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What distracts you most in the office?

My Boss!

One of my biggest distractions and annoyances is people who supposedly finish a meeting in a conference room, but then continue to discuss issues (loudly, of course!) in the hallway when they leave the conference room.  They will also start a meeting without shutting the door to the conference room.  My colleague and I are constantly shutting the door to the conference room.  

Well since I work in a large open plan office nothing distracts me.  I have got used to the fact that there are others around me.  In fact our office is not that noisy - we seem to respect each other and the job we do.

G

Cell phones ringing all over the office!

Diamondlady
Peer Moderator

My office neighbor, who thinks he's a drummer! (Well, at least I've convinced him he's not a singer, LOL!)

Tif

In my current position... people taking their break and visiting with those in the cubbies around me.  They don't keep their voices down too much, but then we're really a very open cuby-ville so unless they sat on top of each other and whispered, you'd be able to hear them from the cuby next door or across the small walk-way.  It's not like you can hear them from 2-3 cubbies away.  But they do get distracting, especially when it's mind-numbing work like I was doing today... almost any noise your brain picks up on as a distraction and a way of keeping it from going comotose.

Any other time...people stopping next to my desk or outside my door (which they partially open) and have a personal conversation.  Thankfully those days are gone. LOL

CountriGal
Peer Moderator

People who take conference calls on speakerphone!

I just got up and shut the door to the Board Room because of this!!!!!!

For some reason the sound in that room carries and I sit right outside it - a conference call is going on and they have the door open...jeeezzzz.



Carol

The most common distraction in my office is ...drum roll please... MY BOSS' GRANDKIDS!!!!!!  I really do enjoy them when they come in the office, but when they are here, I become a nanny instead of an Admin.  Forget the books and making sales calls, the only thing I can do is play Simon Says.  

Fortunatly these kids are sweet, well behaved (for a 3 and 5 yr old) and extremely bright, so I'm able to make a compromise with them.  If they will sit and color quietly, I'll play a game with them when I'm done.  Of course that task can only be about 10 minutes long as that's their attention span.  

The bright side is that my office walls are filled with coloring sheets.  And I litterally mean "Bright Side".  They like to color with highlighters.  

Ellen (Simon Says finish those sales reports!) in TX

While I know this is  a little late in the day, my answer would have to be the guy two bays down who has a hot, steaming, tantilising dish of chips!!! (I really hate that guy!)

Jess

That is truly wicked.  The aroma of chips is too divinely tempting, especially when chips are not on the agenda.  Off with his head!  The Tower of London is not far away, Jess, I suggest we frogmarch him round there this lunchtime.

For DDers Stateside - your chips are our crisps.  Our chips are similar to your fries (only thicker).  

R.

That's it you've set me off now - really hot crispy Chips with lots of vinegar and salt sounds like heaven - instead I'm sitting here with my Ryvita and Humous.

My main office distractions are

a) those phones just keep in ringing (I have 2 to answer - 1 direct line and 1 internal/external through the switchboard) so one rings, answer call, 2nd one rings, answer call, back and forth sometimes for hours.

b) helping my work colleagues - as I have been here the longest they call be Yahoo as I they think I know everything.  I don't mind but sometimes when I have a really tight deadline it can be annoying.

I find women who wear provocative clothing such as short skirts and see through blouses and stinky purfume  they normally like to be noticed.  

I've just started in a new job which I absolutely love but I loathe sitting opposite a really nice lady but who is obviously in love with her other half and has to ring 10 or 12 times a day.  I'm not lying, she comes into the office at 9:30am and calls him to let him know that she got there ok, she'll ring him during the morning quite a few times to remind him to do this that and the other and then just before dinner to find out if he's had anything to eat.  She'll then ring him before she goes to lunch to find out if he wants anything whilst she's out, then she's back from lunch and she rings him to tell him what she's done, various other phone calls during the day and then at 5:30 she rings him to tell him that she's going for the train and she'll ring him when she's near her stop so he can come and pick her up.  It's driving me nuts?!  She's been at the firm 15 years too so is obviously known by everyone but everything is such a drama with her.  I even sit there with my headphones on so I don't have to listen to her going on and on and on and on .............. ARRRGH!

At the moment, it's visitors to my new office.  They want to ask how much stuff I've squeezed in (it's smaller than the last one); can the office dragon around the corner see in (not unless she sticks her head out the window); do I like it (not I b****y don't - it's poky and incredibly hot) .... I could go on.  shutting my door gets the response "Don't you want to talk to anyone then?" to which the answer is frequently a resounding no!  I have work to do!

Who dared to mention chips? Now THAT's distracting!

The most distracting thing in my office is a colleague who has the loudest laugh one could ever imagine.  We can hear her at the other end of the building and, sometimes, outside as well.

Raindance

If I get one of the jobs I'm going for, my husband will be a major distraction! I'd be working in the same building, one floor down, in an office he visits all the time. Not that I'd mind...hee, hee!
Tif

Unfortunately there are loads at my work :(  If I have the window open then the noise from the yard below is astounding, the guy from the shop smokes right under my window (which I intend to stop), if I shut the window then the office turns into a greenhouse :(

As the new face, everyone takes it on themselves to pop in and see me LOL, which is nice but highly irritating, but is slackening a bit.

Cali x

I have the office pest, continually in my office just to chitter chatter, and he has nothing else to do.  When he goes back to his cube, I get emails.  Sheesh, I do have work to do, regardless if bossie is on vacation this week or not, doesn't matter if he is here.  I do give it back once in a while but constant company, I don't need the office rumor mill to start.  I try not to socialize too much while bossie is away as I know we all have work to do, but sheesh short of being a pest...

Other than that, we had the same smoking issue, keep after it, the policy did change, not allowed to smoke within x amount of feet of the office.   Look up on the rules and regulations about it and make it a policy. I work for the CFO of the company and he didn't like it either as it blew right into his office window all year long.  I got it down wind and it was nasty.   He finally got sick of hearing me and smelling it himself and eventually changed the policy.  Good luck with it.

Oh and thanks for letting us know about Chips, I wasn't sure myself.  For us it's popcorn.  Heaven help the person that pops a bag during office hours.  I don't think it's allowed in our office until lunch time for the same reason as your chips.

Diamondlady
Peer Moderator

Edited by diamondlady on 14/07/06 01:57 AM.

People who are on conference calls with their doors open and the speaker volume is all the way up.   The entire call can be heard by everyone.