Re:Context switching costs more than we give it credit for
by wongarsu on Monday January 18, 2021 @06:40AM
(#25820726)
Open offices are terrible if you want silence, and only kind of ok when you want music (you can make it work with noise cancelling headphones turned up loud enough). Both types would be better served by smaller offices.
Re:Context switching costs more than we give it credit for
by duncan-donuts on Sunday January 17, 2021 @10:38PM
(#25817824)
Music is the only thing that saved me in an open office. Without it I would be hard pressed to ever find flow. I’ve been distributed for almost 2 years and the combo of music and no one else in my office has improved my output a ton
Re:Context switching costs more than we give it credit for
by saberdancer on Monday January 18, 2021 @05:59AM
(#25820459)
When I first started, I was in a room with 8-9 people who knew each other well. They talked a lot. I was given a task that I found challenging but the most challenging part was focusing on the task at hand.
My solution was to listen to one of various white noise videos on YouTube, my favorites were storms and rain.
I agree that about 5 people in a room is a perfect fit. Team sized. Open spaces were too distracting.
I think this is something CEOs don't realize when they push for ,,open offices''.
For me a group of 5 people in a room was the optimal number of people for coding enjoyment: just enough people that I feel the pressure and don't feel alone, but not too much noise, so I can work well. For people who can work with music an open office is still kind of OK, even if they don't like it that much.