Interesting to compare this to my own experience. When I’m by myself I often feel the draw of social media, which distracts me from work. But when I’m around other people (in an open office or otherwise), whom I could socialize with if I wanted to, then social media (and other internet distractions) are less of a draw, and I find it easier to focus.
So I agree that distractions are quite disruptive. But for me, being by myself is itself a source of distraction.
The sweet spot so far for me was when I was working in a startup house (open office) with just a couple of other people in the room—people with whom I was working closely. We’d spend most of the day working by ourselves, but would chat every now and then, usually to solve some particular problem we were working on.
It was just enough interaction to keep my social bar pretty full. While at the same time providing a minimum of distractions and interruptions.
In my experience, colleagues are usually not a distraction, bosses are. With colleagues, I have more control over the timing (“not now, I am right in the middle of something… okay, now I am free”), and half of the chatting is mutual help. With bosses, the typical interaction is that I am interrupted in the middle of solving a problem X, and asked to provide progress report on an unrelated problem Y.
Interesting model. For me, it’s not an issue of potential socialization, but one of potential embarrassment. The thought of me scrolling through social media in public makes me nervous.
Interesting to compare this to my own experience. When I’m by myself I often feel the draw of social media, which distracts me from work. But when I’m around other people (in an open office or otherwise), whom I could socialize with if I wanted to, then social media (and other internet distractions) are less of a draw, and I find it easier to focus.
So I agree that distractions are quite disruptive. But for me, being by myself is itself a source of distraction.
The sweet spot so far for me was when I was working in a startup house (open office) with just a couple of other people in the room—people with whom I was working closely. We’d spend most of the day working by ourselves, but would chat every now and then, usually to solve some particular problem we were working on.
It was just enough interaction to keep my social bar pretty full. While at the same time providing a minimum of distractions and interruptions.
In my experience, colleagues are usually not a distraction, bosses are. With colleagues, I have more control over the timing (“not now, I am right in the middle of something… okay, now I am free”), and half of the chatting is mutual help. With bosses, the typical interaction is that I am interrupted in the middle of solving a problem X, and asked to provide progress report on an unrelated problem Y.
Interesting model. For me, it’s not an issue of potential socialization, but one of potential embarrassment. The thought of me scrolling through social media in public makes me nervous.
This is a factor for me too.