Programmers vs. The Rest Of The World [modified]
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Never felt that way, have you! So here is my problem: My office environment is unbearable. Work is technically challenging and enjoyable. I like my co-workers, and I would not like to quit. (And yes, there was a similar post by Josh Gray recently, but this is my pain.) We are three programmers and one support kid in [this office of] my company. Nice and cosy? Well… We share an open office landscape with another company of 20 people (same owners, more or less). They do completely unrelated stuff. And their main skills are communication. On good days, many of them are out of office, and the remaining ones make a decent effort to talk really quietly. On such days the office is quite pleasant. On bad days, it all turns into a painful cacophony. They are constantly on the phone, if not chatting with each other. They get carried away they forget completely to keep their voices down. If I have to concentrate on a really tricky debugging problem, all that chatter drives me absolutely crazy. On such days vivid images enter my mind. Maybe you remember William 'D-Fens' Foster (a.k.a. Michael Douglas) losing it completely in Falling Down[]. Or when short on baseball bats: the alternative of leaving our 7th floor offices through the window becomes frighteningly attractive... The other two programmers do not mind the noise [too much]. To be more precise: When the boss asks them “Do you mind the noise?” they say “Nope”. And the boss walks off happy. But when really pressed (by me) they admit that the noise does indeed harm concentration “a bit” but they still think it is more fun to be in larger group. So, my hearing is probably neurologically differently wired from theirs, but the fact remains: For me the effort of concentrating in such noise is almost physically painful, and extremely exhausting. After my complaints, the powers that be were kind and responsive, and installed noise absorbers on the walls. Things got better. But then they hired a morbid amount of sales people and jammed them into the same room. Two steps forward, four steps back. What to do? Change my attitude? Seek mental counseling? Re-wire my own brain? Earplugs?(tried them) Ear muffs?(have them) Noise screens ? Build a solid wall? Relocate? Work from home? Public flogging of the noisy ones?? A hard sell, but a personal favourite! All these have many aspects their own. But really: Being the apparent odd man ou
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Never felt that way, have you! So here is my problem: My office environment is unbearable. Work is technically challenging and enjoyable. I like my co-workers, and I would not like to quit. (And yes, there was a similar post by Josh Gray recently, but this is my pain.) We are three programmers and one support kid in [this office of] my company. Nice and cosy? Well… We share an open office landscape with another company of 20 people (same owners, more or less). They do completely unrelated stuff. And their main skills are communication. On good days, many of them are out of office, and the remaining ones make a decent effort to talk really quietly. On such days the office is quite pleasant. On bad days, it all turns into a painful cacophony. They are constantly on the phone, if not chatting with each other. They get carried away they forget completely to keep their voices down. If I have to concentrate on a really tricky debugging problem, all that chatter drives me absolutely crazy. On such days vivid images enter my mind. Maybe you remember William 'D-Fens' Foster (a.k.a. Michael Douglas) losing it completely in Falling Down[]. Or when short on baseball bats: the alternative of leaving our 7th floor offices through the window becomes frighteningly attractive... The other two programmers do not mind the noise [too much]. To be more precise: When the boss asks them “Do you mind the noise?” they say “Nope”. And the boss walks off happy. But when really pressed (by me) they admit that the noise does indeed harm concentration “a bit” but they still think it is more fun to be in larger group. So, my hearing is probably neurologically differently wired from theirs, but the fact remains: For me the effort of concentrating in such noise is almost physically painful, and extremely exhausting. After my complaints, the powers that be were kind and responsive, and installed noise absorbers on the walls. Things got better. But then they hired a morbid amount of sales people and jammed them into the same room. Two steps forward, four steps back. What to do? Change my attitude? Seek mental counseling? Re-wire my own brain? Earplugs?(tried them) Ear muffs?(have them) Noise screens ? Build a solid wall? Relocate? Work from home? Public flogging of the noisy ones?? A hard sell, but a personal favourite! All these have many aspects their own. But really: Being the apparent odd man ou
I work in a similar environment and have done in the various companies I've worked for sinse I started work. I've always relied on headphones and music to shut everyone out, but it may not aide your concentration. I've used it for so many ears now I find it difficult to work without music.
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Never felt that way, have you! So here is my problem: My office environment is unbearable. Work is technically challenging and enjoyable. I like my co-workers, and I would not like to quit. (And yes, there was a similar post by Josh Gray recently, but this is my pain.) We are three programmers and one support kid in [this office of] my company. Nice and cosy? Well… We share an open office landscape with another company of 20 people (same owners, more or less). They do completely unrelated stuff. And their main skills are communication. On good days, many of them are out of office, and the remaining ones make a decent effort to talk really quietly. On such days the office is quite pleasant. On bad days, it all turns into a painful cacophony. They are constantly on the phone, if not chatting with each other. They get carried away they forget completely to keep their voices down. If I have to concentrate on a really tricky debugging problem, all that chatter drives me absolutely crazy. On such days vivid images enter my mind. Maybe you remember William 'D-Fens' Foster (a.k.a. Michael Douglas) losing it completely in Falling Down[]. Or when short on baseball bats: the alternative of leaving our 7th floor offices through the window becomes frighteningly attractive... The other two programmers do not mind the noise [too much]. To be more precise: When the boss asks them “Do you mind the noise?” they say “Nope”. And the boss walks off happy. But when really pressed (by me) they admit that the noise does indeed harm concentration “a bit” but they still think it is more fun to be in larger group. So, my hearing is probably neurologically differently wired from theirs, but the fact remains: For me the effort of concentrating in such noise is almost physically painful, and extremely exhausting. After my complaints, the powers that be were kind and responsive, and installed noise absorbers on the walls. Things got better. But then they hired a morbid amount of sales people and jammed them into the same room. Two steps forward, four steps back. What to do? Change my attitude? Seek mental counseling? Re-wire my own brain? Earplugs?(tried them) Ear muffs?(have them) Noise screens ? Build a solid wall? Relocate? Work from home? Public flogging of the noisy ones?? A hard sell, but a personal favourite! All these have many aspects their own. But really: Being the apparent odd man ou
With my last job I had a similar situation. Earphones and Judas Priest helped a lot.
A while ago he asked me what he should have printed on my business cards. I said 'Wizard'. I read books which nobody else understand. Then I do something which nobody understands. After that the computer does something which nobody understands. When asked, I say things about the results which nobody understand. But everybody expects miracles from me on a regular basis. Looks to me like the classical definition of a wizard.
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Never felt that way, have you! So here is my problem: My office environment is unbearable. Work is technically challenging and enjoyable. I like my co-workers, and I would not like to quit. (And yes, there was a similar post by Josh Gray recently, but this is my pain.) We are three programmers and one support kid in [this office of] my company. Nice and cosy? Well… We share an open office landscape with another company of 20 people (same owners, more or less). They do completely unrelated stuff. And their main skills are communication. On good days, many of them are out of office, and the remaining ones make a decent effort to talk really quietly. On such days the office is quite pleasant. On bad days, it all turns into a painful cacophony. They are constantly on the phone, if not chatting with each other. They get carried away they forget completely to keep their voices down. If I have to concentrate on a really tricky debugging problem, all that chatter drives me absolutely crazy. On such days vivid images enter my mind. Maybe you remember William 'D-Fens' Foster (a.k.a. Michael Douglas) losing it completely in Falling Down[]. Or when short on baseball bats: the alternative of leaving our 7th floor offices through the window becomes frighteningly attractive... The other two programmers do not mind the noise [too much]. To be more precise: When the boss asks them “Do you mind the noise?” they say “Nope”. And the boss walks off happy. But when really pressed (by me) they admit that the noise does indeed harm concentration “a bit” but they still think it is more fun to be in larger group. So, my hearing is probably neurologically differently wired from theirs, but the fact remains: For me the effort of concentrating in such noise is almost physically painful, and extremely exhausting. After my complaints, the powers that be were kind and responsive, and installed noise absorbers on the walls. Things got better. But then they hired a morbid amount of sales people and jammed them into the same room. Two steps forward, four steps back. What to do? Change my attitude? Seek mental counseling? Re-wire my own brain? Earplugs?(tried them) Ear muffs?(have them) Noise screens ? Build a solid wall? Relocate? Work from home? Public flogging of the noisy ones?? A hard sell, but a personal favourite! All these have many aspects their own. But really: Being the apparent odd man ou
Thankfully I can't understand your problem, I have the ability to completely tune/zone out from the office environment. Comes from working from home with noisy kids in a house that was too small for all of us. It sounds like you are in a permanent position so you can only talk to HR and see if they can do something about it - again.
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity RAH
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I work in a similar environment and have done in the various companies I've worked for sinse I started work. I've always relied on headphones and music to shut everyone out, but it may not aide your concentration. I've used it for so many ears now I find it difficult to work without music.
Rhuros wrote:
I've used it for so many ears now
How many ears do you have? :laugh:
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Never felt that way, have you! So here is my problem: My office environment is unbearable. Work is technically challenging and enjoyable. I like my co-workers, and I would not like to quit. (And yes, there was a similar post by Josh Gray recently, but this is my pain.) We are three programmers and one support kid in [this office of] my company. Nice and cosy? Well… We share an open office landscape with another company of 20 people (same owners, more or less). They do completely unrelated stuff. And their main skills are communication. On good days, many of them are out of office, and the remaining ones make a decent effort to talk really quietly. On such days the office is quite pleasant. On bad days, it all turns into a painful cacophony. They are constantly on the phone, if not chatting with each other. They get carried away they forget completely to keep their voices down. If I have to concentrate on a really tricky debugging problem, all that chatter drives me absolutely crazy. On such days vivid images enter my mind. Maybe you remember William 'D-Fens' Foster (a.k.a. Michael Douglas) losing it completely in Falling Down[]. Or when short on baseball bats: the alternative of leaving our 7th floor offices through the window becomes frighteningly attractive... The other two programmers do not mind the noise [too much]. To be more precise: When the boss asks them “Do you mind the noise?” they say “Nope”. And the boss walks off happy. But when really pressed (by me) they admit that the noise does indeed harm concentration “a bit” but they still think it is more fun to be in larger group. So, my hearing is probably neurologically differently wired from theirs, but the fact remains: For me the effort of concentrating in such noise is almost physically painful, and extremely exhausting. After my complaints, the powers that be were kind and responsive, and installed noise absorbers on the walls. Things got better. But then they hired a morbid amount of sales people and jammed them into the same room. Two steps forward, four steps back. What to do? Change my attitude? Seek mental counseling? Re-wire my own brain? Earplugs?(tried them) Ear muffs?(have them) Noise screens ? Build a solid wall? Relocate? Work from home? Public flogging of the noisy ones?? A hard sell, but a personal favourite! All these have many aspects their own. But really: Being the apparent odd man ou
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Never felt that way, have you! So here is my problem: My office environment is unbearable. Work is technically challenging and enjoyable. I like my co-workers, and I would not like to quit. (And yes, there was a similar post by Josh Gray recently, but this is my pain.) We are three programmers and one support kid in [this office of] my company. Nice and cosy? Well… We share an open office landscape with another company of 20 people (same owners, more or less). They do completely unrelated stuff. And their main skills are communication. On good days, many of them are out of office, and the remaining ones make a decent effort to talk really quietly. On such days the office is quite pleasant. On bad days, it all turns into a painful cacophony. They are constantly on the phone, if not chatting with each other. They get carried away they forget completely to keep their voices down. If I have to concentrate on a really tricky debugging problem, all that chatter drives me absolutely crazy. On such days vivid images enter my mind. Maybe you remember William 'D-Fens' Foster (a.k.a. Michael Douglas) losing it completely in Falling Down[]. Or when short on baseball bats: the alternative of leaving our 7th floor offices through the window becomes frighteningly attractive... The other two programmers do not mind the noise [too much]. To be more precise: When the boss asks them “Do you mind the noise?” they say “Nope”. And the boss walks off happy. But when really pressed (by me) they admit that the noise does indeed harm concentration “a bit” but they still think it is more fun to be in larger group. So, my hearing is probably neurologically differently wired from theirs, but the fact remains: For me the effort of concentrating in such noise is almost physically painful, and extremely exhausting. After my complaints, the powers that be were kind and responsive, and installed noise absorbers on the walls. Things got better. But then they hired a morbid amount of sales people and jammed them into the same room. Two steps forward, four steps back. What to do? Change my attitude? Seek mental counseling? Re-wire my own brain? Earplugs?(tried them) Ear muffs?(have them) Noise screens ? Build a solid wall? Relocate? Work from home? Public flogging of the noisy ones?? A hard sell, but a personal favourite! All these have many aspects their own. But really: Being the apparent odd man ou
Headphones + SKY.FM Solo Piano works for me.
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Rhuros wrote:
I've used it for so many ears now
How many ears do you have? :laugh:
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Never felt that way, have you! So here is my problem: My office environment is unbearable. Work is technically challenging and enjoyable. I like my co-workers, and I would not like to quit. (And yes, there was a similar post by Josh Gray recently, but this is my pain.) We are three programmers and one support kid in [this office of] my company. Nice and cosy? Well… We share an open office landscape with another company of 20 people (same owners, more or less). They do completely unrelated stuff. And their main skills are communication. On good days, many of them are out of office, and the remaining ones make a decent effort to talk really quietly. On such days the office is quite pleasant. On bad days, it all turns into a painful cacophony. They are constantly on the phone, if not chatting with each other. They get carried away they forget completely to keep their voices down. If I have to concentrate on a really tricky debugging problem, all that chatter drives me absolutely crazy. On such days vivid images enter my mind. Maybe you remember William 'D-Fens' Foster (a.k.a. Michael Douglas) losing it completely in Falling Down[]. Or when short on baseball bats: the alternative of leaving our 7th floor offices through the window becomes frighteningly attractive... The other two programmers do not mind the noise [too much]. To be more precise: When the boss asks them “Do you mind the noise?” they say “Nope”. And the boss walks off happy. But when really pressed (by me) they admit that the noise does indeed harm concentration “a bit” but they still think it is more fun to be in larger group. So, my hearing is probably neurologically differently wired from theirs, but the fact remains: For me the effort of concentrating in such noise is almost physically painful, and extremely exhausting. After my complaints, the powers that be were kind and responsive, and installed noise absorbers on the walls. Things got better. But then they hired a morbid amount of sales people and jammed them into the same room. Two steps forward, four steps back. What to do? Change my attitude? Seek mental counseling? Re-wire my own brain? Earplugs?(tried them) Ear muffs?(have them) Noise screens ? Build a solid wall? Relocate? Work from home? Public flogging of the noisy ones?? A hard sell, but a personal favourite! All these have many aspects their own. But really: Being the apparent odd man ou
megaadam wrote:
how do I make these people understand?
Bring a trumpet with you?
There are some really weird people on this planet - MIM.
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Never felt that way, have you! So here is my problem: My office environment is unbearable. Work is technically challenging and enjoyable. I like my co-workers, and I would not like to quit. (And yes, there was a similar post by Josh Gray recently, but this is my pain.) We are three programmers and one support kid in [this office of] my company. Nice and cosy? Well… We share an open office landscape with another company of 20 people (same owners, more or less). They do completely unrelated stuff. And their main skills are communication. On good days, many of them are out of office, and the remaining ones make a decent effort to talk really quietly. On such days the office is quite pleasant. On bad days, it all turns into a painful cacophony. They are constantly on the phone, if not chatting with each other. They get carried away they forget completely to keep their voices down. If I have to concentrate on a really tricky debugging problem, all that chatter drives me absolutely crazy. On such days vivid images enter my mind. Maybe you remember William 'D-Fens' Foster (a.k.a. Michael Douglas) losing it completely in Falling Down[]. Or when short on baseball bats: the alternative of leaving our 7th floor offices through the window becomes frighteningly attractive... The other two programmers do not mind the noise [too much]. To be more precise: When the boss asks them “Do you mind the noise?” they say “Nope”. And the boss walks off happy. But when really pressed (by me) they admit that the noise does indeed harm concentration “a bit” but they still think it is more fun to be in larger group. So, my hearing is probably neurologically differently wired from theirs, but the fact remains: For me the effort of concentrating in such noise is almost physically painful, and extremely exhausting. After my complaints, the powers that be were kind and responsive, and installed noise absorbers on the walls. Things got better. But then they hired a morbid amount of sales people and jammed them into the same room. Two steps forward, four steps back. What to do? Change my attitude? Seek mental counseling? Re-wire my own brain? Earplugs?(tried them) Ear muffs?(have them) Noise screens ? Build a solid wall? Relocate? Work from home? Public flogging of the noisy ones?? A hard sell, but a personal favourite! All these have many aspects their own. But really: Being the apparent odd man ou
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Never felt that way, have you! So here is my problem: My office environment is unbearable. Work is technically challenging and enjoyable. I like my co-workers, and I would not like to quit. (And yes, there was a similar post by Josh Gray recently, but this is my pain.) We are three programmers and one support kid in [this office of] my company. Nice and cosy? Well… We share an open office landscape with another company of 20 people (same owners, more or less). They do completely unrelated stuff. And their main skills are communication. On good days, many of them are out of office, and the remaining ones make a decent effort to talk really quietly. On such days the office is quite pleasant. On bad days, it all turns into a painful cacophony. They are constantly on the phone, if not chatting with each other. They get carried away they forget completely to keep their voices down. If I have to concentrate on a really tricky debugging problem, all that chatter drives me absolutely crazy. On such days vivid images enter my mind. Maybe you remember William 'D-Fens' Foster (a.k.a. Michael Douglas) losing it completely in Falling Down[]. Or when short on baseball bats: the alternative of leaving our 7th floor offices through the window becomes frighteningly attractive... The other two programmers do not mind the noise [too much]. To be more precise: When the boss asks them “Do you mind the noise?” they say “Nope”. And the boss walks off happy. But when really pressed (by me) they admit that the noise does indeed harm concentration “a bit” but they still think it is more fun to be in larger group. So, my hearing is probably neurologically differently wired from theirs, but the fact remains: For me the effort of concentrating in such noise is almost physically painful, and extremely exhausting. After my complaints, the powers that be were kind and responsive, and installed noise absorbers on the walls. Things got better. But then they hired a morbid amount of sales people and jammed them into the same room. Two steps forward, four steps back. What to do? Change my attitude? Seek mental counseling? Re-wire my own brain? Earplugs?(tried them) Ear muffs?(have them) Noise screens ? Build a solid wall? Relocate? Work from home? Public flogging of the noisy ones?? A hard sell, but a personal favourite! All these have many aspects their own. But really: Being the apparent odd man ou
I have a hard time concentrating just sharing an office with ONE other developer - and to be fair, he really doesn't make a lot of noice. And I have another collegue who constantly comes in to chat about one thing or the other. Sometimes work, sometimes not... And now the boss wants us to move to a different where we're supposed to sit four people in the same room. That's going to be a challenge to me. So I really count myself lucky that I don't have to sit in an environment like the one you describe. I couldn't function like that. You don't have a conference room with wireless internet where you can go to work when you really need silence?
1f y0u c4n r34d 7h15 y0u r3411y n33d 70 g37 14!d Gotta run; I've got people to do and things to see... Don't tell my folks I'm a computer programmer - They think I'm a piano player in a cat house... Da mihi sis crustum Etruscum cum omnibus in eo!
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I work in a similar environment and have done in the various companies I've worked for sinse I started work. I've always relied on headphones and music to shut everyone out, but it may not aide your concentration. I've used it for so many ears now I find it difficult to work without music.
I've always relied on headphones and music to shut everyone out, but it may not aide your concentration. I've used it for so many ears now I find it difficult to work without music. :thumbsup: same to me - get some good earplugs (Philips in-Ear are really good!). It's not only coworkers in the own office - if you have this open-door-thing, it's the noise from the whole floor which gathers your attention! regards, Torsten
I never finish anyth...
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Never felt that way, have you! So here is my problem: My office environment is unbearable. Work is technically challenging and enjoyable. I like my co-workers, and I would not like to quit. (And yes, there was a similar post by Josh Gray recently, but this is my pain.) We are three programmers and one support kid in [this office of] my company. Nice and cosy? Well… We share an open office landscape with another company of 20 people (same owners, more or less). They do completely unrelated stuff. And their main skills are communication. On good days, many of them are out of office, and the remaining ones make a decent effort to talk really quietly. On such days the office is quite pleasant. On bad days, it all turns into a painful cacophony. They are constantly on the phone, if not chatting with each other. They get carried away they forget completely to keep their voices down. If I have to concentrate on a really tricky debugging problem, all that chatter drives me absolutely crazy. On such days vivid images enter my mind. Maybe you remember William 'D-Fens' Foster (a.k.a. Michael Douglas) losing it completely in Falling Down[]. Or when short on baseball bats: the alternative of leaving our 7th floor offices through the window becomes frighteningly attractive... The other two programmers do not mind the noise [too much]. To be more precise: When the boss asks them “Do you mind the noise?” they say “Nope”. And the boss walks off happy. But when really pressed (by me) they admit that the noise does indeed harm concentration “a bit” but they still think it is more fun to be in larger group. So, my hearing is probably neurologically differently wired from theirs, but the fact remains: For me the effort of concentrating in such noise is almost physically painful, and extremely exhausting. After my complaints, the powers that be were kind and responsive, and installed noise absorbers on the walls. Things got better. But then they hired a morbid amount of sales people and jammed them into the same room. Two steps forward, four steps back. What to do? Change my attitude? Seek mental counseling? Re-wire my own brain? Earplugs?(tried them) Ear muffs?(have them) Noise screens ? Build a solid wall? Relocate? Work from home? Public flogging of the noisy ones?? A hard sell, but a personal favourite! All these have many aspects their own. But really: Being the apparent odd man ou
In those cases it helps to hear music loud enough not to hear the external noise... It is better to listen to a continuous noise (aka music) than hearing continuously people speaking... Good luck! :rose:
[www.tamelectromecanica.com] Robots, CNC and PLC machines for grinding and polishing.
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Never felt that way, have you! So here is my problem: My office environment is unbearable. Work is technically challenging and enjoyable. I like my co-workers, and I would not like to quit. (And yes, there was a similar post by Josh Gray recently, but this is my pain.) We are three programmers and one support kid in [this office of] my company. Nice and cosy? Well… We share an open office landscape with another company of 20 people (same owners, more or less). They do completely unrelated stuff. And their main skills are communication. On good days, many of them are out of office, and the remaining ones make a decent effort to talk really quietly. On such days the office is quite pleasant. On bad days, it all turns into a painful cacophony. They are constantly on the phone, if not chatting with each other. They get carried away they forget completely to keep their voices down. If I have to concentrate on a really tricky debugging problem, all that chatter drives me absolutely crazy. On such days vivid images enter my mind. Maybe you remember William 'D-Fens' Foster (a.k.a. Michael Douglas) losing it completely in Falling Down[]. Or when short on baseball bats: the alternative of leaving our 7th floor offices through the window becomes frighteningly attractive... The other two programmers do not mind the noise [too much]. To be more precise: When the boss asks them “Do you mind the noise?” they say “Nope”. And the boss walks off happy. But when really pressed (by me) they admit that the noise does indeed harm concentration “a bit” but they still think it is more fun to be in larger group. So, my hearing is probably neurologically differently wired from theirs, but the fact remains: For me the effort of concentrating in such noise is almost physically painful, and extremely exhausting. After my complaints, the powers that be were kind and responsive, and installed noise absorbers on the walls. Things got better. But then they hired a morbid amount of sales people and jammed them into the same room. Two steps forward, four steps back. What to do? Change my attitude? Seek mental counseling? Re-wire my own brain? Earplugs?(tried them) Ear muffs?(have them) Noise screens ? Build a solid wall? Relocate? Work from home? Public flogging of the noisy ones?? A hard sell, but a personal favourite! All these have many aspects their own. But really: Being the apparent odd man ou
- Get some high-quality noise canceling headphones. 1) Ask your boss to put up some barriers between you guys and the rest of the office. 2) Wear a pistol to work with a t-shirt that says something like "I'm armed. Think before you speak."
.45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly
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"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
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"The staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - J. Jystad, 2001 -
I have a hard time concentrating just sharing an office with ONE other developer - and to be fair, he really doesn't make a lot of noice. And I have another collegue who constantly comes in to chat about one thing or the other. Sometimes work, sometimes not... And now the boss wants us to move to a different where we're supposed to sit four people in the same room. That's going to be a challenge to me. So I really count myself lucky that I don't have to sit in an environment like the one you describe. I couldn't function like that. You don't have a conference room with wireless internet where you can go to work when you really need silence?
1f y0u c4n r34d 7h15 y0u r3411y n33d 70 g37 14!d Gotta run; I've got people to do and things to see... Don't tell my folks I'm a computer programmer - They think I'm a piano player in a cat house... Da mihi sis crustum Etruscum cum omnibus in eo!
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Never felt that way, have you! So here is my problem: My office environment is unbearable. Work is technically challenging and enjoyable. I like my co-workers, and I would not like to quit. (And yes, there was a similar post by Josh Gray recently, but this is my pain.) We are three programmers and one support kid in [this office of] my company. Nice and cosy? Well… We share an open office landscape with another company of 20 people (same owners, more or less). They do completely unrelated stuff. And their main skills are communication. On good days, many of them are out of office, and the remaining ones make a decent effort to talk really quietly. On such days the office is quite pleasant. On bad days, it all turns into a painful cacophony. They are constantly on the phone, if not chatting with each other. They get carried away they forget completely to keep their voices down. If I have to concentrate on a really tricky debugging problem, all that chatter drives me absolutely crazy. On such days vivid images enter my mind. Maybe you remember William 'D-Fens' Foster (a.k.a. Michael Douglas) losing it completely in Falling Down[]. Or when short on baseball bats: the alternative of leaving our 7th floor offices through the window becomes frighteningly attractive... The other two programmers do not mind the noise [too much]. To be more precise: When the boss asks them “Do you mind the noise?” they say “Nope”. And the boss walks off happy. But when really pressed (by me) they admit that the noise does indeed harm concentration “a bit” but they still think it is more fun to be in larger group. So, my hearing is probably neurologically differently wired from theirs, but the fact remains: For me the effort of concentrating in such noise is almost physically painful, and extremely exhausting. After my complaints, the powers that be were kind and responsive, and installed noise absorbers on the walls. Things got better. But then they hired a morbid amount of sales people and jammed them into the same room. Two steps forward, four steps back. What to do? Change my attitude? Seek mental counseling? Re-wire my own brain? Earplugs?(tried them) Ear muffs?(have them) Noise screens ? Build a solid wall? Relocate? Work from home? Public flogging of the noisy ones?? A hard sell, but a personal favourite! All these have many aspects their own. But really: Being the apparent odd man ou
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I've always relied on headphones and music to shut everyone out, but it may not aide your concentration. I've used it for so many ears now I find it difficult to work without music. :thumbsup: same to me - get some good earplugs (Philips in-Ear are really good!). It's not only coworkers in the own office - if you have this open-door-thing, it's the noise from the whole floor which gathers your attention! regards, Torsten
I never finish anyth...
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Never felt that way, have you! So here is my problem: My office environment is unbearable. Work is technically challenging and enjoyable. I like my co-workers, and I would not like to quit. (And yes, there was a similar post by Josh Gray recently, but this is my pain.) We are three programmers and one support kid in [this office of] my company. Nice and cosy? Well… We share an open office landscape with another company of 20 people (same owners, more or less). They do completely unrelated stuff. And their main skills are communication. On good days, many of them are out of office, and the remaining ones make a decent effort to talk really quietly. On such days the office is quite pleasant. On bad days, it all turns into a painful cacophony. They are constantly on the phone, if not chatting with each other. They get carried away they forget completely to keep their voices down. If I have to concentrate on a really tricky debugging problem, all that chatter drives me absolutely crazy. On such days vivid images enter my mind. Maybe you remember William 'D-Fens' Foster (a.k.a. Michael Douglas) losing it completely in Falling Down[]. Or when short on baseball bats: the alternative of leaving our 7th floor offices through the window becomes frighteningly attractive... The other two programmers do not mind the noise [too much]. To be more precise: When the boss asks them “Do you mind the noise?” they say “Nope”. And the boss walks off happy. But when really pressed (by me) they admit that the noise does indeed harm concentration “a bit” but they still think it is more fun to be in larger group. So, my hearing is probably neurologically differently wired from theirs, but the fact remains: For me the effort of concentrating in such noise is almost physically painful, and extremely exhausting. After my complaints, the powers that be were kind and responsive, and installed noise absorbers on the walls. Things got better. But then they hired a morbid amount of sales people and jammed them into the same room. Two steps forward, four steps back. What to do? Change my attitude? Seek mental counseling? Re-wire my own brain? Earplugs?(tried them) Ear muffs?(have them) Noise screens ? Build a solid wall? Relocate? Work from home? Public flogging of the noisy ones?? A hard sell, but a personal favourite! All these have many aspects their own. But really: Being the apparent odd man ou
megaadam wrote:
how do I make these people understand?
Fart.Smelly.
Watched code never compiles.
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Never felt that way, have you! So here is my problem: My office environment is unbearable. Work is technically challenging and enjoyable. I like my co-workers, and I would not like to quit. (And yes, there was a similar post by Josh Gray recently, but this is my pain.) We are three programmers and one support kid in [this office of] my company. Nice and cosy? Well… We share an open office landscape with another company of 20 people (same owners, more or less). They do completely unrelated stuff. And their main skills are communication. On good days, many of them are out of office, and the remaining ones make a decent effort to talk really quietly. On such days the office is quite pleasant. On bad days, it all turns into a painful cacophony. They are constantly on the phone, if not chatting with each other. They get carried away they forget completely to keep their voices down. If I have to concentrate on a really tricky debugging problem, all that chatter drives me absolutely crazy. On such days vivid images enter my mind. Maybe you remember William 'D-Fens' Foster (a.k.a. Michael Douglas) losing it completely in Falling Down[]. Or when short on baseball bats: the alternative of leaving our 7th floor offices through the window becomes frighteningly attractive... The other two programmers do not mind the noise [too much]. To be more precise: When the boss asks them “Do you mind the noise?” they say “Nope”. And the boss walks off happy. But when really pressed (by me) they admit that the noise does indeed harm concentration “a bit” but they still think it is more fun to be in larger group. So, my hearing is probably neurologically differently wired from theirs, but the fact remains: For me the effort of concentrating in such noise is almost physically painful, and extremely exhausting. After my complaints, the powers that be were kind and responsive, and installed noise absorbers on the walls. Things got better. But then they hired a morbid amount of sales people and jammed them into the same room. Two steps forward, four steps back. What to do? Change my attitude? Seek mental counseling? Re-wire my own brain? Earplugs?(tried them) Ear muffs?(have them) Noise screens ? Build a solid wall? Relocate? Work from home? Public flogging of the noisy ones?? A hard sell, but a personal favourite! All these have many aspects their own. But really: Being the apparent odd man ou
Our office is similar. Located near the elevators, it is a high traffic area so the "ambient" noise can be quite overpowering when you are trying to concentrate. As devs, we all have either iPods or a pair of those noise cancelling headsets that construction workers wear.
I wasn't, now I am, then I won't be anymore.
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With my last job I had a similar situation. Earphones and Judas Priest helped a lot.
A while ago he asked me what he should have printed on my business cards. I said 'Wizard'. I read books which nobody else understand. Then I do something which nobody understands. After that the computer does something which nobody understands. When asked, I say things about the results which nobody understand. But everybody expects miracles from me on a regular basis. Looks to me like the classical definition of a wizard.
CDP1802 wrote:
and Judas Priest helped a lot.
That might be the first time I have ever hear Judas Priest and help in the same sentence.
I wasn't, now I am, then I won't be anymore.