My work environment sucks and it affects my productivity.

[TBA]

I'm a programmer for a major company. I work at a client site. They have us (a team) in a bleak dirty windowless room that use to be a break room. I sit in the corner and code with constant mostly meaningless chatter going on around me. I struggle to maintain my train of thought.

It is like asking someone to play chess in an elementary school cafeteria.

It pisses me off to think I might have to shell out my hard earned dollars to get noise canceling headphones.

Love the company I work for but hate this project work site.

How about you? What is your work environment like?

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

1. I started out coding in a converted attic.

Crappy lighting, quiet as a tomb, depressing.

Eventually got moved to a cubical in an office environment with one wall all windows, such that we almost never bothered to turn on overhead lights until the sun had set (or hadn't risen, depending.) That was a lot nicer, but still fairly quiet, thankfully. Just the constant noise from the fans of a score or so of servers in the room.

[jeffrey_pdx]

2. Check out Quiet:The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking

Written by Susan Cain
I personally can't work as efficiently when tons of people are chatting, etc.
I used to work in an "open office".
I'd come in early just to focus and and get whatever I needed to get done without distractions. If I had to have a meeting, I was prepared by the time they showed up (usually later than we agreed).

[eveeve]

3. bad

one word, bad