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Programming IT Technology

Adjusting Your Work Environment to Work for You? 59

Posted by Cliff from the customizing-your-cubicle dept.
Darvin Pope asks: "I have a rather disconcerting problem at work: the environment is uncomfortable. Its not your standard, 'I hate my job' type of uncomfortable, its more of a general physical and mental issue than that. The entire place is done in earthtones, its dark and it can be noisy. My cube is situated across the room from most others, but still, its hard to acquire a peaceful, zenlike state of mind, neccesary for me to write my best code, with all the disturbances around. I was wondering if any of the slashdot folks had any hints - ranging from a change of seating posture to color schemes, desk clutter, music/white noise, herbal suppliments, dietary changes, lighting, and so on. What works best for the rest of you?"
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Adjusting Your Work Environment to Work for You? More

Adjusting Your Work Environment to Work for You?

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  • Before you get started you'll need a head-mounted display, a good set of headphones, and one of those thick black trash bags...

  • Do some system administration (Score:5, Funny)

    by Linux_ho ( 205887 ) on Wednesday December 05, 2001 @08:01PM (#2662588) Homepage
    Take on a couple minor system administration tasks. It will not only be accepted, but expected when you adopt a surly attitude and eventually lock yourself in the server room. Nobody bothers me anymore, though it's kinda cold in here and I have to wear a parka. The aluminum pyramid hat helps keep them away when I have to leave the server room to eat, visit the restroom, or when I'm showing up or leaving. If they approach anyway, fake a seizure. That works great.

  • My suggestions: (Score:5, Insightful)

    by theantix ( 466036 ) on Wednesday December 05, 2001 @08:06PM (#2662617) Journal
    I definately know what you mean, I work in a similar environment and have gone through what you are talking about. I work for a concrete company with trucks roaring past constantly. Plus, in Canada the daylight hours are shrinking rapidly and I don't have a window office, so I barely see the sun. That being said, I have a few suggestions that you might find helpful.
    Exercise. At work, try to walk around at least every few hours. Sitting in one spot is bad for the psyche, and your general health! Outside of work, do some cardio exercise (walking, running, biking, hiking, swimming, etc).
    Back off the caffeine. Don't drink pints of coffee and pop pengiun pills all day. It stimulates the nervous system and makes you more alert, but more stressed at the same time. It's similar to a constant adrenaline rush, which is helpful for a few minutes but very poisonous for a long period of time.
    Get human contact. Duh! In your spare time, chat up the cute secretary, or ask your co-workers how their weekends were. Even if you are an introvert you need human contact that can't be fufilled through /.
    Eat Right. Back off the fatty foods, try eating carbohydrate-rich breakfasts and lunches. Don't skip either. Drink lots of water. Try drinking a little bit of caffeinated beverages in the morning (don't overdo it).
    Play right. In your off-work time, don't spend all of your time playing video games and watching television. At least once a day call a friend on the telephone, or even better visit one in person.
    Get a LCD. Of course, this might be beyond your budgetary constrainsts, but if you are staring at a screen all day it might as well be one that doesn't strain your eyeballs! A flat-screen monitor or a laptop might be what the doctor ordered. And if you are running on a windows platform, consider upgrading to WinXP which has ClearType support, which really does improve the clarity and readability of LCD screens. For me, that alone was worth the price of the upgrade (please don't flame).
    Listen to "wordless" music while working. It really helps, you'd be surprised! I'm suggesting classical or electronic music, whatever your preferences. Of course, not everyone can do this, but listening to Ludwin Van can really help you concentrate.
    Hope it helps, it did for me.

    • Re:My suggestions: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Antipop ( 180137 )
      Just to further elaborate on the music aspect...

      At my highschool I have a teacher who plays classical stuff while we take tests or do classwork. She says that studies show your work improves if you listen to classical music, preferably something with strings, at around 60bpm. For all you non-musicians that means slow violin music. I personally like Bach chorales (my mind just went blank on how to spell that..) because they're so beautiful. Ask a friend if you don't know anything about classical music for suggestions.
    • it all depends on your personality as to what will make you comfortable. the best thing to do is to experiment with differnent things

      i personally couldn't code crap while listening to classic music, or anything slow (i do enjoy listening to classic music, but just not while coding)
      reason for this, is to code i need to be hyper. caffeine helps, but so does some heavy riffs or fast pumpin goa ..

      but your best bet is to bring a dozen different cds, and listen to em .. see which one puts you into that special state where you can crank out code like a monkey on a typewriter
    • I'm suggesting classical or electronic music

      Whats the difference?

    • mmmm cleartype... its the only really important feature that would make me not be compelled to reformat and install w2k again (not that theres anything wrong with xp, theres just not anything other than cleartype that i use)
    • I'm not completely sure where I read this (possibly Peopleware), but I'm quite convinced that it's true.

      The "creative" part of your brain is also the part that listens to music. Therefore you can't effectively do both at the same time. (I suspect that heavy stuff like Beethoven is especially bad, in fact.)

      Of course, you don't need to be creative most of the time. Once you've worked out a design, coding (should be) easy...
      • Yes music. I do some of my best and fastest work when I'm listening to a nice thumping bit of club music. Something Tribal or Jungle with no lyrics. Real House stuff that's played in real clubs, not the Top 50 dance crap. A good rhythm helps me focus.
  • If the cubes you have are composed of the secional components of all shapes and sizes, then you can build a large cube (read: top, and sides) out of them with a small opening at the bottom to crawl through. It would be completely enclosed. You could put whatever lighing you wanted in there. It would be a cave. And if someone was going to bother you, it would have to be really important for them to want to crawl in there, especially if they had an expensive suit. I was going to do it at my last job but we all got laid off before we could build it.

  • Herbal supplement (Score:4, Funny)

    by Lally Singh ( 3427 ) on Wednesday December 05, 2001 @08:09PM (#2662635) Journal
    A little marijuana goes a long way :-)


    (But remember, drugs are bad! bad!)

  • - Headphones for music and to reduce background noise. The choice of music can play a big part in creating a mood for your work environment.
    - Posters to improve the "view"
    - Lamps to change the lighting (if it is too dark or un-natural/natural)
    - If you find your cubicle is designed to expose you to the view of the casual passer by then change the design of it by getting more partitions, or moving them around.
    - Plants for your desk can give a refreshing feel to your cubicle.
    - I've also found that play with the height and angle of your monitor can improve the vibe of your cubicle.
    - Finally remeber the Hawthorne effect. I'm not sure if it applies if you make the changes yourself, but changes of any kind, if you percieve them as being in the interests of improved productivity WILL improve productivity.

  • Job environments. (Score:4, Informative)

    by billn ( 5184 ) on Wednesday December 05, 2001 @08:15PM (#2662667) Homepage Journal
    Environments are important. You could be a crack hack wizard and still suck because of distractions.

    The first and foremost important piece of your work environment is your chair. Make sure it's something you can be comfortable in for hours at a time, especially when coding. Get your feet off the floor and onto something. I personally use a high back leather chair and matching footstool. Medically, having your feet dangling or poorly supported for long periods of time is bad for you. Make sure you can lean back in your chair, and you're not working hunched over.

    Match your chair to your desk, with regard to height. Find a working position between the two that's comfortable, or work out a way to get your keyboard lower. Ergonomics, while froofy, aren't a joke.

    Noise suppression. If you're a coder, get some good noise cancellation going. Background noise reduction cuts down on a lot of distractions. Even if you're not pumping music into it, having your ears covered will quickly become a sign to people that you're busy. Train the mammals to send email instead of pop into your cube. I personally use Sony's noise reduction earbuds, which by shape alone are a functional earplug.

    Lighting is important. I've had several cases of janitor combat by disengaging overhead flourescents in favor of a gentle incandescent lamp. Don't work in the dark, though. Hormonally, humans (and other diurnal creatures (this excludes Solaris admins)) are stimulated into various modes by light levels. One argument you'll be presented with should you decide to tamper with overheads is 'Safety Reasons'. Don't let this slide. It's YOUR work environment. Ground level strip lighting is just as effective, and less intrusive. Use indirect lighting where possible.

    If you're in a heavy corporate environment, it's entirely plausible that certain management types will immediately single you out as a deviant, so use caution.

    Some ammunition:
    Oklahoma State Doc on Ergonomics and Environments [okstate.edu]: This is a good common sense doc about computer heavy work environments. You can draft a simple checklist based on the contents to see how your work environs stack up.

    This document points out something important: OSHA does NOT have a standing (read: enforcable) ruling or standard for computer operation environments. Your employer can simply tell you to take a hike and get away with it. In some cases, I'd say take this up with HR, or rally your like minded coworkers, but given that most corporate HR teams simply don't give a damn, caveat emptor.

    In the event your management doesn't go for it, here's a piece on combatting violence in the office [lhh.com].

    In any case, do some homework before embarking on this quest. If nothing else, present it in simple financial terms. Personally controlled light environments tend to be less expensive to maintain than mass overhead lighting. No ladders required, less maintenance impact. Lights turned off when cubes are vacated at beer o' clock serve as pro-active energy management.

    Single user monitor lamps, like these from Think Geek [thinkgeek.com] ($29.99 each) work very well. They did their homework [thinkgeek.com] about lighting advantages, as well. This brings cubespace lighting down from the ceiling and into the cube.

    The drawback to this, and one of the first things managers (and site security) like to point out, is the reduced light level for the rest of the office. It's a perfectly valid argument, and generally brings lighting wars to a screaming halt. This can be replied to with something simple and inexpensive, like these Mini Lights [espenergy.com], which would sit well on the exterior of any cube wall, illuminating the aisle.

    As for general office lighting a few well placed torchiere style lamps (check your lamp types, though. Some suck more power than others) provide excellent indirect lighting.
    • Hormonally, humans (and other diurnal creatures (this excludes Solaris admins)) are stimulated into various modes by light levels.

      Waittaminute ... I'm a Solaris admin, and I work in a delightful machine room whose ENTIRE North wall is glass ... of course I work at a university, which is a LOT more laid back than the profit mills are ...

      The two BIGgest factors I've noticed in work environment comfort are 1) lighting and 2) a feeling of privacy (while not being completely deprived of human contact. I like bright lighting and a subdued (but warm) screen color scheme ... YMMV. The reverse is (for me) very tiring because dim lighting leads to dilated pupils that allow way too much UV from the screen to enter the ol' Mark One eyeball ... the important thing is to find what YOU are comfortable with, then convince management that it is in their best interest to let you have it ... at your own expense, if necessary, but optimally on their dime. After all, it's 1/3 of YOUR life ... there's no rational reason you should be physically uncomfortable during it, unless you are such a hot coder that they are paying you an unreasonably high salary. And if you are such a superstar, management should fall all over themselves trying to accomodate your needs.
    • "This document points out something important: OSHA does NOT have a standing (read: enforcable) ruling or standard for computer operation environments. Your employer can simply tell you to take a hike and get away with it."

      Well, the Federal OSHA may not have enforcable rules on this, but your state version of OSHA might. Many states do have rules on this sort of thing.

      States Rights!!

  • I don't work in a cubicle, since I'm still a student. I do work however in an overcrowded computer lab at school, with no privacy, and the closes person at arm's length from me. But I do have a perfect way to get away from all the disturbances. Something tells my it might not work for you though...

    I bring my mp3 player along, and I put my headphones on. Make sure you have head phones, not ear phones. The ear phones are too small, and being much closer to your ear, they produce far more damage than head phones. And I turn the mp3 player on. Not very loud, since the place is not too noisy, but still, loud enough so that it drowns everything around.

    Now the choice of music is entirely up to you. In my case, Rage Against the Machine (and the likes) does the trick. Something tells me you're going to go for something completely different.

    The reason it might not work, is that many workplaces (my dad's for instance) do not allow music to be played. It has to do with not being able to hear the fire alarm. Then again, he works in a nuclear power plant, so I can see why they have those rules. In your case it might be different.

  • a) Music. I have headphones on most of the time. Infra-red ones, so I don't get tangled. Just make sure people aren't scared of interrupting you - my colleagues know that I'm not blocking them out and am willing to talk to them.

    b) Walking. I wander around and chat with friends.
    • Im all for the infrared headphones *BUT* heres a caveat for you: If theres flourescent lighting overhead, they are probably "energy-saving" flourescent tubes. Some brands of these tubes emit light along the infrared spectrum, which can cause interference and add noise between the transmitter and the headphones. My set worked great at my last corporate job, but not here - except if I stay late and turn the lights off.
  • You don't say where you work, but you did say it's not a, "I hate my job", situation. With that in mind, I'll assume that your employer may be open to suggestions; you may just need to provide some backup data to support your case.

    While the federal OSHA standard has been repealed, many states have adopted regulations of their own, so you might check to see if your state's equivalent to OSHA has a web site.

    Do a web search on "ergonomics" to find data to support your case. You may even find some recommendations that you can easily implement yourself. Or one place to start for a brief overview would be www.inventoryops.com/ergonomics.htm [inventoryops.com].

    If you have someone responsible as a "Safety Officer" that might be a good place to start. Just don't suffer in silence.

  • noise-cancelling headphones (Score:1, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I have a pair of noise-cancelling headphones and they're magic. They make all the whirring and whining of vents, servers, copiers, conversations two cubes over, other people typing, etc. disappear so I can concentrate. Also makes it so you can hear the music better. I definitely recommend them, they're worth the money.

    Another idea, if you really hate the blandness of your cube/wall color, get some cheap fabric and tape/pin it up to the walls in your immediate work area. It's like wallpaper, but easier.

  • Here are a few of my personal favourites... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Bake ( 2609 ) on Wednesday December 05, 2001 @09:29PM (#2663003) Homepage
    Whenever possible turn off fluorescent lighting.
    Try and use a desk lamp with a plain old light bulb or a halogen bulb if you can.
    Also dim the place a bit down if you can; my eyes get very tired if I'm exposed to much lighting for extended periods of time.
    As long as you're not working as a graphics designer try and eliminate the colour white from your colour scheme, try reversing it for a change, white to black and vice versa, personally I don't code unless the editor I'm using has a black background with white letters. If you think about it staring at a monitor all day long with the colour white as a default background colour on most applications isn't all that different from staring at a brightly lit white cloth or white wall, your eyes _will_ get tired and that leads discomfort.

    As for music, use headphones as much as you can, and don't be cheap when it comes to headphones. Make sure they're comfortable and cover your ear in a way that they sit _around_ your ear and not _on_ it, you'll be thankful later. As for what sort of music, to each his own I'm afraid. In my case it mostly depends on what I'm doing, if I'm in a "zone" I try to keep it uptempo, but most of the time just something in harmony with my inner rhythm (we all have it, it's just a matter of finding/noticing it).

    There is just one rule I have about food, and that is "not too much". Don't eat so that you get a full stomach, that way you'll only get bloated which registered as a discomfort last time I checked :-).
    Also try and avoid sweets if you can, although it's perfectly alright to treat oneself to a biscuit or pastery every now and then. Try and avoid fatty foods if you can but overall try and keep a nice varied and balanced diet.

    Postures are hard to find, but my best posture is when I sit so that almost every muscle in my body is relaxed and aren't dangling. I have a tendency to lie back in my chair with me feet on whatever I can find that lifts them from the floor.

    But these are just a few of my suggestions, try these and pick the ones you find comfortable :)
    • Whenever possible turn off fluorescent lighting.
      Try and use a desk lamp with a plain old light bulb or a halogen bulb if you can.
      Also dim the place a bit down if you can; my eyes get very tired if I'm exposed to much lighting for extended periods of time.
      As long as you're not working as a graphics designer try and eliminate the colour white from your colour scheme, try reversing it for a change, white to black and vice versa, personally I don't code unless the editor I'm using has a black background with white letters. If you think about it staring at a monitor all day long with the colour white as a default background colour on most applications isn't all that different from staring at a brightly lit white cloth or white wall, your eyes _will_ get tired and that leads discomfort.

      Especially if you work at night, and people refer to you as "The Count"....
  • It worked for me - though I did have to build a bigger house so that I could excape from my wife to get some work done...

  • Cube Sweet Cube (Score:3, Insightful)

    by sclatter ( 65697 ) on Wednesday December 05, 2001 @10:38PM (#2663198) Homepage
    First and foremost, I swear by my Bose noise-cancelling headphones. Yeah, they are spendy, but they are perfect for drowning out CPU noise and random cube-farm chatter. They are also extremely comfortable to wear for long periods of time. They tend to be a mild deterrent for random interruptions, which I find to be a bonus. Be warned that people will be forced to extreme measures to get your attention when you are wearing them. ;-)

    Second, drink water. Get a nice big container and fill it from the local water cooler. Sip from it constantly. When it is empty, you will probably have to go to the restroom. On your way back fill the container again. Rinse and repeat. You will stay hydrated and your bladder will enforce an occasional stroll. Never underestimate the importance of hydration!

    Other folks have mentioned forcibly removing fluorescent lights. I actually don't like it to be too dark, but my eyes get really irritated if I have to stare right into a fluorescent fixture. In the past I have solved this by using mosquito netting to create a screen. It was quite functional and looked ok. The netting diffused the light and softened it.

    I like to create my own space by having lots of colorful stuff in my cube. Pictures, of course, and always toys. I favor yo-yos. Yo-yoing is a great break and helps to lubricate thinking. You have to stand up, stretch, move around. Learn some tricks. It's a great conversation starter, and you come back to the problem at hand more relaxed and focused.
  • Where I used to work it was REALLY hard to get work done some times.

    We where on the second floor... the entire floor was open... so sound easily moves accross the entire thing. The floor vibrates really easy when people walk about the room... And you can see EVERYTHING just by looking up... LOL

    (If I looked up and a little to my right I end up staring at the CEO... etc)

    Although there was not much I could do about the vibration... one thing that helps is putting up things like bookshelvs. (I had a filing cabnet and a foldup table against one of my cubicle walls)

    As far as noise goes... a REALLY good pair of headphones (the nice kind that cover up your entire ear) can cut down on a lot of noise... So the use of those plus some decent LOUD music

    After listening to the music for a bit you forget its there... but its enough to take up a few of the extra cycles your mind ends up spending on thinking about everything that is bugging you...

    Of course the fact the engeneering department stood in the hallway while they smoked instead of going outside was a bit of a problem too... considering around the later half of the day the damn place was rank with smoke fumes.......

    Of course now I am working from home... Of course is a problem all on its own *grins*
  • Watch out for the lighting. I have worked in places where the lighting was both overly bright and too dim -- both of those states are hard to notice to begin with, but after a few weeks your eyes will really start to ache halfway through the day. If the lighting is too dim, like your question indicates, bringing in some indirect lighting (one of those floor lamps that opens towards the ceiling) might do the trick.

    As simple as it may sound, make sure you've got a good eighteen to twenty-four inches between you and the monitor for most of the day.

    If the walls are too dark and providing too much contrast, use posters as another comment suggested, or, alternatively, whiteboards (management loves to see those things around).

  • Stand-up work area. Really! (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Bob_Robertson ( 454888 ) on Wednesday December 05, 2001 @11:04PM (#2663313) Homepage
    Along with all the other calls for "taking control of your audio input with headphones" and such, I must suggest one of the most effective things I ever tried: Stand up.

    Most if not all cubicle desks are latched into the vertical. Put them at 44 inches, or whatever is comfortable for you, and get a bar-stool style chair. Adjust the so you can comfortably work standing up, and sitting down, or with your butt half on the chair, whatever is most comfortable at that moment.

    The human spine evolved for movement, walking, not sitting for long periods of time. This setup allows you to adjust your position constantly, exercising your lower back, legs, etc.

    Of course, being in a Japanese company means that I don't get to have a cubicle to work with for the forseeable future myself, and I can really feel the difference.

    So try the most ergonomic position of all. Stand up for yourself!

    Bob-

    • Hey, I'd have to agree with you on that point. At my last workplace I had a bar stool/high chair thing and had my PC on a benchtop. Standing up or sitting on the chair (or half-half) were both very comfortable Never had any back problems, but since then I've been in a standard cube and standard chair for the last year, and I've been having lower back pains on and off all year. I'm now looking for a similar setup for my home as I was very happy with it.

    • Alternativly, sometimes instead of sitting on my chair I stand on my knees in from of the computer. Works for me, though it can only be done for so long.

      • I've been wanting to try one of those egronomic chairs where you put your knees/shins on one pad and your butt on another angled at approximately 45 degrees - seem them? Tried them?
        • Yeah, I used a kneeling chair for a couple of years, am going to get a new one shortly. I found it very very good, my back felt great and I wasn't as tired. My back is especially important as I am a front-row player[*] (prop actually, it's a position where your back gets a lot of pressure), so I had to be very careful with it.

          I had 2 problems with the chairs:

          1. Your shins can get a lot of weight on them sometimes depending on the way you have it angled, try to get it 35% shins, 65% ass: that's a lot mroe[**] comfortable :)

          2. The crossbar with wheels on the back of my chair broke off after about 2 years of use. It was a relatively cheap chair, wooden with 2 index-finger sized pins holding the bar on - they snapped through the wood holding them (ok, so I am a prop, but a small one)...

          Cheers,
          Al.

          Link: http://www.sitincomfort.com/kneechairs.html

          * The game is "rugby", for all you white-skinned bearded people - think of it as American football for real men ;)
          ** I bet I'm not the only person with alias mroe='more' in their rc :)

  • Telecommute (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Snafoo ( 38566 ) on Wednesday December 05, 2001 @11:42PM (#2663452) Homepage
    I'm sure you've thought of this before, but telecommuting is the ultimate answer for your all your crappy-work-environment needs.

    I myself prefer telecommuting from a cafe. Cafes, I find, are ideal for working because:

    (1) Nice persons bring hot tasty caffinated things right to you.

    (2) No one cares if you get up and go for a half-hour walk.

    (3) No one asks you annoying questions about how to "program" cells in Excel. (sigh)

    (4) I live in Montreal in a Francophone neighbourhood, so (and this is utterly fantastic) I have *no* *idea* what people around me are nattering about! It's all the advantages of being around peeps enjoying themselves (which for some reason *always* relaxes me; it must be tribal psychological throwback) minus the drawback that you have to listen to fifteen-year-old girls psychoanalyzing each other and making grave pronouncements about each other's mental health or dateability or some such. At any rate, I imagine non-Quebequois can get a similar experience via a walkman.

    <offtopic>The really weird thing is that I do, in fact, speak French, and not too badly at that; however, it's a second language learned after the childhood 'window'. For whatever reason, the consensus among myself and my friends with similar experiences is that comprehension for such languages is purely voluntary, whereas with your mother tongue eavesdropping is sometimes an uncontrollable fact of life. </offtopic>

  • Here's what I do ... (Score:5, Informative)

    by Zebaulon ( 534793 ) <kd4ned.gmail@com> on Thursday December 06, 2001 @12:03AM (#2663535)
    While I don't work in a cubicle, I do have my own office. So it's sort of like a cubicle, just bigger and better. Here is what I have found:

    First, as others have mentioned, lighting can work wonders. The overhead lights (florescent) are about the worst thing you can use in an office environment with computers. On the other hand, too little light can be just as bad. I had a floor lamp (one of the ones that opens up toward the ceiling) that had a bulb go out, so I temporarily used a small (and very dim) desk lamp. It was about as bad as having too much light. The floor lamp is much better.

    Also, here's a few other tips (some have been mentioned previously) that work for me:

    • Keep background noise and distractions to an absolute minimum. This will do wonders in improving your train of thought.
    • If you have the luxury of a DOOR for your office (or cubicle) then CLOSE IT. If you do not have a door, install one. :)
    • Find some good classical music to listen to as you work. If you have an Internet connection at the office, check out my favorite [mostlyclassical.com]. (If you don't, check out the local radio stations.)
    • Most phone systems have a DND (Do Not Disturb) button on the individual phones. It's there for a reason -- use it. If you don't have a phone in your office, be thankful.
    • On a similar note, if your phone system has direct dialing from outside (either via DNIS or an automated transfer) only give your extension number to close friends/family that you don't mind interrupting your coding. (Make everyone else go through the operator.) If you DND your phone, they will usually get your voice mail if they dial you direct, but still, if you phone doesn't have DND, this is your second line of defense.
    • Don't keep your E-Mail client open while you work on other things. I have found that doing so creates a temptation to go read your new mail whenever it comes in.
    • Minimize any other distractions that you may come across. Encourage people to send E-Mail or leave voice mail when they need something, instead of bothering you personally. Every time you stop and help someone, you have to spend time getting back into the swing of things. (I know this may sound a bit mean, but you do have a job you have to get done, right?)
    • Depending on your network and/or what type of access you have to things, you may be able to install VNC [att.com] on your machine and then work remotely from home if things get too nasty.
    • Customize the color configuration of your software. I do as one other person has mentioned here - black backgrounds with white (or gray) text. Most of the time I even turn off the syntax highlighting of my favorite editor [vim.org] when coding.
    • Anything else that might make you more comfortable and able to be more productive...
    Remember this -- you aren't there to look pretty, you are there to do your job. If you need to make modifications to your environment in order to improve your job performance, then it's worth it. I personally wear jeans, a sports shirt, and tennis shoes to work every day. It's a lot easier to work in that than it is to work in dressy clothes.

    Also, a lot of what works and doesn't work will depend on the person and possibly the company you are in. Each person has their own needs and what environment works for me may not work for others. YMMV.

    Oh, and if your phone system uses standard phones (in other words, no proprietary multiline garbage, your call hold/transfer/conference uses flash hook, and you can use standard Wal-Mart phones on it) then you most likely don't have a DND button. Nortel's Meridian system can have add-on cards to support standard phones, as can many others. Just buy a project box, mount a SPST switch in it, connect one leg of the switch to one leg of a 600 ohm resistor, the other leg of the switch to one side of the phone line, and the remaining leg of the resistor to the other side of the line. When you flip the switch, it puts a 600 ohm load across the line, which is like taking the phone off hook. Instant busy signal. :) (Just make sure it is a standard phone compatible system -- else things can get a bit hairy when you start plugging things in like that.)

  • The noise-cancelling headphones are a must. It's not the conversations around you that stress you out; it's the air conditioners, hard drives and fans that are the worst.

    If you use a CRT, turn DOWN the resolution and move the monitor away from you. If the resolution is high enough that you have to have the monitor within 2 feet of you, it's too high! The more your eyes have to track back and forth across the screen, the faster they tire. (A larger screen can actually be detrimental to your health.) Keep the refresh at 75Hz or above. Turn the contrast down some (especially if your surrounding lighting is dim.) Better yet, get an LCD screen. Oh, and dump the white background.

    Schedule your time out. If you find yourself losing track of the time, schedule a reminder every 90 minutes to get up and take a walk. *nix has a scheduler built in. Use it.

    Skip the big lunch. Get yourself some snacks, and eat throughout the day. (Stick to the somewhat healthy food, if possible. Baby carrots work for me.) Keep water handy too.

    Oh yeah, and if the Fire Hazard Nazis won't let you trade at least some of the overhead fluorescents for some indirect incandescents, it's probably time to find another company anyway.
  • When people at my previous company started complaining that the work environment was too noisy and cramped, management suggested that people should work from home more.


  • - You'd better stop coffee and start drinking some tea. Aim for quality tea [ateasmuggler.com], it's not so expensive, but really tastes better. try with honey or sugar

    - Try getting a better chair or armchair [ikea.com].

    - Listen to some quiet music (I recommend SomaFM's Drone Zone [somafm.com]).

    It worked for me...well I still don't write my best code, but I think it's because I'm too lazy :)
  • In my experience, wearing headphones is tantamount to saying, "Please attempt to talk to me, wait until I have removed my headphones and then say, 'Sorry, it was nothing important.'"

    I pity people who are unable to properly listen to a piece of music all the way through. But I also want to kill them when they won't afford anyone else the same privilege.

    Ade_
    /
  • Getting rid of the wires on things goes a long way to improving your comfort. I highly recommend the Logitech Wireless Keyboard Pro (comes with a wireless mouse) and a set of wireless headphones, Sennheiser makes some decent ones.

  • When I really need to concentrate I find ear plugs are perfect. Now that my comptuer is a lot power laptop and NCD there are no fans on my desk, but just the heating system is annoying when I really need to think of a problem.

    I don't like headphones. Maybe wireless would be okay, but wired are really annoying. A normal radio on low volumn works for my co-workers. Technically it is against the rules here, but the volume is so low you have to be in their cube to hear it. The key is even a whisper in you cube will drown out the radio.

  • Where I work, we are not allowed to post *anything* on our cubicle walls - no calendars, notes or anything. The PCs we have do not have sound cards in them. And of course we have those harsh overhead fluorescent lights. This is a very standardized environment and it is sooo hard to efficiently work. Sometimes I just get up and go for a walk outside just to think..
  • I've found that I can focus when all the chatter around me is blocked by the Bose headphones. They are pricey ($300), but worth it, IMHO.

    I can't say anything about other brands. I went with Bose because I've used their Industrial Grade headphones (Bose X) on private aircraft with much success. Bose really knows how to negate noise.

  • If you can't afford the $300 Bose headphones, invest in some of the nicer Sony ones. I got mine for about $50 and I must say they work really well for cancelling out all the noise of the students tramping by my door all day long. They also make noise cancelling ones for $150 and wireless ones for the same price.

    BTW, for all of you who are able to work at home, I hope you know how lucky you really are!!
  • I have a cubicle bookshelf mounted away from my desk surface so I can read while I am standing. The
    effort to remain standing helps me concentrate on reading, which in turn lets me shut out distractions.
    It can even make sense to mount your keyboard and terminal so that you can use it standing up (if I had
    an LCD terminal I would be able to switch from sitting to standing keyboarding, depending on what would
    be most appropriate at the moment). It is a good switch from isolating yourself with headphones. Or
    even try both.

    It doesn't work if you have no privacy and numbnut coworkers who constantly ask why you are standing up
    (translation: Why are you trying to do some work?), or if the facilities people object to a reading
    platform (translation: Why are you trying to do some work? We sure don't)
  • Someone mentioned frequent breaks, at my last job, I seriously went to the bathroom every 10-15 minutes just to get away from my co workers. Not for any bathroom reason, but I was doing basic data input, so you cant blame me for wanting to escape. I'd hang out resting against the wall while writing chapters in my novel. It saved my sanity. As for deskspace, I found that covering the walls with pictures of Matt Murphy did the trick, and to save desk space, I put all of my supplies on paperclips and hung them on the cubicle walls. a messy desk is an unhappy desk. Headphones with loud music of your choice is good... if none of that helps, I found picking up and moving to another town to be a great stress reliever.
  • but Cliff, you sound like you need to take some drastic action.

    Have you tried cross-dresssing to work?

    If you are not brave enough for that, just try some Victoria's Secret underwear.

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