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A comment on The Open-Office Trap. Parent comment

Re:The Open-Office Trap by ereyes01 on Wednesday December 03, 2014 @05:23PM (#8696717)
Perhaps a way to mitigate the bad effects of open offices is to allow people to work from home when they need to focus. I spent a year and a half working in an open floor plan, and about 90% of my coding got done at home. I'd remain well-connected to everyone over Skype, and I'd only show up to socialize and/or attend necessary meetings.

Perhaps this isn't optimal for every employee/company, but it's how I made the best of the situation for myself at this company...

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Re:The Open-Office Trap by kale on Wednesday December 03, 2014 @05:41PM (#8696821)
I have children that are not yet school aged at home. Working from home only happens after bedtime (and that's if I decide not to spend any time with my wife after the kid's bedtime).

I also work in an "open" plan (recently transitioned to it). The most productive I ever am is when I'm travelling for work. It's the only time I get privacy.

As a side anecdote: I was listening to NPR about a prisoner that was talking about how he turned his life around in prison and read an incredible amount of books. I was feeling jealous of him for a few minutes until I realized how screwed up it was. I was jealous of the free time and relative privacy that a prisoner had. I never get privacy unless I'm travelling for work. Never.

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