Music and other distractions

Why is it difficult to work in the office?

Bartosz Mikulski 18 Jan 2019 – 1 min read

A few years ago, I worked with someone who claimed that listening to music at work is unprofessional. I was surprised because we worked in a huge open-space office with 40 other people. I had to wear headphones and listen to loud music to get any work done. Now, I work in a smaller team, but I still need headphones and loud music.

What have we done to our offices? Somehow we turned our workplaces into places where no actual work can be done. It is not always like this. At home, I don’t listen to music while working. I can’t do it. At home, music is a huge distraction. In the office, I cannot function without it.

Can we somehow deal with distractions? The Pomodoro technique was supposed to be the solution. Sure, it works flawlessly when I work from home. Even now, I use it while writing this blog post. Try using it in an office. Try persuading other people to respect your Pomodoro time.

In the office, I use Pomodoro only as a reminder to take breaks and avoid sitting for a long time. Sure, the interactions and communication with the team are crucial. Don’t you think that having time to get the work done is important too?

According to the last StackOverflow survey, working remotely is in the top 5 job priorities. Maybe it is not only the way to join diverse and exciting projects. Perhaps remote work is not just something that helps maintain life/work balance. What if we need it to get anything done?

Music and other distractions

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