or concentrate. I can concentrate well enough to write this post on Hacker News, but I can't concentrate well enough to put together a workable recommendation on centralized identity and access management. But I'll be asked for a recommendation on identity and access management anyway, because I'm expected to know every answer to every question off the top of my head instantaneously, even though I haven't been able to concentrate on anything effectively for the past ten years. Yeah, team work makes the dream work. BRB, going to set the building on fire.

I have the same problem. Try listening to really long (unpwards of 10 minutes) songs or albums that really flow together. You want to avoid distraction and listen to things that are repetitive and don't require you to lose focus and fiddle with your music player.

Another that I can't recommend enough is listening to old video game music. Something you love and played as a kid. For me it's N64: Zelda, Mario Kart, SM64, Banjo Kazooie. It's all on Youtube. There's something Pavlovian about music that accompanies passive focus and puzzle-solving.

> Another that I can't recommend enough is listening to old video game music.

Amiga games. Can't go wrong.

Also "pink" noise works rather well for me in extreme situations. I can even sleep in busy airports with it.

Doom stoner metal is really good about this.

I.e. Sleep https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIw7oeZKpZc

That's awesome, I was going to recommend Sleep too in that post but opted not. Nothing kills midday stress like Dopesmoker. Electric Wizard works great too.

Quick answer: Headphones and music/white noise.

Long answer: If you really feel this strongly about your working environment then you should seriously consider telling your manager. It's in their best interests that you're happy/comfortable/working as smoothly as you can. If they can't or won't change your situation, look for another employer. Ten years, Christ.

> look for another employer. Ten years, Christ.

Actually I've had 3 over the past ten years. They're all the same. You've never noticed?

Hopefully the previous two didn't burn down...

If it's causing you so much pain and you don't think they're going to change it, here are two suggestions:

* work from home

* rent a private room in a co-working space

Do not use regular headphones with music! 8+ hours a day for years damages your hearing.

Use passive insulation, either in high quality headphones or ear defenders (much cheaper, but no music).

Exactly my solution. My brain is tuned to human audio, I can't block out conversation.

Headphones lead to hearing damage, especially when used all day. One of the reasons I'm glad I'm out of the bullpen environment for now. My hearing is bad enough already.

I couldn't tell if your post was satire or not but, assuming it's not, why are you still working there?

some people are weak decision makers in real life.

Unnecessarily cruel, but not necessarily untrue.

Others just lack options...

And what we just witnessed were two fundamentally different ideologies, often at the root of the conflict between republicans and democrats. It's the "strong father" vs. "nurturing mother" dispositions.

o.p. has been in that situation for _10 years_. TEN YEARS. this is a tech job. tech workers are in high demand. he could find a new job if he wanted to.

i mean come on.

> o.p. has been in that situation for _10 years_. TEN YEARS.

o.p. has had three different employers in 10 years (and actually this goes back more like 15 years, since "open offices" became a fad, and five different employers). Every place is exactly the same.

source: am o.p.

One of the elements of a panopticon is that it only has to be possible to be observed.

That's why you have fewer guards in that system.

It breaks down when folks stop getting 'caught'.

But for my part, I don't know how you'd work under those conditions. I have a hard enough time working from home with my wife on the other side of the house teaching kids violin. I have both over the ear headphones and IEMs, though... that might help?

What's IEM ? It's https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In-ear_monitor

Sounds like something to tell your manager.

Managers are usually completely powerless because office design decisions are almost always made by (or at the recommendation of) executives.

Here is what it comes down to: you can put a dollar figure on the money saved from going with an open office plan. You can't easily put a dollar figure on lost productivity due to conversations going on around you.

Sounds like your company cares more about their bottom line than your well being.

Wait there's another kind?

The only other kind is the company that realizes a healthy work-life balance and solid benefits helps them retain talent for the long term. Not many companies do that, but I have some acquaintances that work at one of them (SAS).

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