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Re:Microsoft researched what made employees happy by brailsafe on Sunday July 10, 2022 @06:03PM (#32049551)
This killed my spirit at one of my previous gigs at a stupid megacorp. I needed the cash and told myself it was worth a shot, even though I had a hunch thay had ADHD and it just wouldn't work. I needed to isolate myself to get work done, but I was looked at almost in horror when I brought my laptop to a quiet space away from my desk. I didn't use spare offices because those were reserved ahead of time like you say. So many wasted resources. Back at my desk there was the constant clacking of keys and jackass on his bluetooth headset making sales calls from his open cubicle, and typing away on his mechanical keyboard, or buddy eating chips.

It could have been a really interesting technical experience, because the frontend was an absolute nightmare, but it serviced millions of people daily and billions in transactions annually. But I just couldn't catch up with so much bullshit. The best time was when nobody was there, so sometimes I'd work later, but then I'd be chastised for not showing up to the fucking standup on time.

Re:Microsoft researched what made employees happy by solardev on Sunday July 10, 2022 @06:13PM (#32049646)
Not to distract from your main point, but just an aside, have you ever looked into misophonia? A few friends of mine have it and your post heavily reminded me of them (the chips and keyboard, especially). For them, earplugs and/or ANC headphones made a world of difference in being able to focus on their work and not be driven crazy.

The open-layout office is hell for people who need quiet for focused work :( Sorry you had to deal with that.

Re:Microsoft researched what made employees happy by brailsafe on Monday July 11, 2022 @03:45AM (#32053370)
Yes, it's something I've known about for a few years, and for that I'm very grateful for the move to remote work. At this point I attribute it to a comorbidity with some other bigger thing that results in momentary ramp up of anxiety, because it's not always a problem, but when it is I need to find somewhere else to be and it's really derailing. Headphones only help if I already had them on, I can't use headphones or any other sound dampening devices to drown it out if I've already tuned into it. I've literally tried everything I could find. Concerta seems to help
Re:Microsoft researched what made employees happy by cudgy on Tuesday July 12, 2022 @01:48PM (#32073434)
We all “need quiet for focused work.”

Focused work should be challenging or at least require a person’s dedicated attention, which is not possible when distractions are a normal occurrence in a workplace regardless of whether someone has a mental or physical condition that makes them less functional in a “normally” loud workplace.

Re:Microsoft researched what made employees happy by solardev on Wednesday July 13, 2022 @11:48AM (#32084344)
I don't doubt that, but for many of us, it's a matter of degree. Like I don't mind soft conversation in the background, and I prefer soft bluegrass over dead silence... having SOME sound helps me focus and stay on rhythm mentally. If someone eats lunch while I'm working, I probably wouldn't even notice it, and even if I did, I'd just be like "What's for lunch?" And then go back to work.

But for my friends with severe misophonia (self-diagnosed, for the most part), hearing chips crunch or lips smacking will drive them out of the room in abject fury. It is, according to them at least, uncontrollable and unavoidable and it turns what would be "mild annoyance" for most of us into "severe anguish". At that point it's not even about losing some productivity, but being driven into such severe discomfort that you can't physically be in the proximity of the sounds anymore and you start to hate the other person who's caused it, and it all just unravels from there.

There's a huge difference between that and "oh, well, that construction noise outside is kinda annoying, I hope it stops soon".

Re:Microsoft researched what made employees happy by brailsafe on Tuesday July 12, 2022 @02:35PM (#32074008)
Agreed. Though some ppl seem to not have much issue with certain noises.