It’s Monday, the first chance of your week to start and finish off strong. You’ve got a busy calendar and tasks to crush. Your motivation is an all time high. But as soon as you get settled at your desk to begin your work, you start picking up on all of the noise. Was it always this loud? Why is my desk so close to the door? Have I always been distracted by the sheer amount of people that walk in and out of here? I’m already getting pinged on a couple of slack threads. Let me get to these right now. Oh what? I have my first meeting in 30 mins and the block lasts until 1pm? Okay… so I can actually begin my work after 2pm, because I am going to lunch right after these meetings.
Let’s face it —open office plans suck. You’re utterly exposed with no safety from prying eyes, you have no protection from outside noises (or smells), and you’re expected to be able to collaborate at any given moment, leaving you with very little “focus” time. If any of this sounds familiar to you, please keep on reading for my survival tips.
I can very clearly remember my first month at my corporate job right out of college. On my first day, I reached the office a couple of minutes before my 10am start time. I had just spent the last 2ish hours commuting to the office (more on this later) and I was looking forward to going through orientation and making it to my desk so that I could unwind for a bit. Prior to starting, I had no idea what the office looked like because I had only done phone interviews, but I’d assumed the office was going to have cubicles just like all of the other offices I had previously interviewed at. To my surprise, I was so wrong. I walked into an open office plan and it was hectic.
I saw groups of people leaving meeting rooms and saying hello to those sitting and working at their desks as they walked back to their own. I heard the gurgle of the “coffee robot” as someone made their daily cup while the beep of the microwave went off. I could not help but overhear all of the conversations that went on around me. I prayed my desk would be in some far off corner, but just as my luck would have it, I was the desk closest to the kitchen and picnic tables and I was completely exposed to everyone in the office.
