[colanderman]

If I manage to find somewhere in our open office to get work done in solitude, every individual who walks by feels the need to comment "oh, colanderman, you must be trying to get work done! Well I guess I'll leave you alone". It is so. Goddamn. Annoying. Like seriously, the fuck people, you don't need to vocalize every thought that pops into your head.

The only two solutions I've found are to (a) legitimately book a conference room, or (b) work from home. Except the latter reminds me how futile it is to spend such a short life working for someone else during all the beautiful hours of the day.

[jason_slack]

or those that don't check that a conf room is already booked and just show up expecting it to be empty. You still have that interruption "oh, I didn't know someone was using this room, sorry".

[colanderman]

Unless I lock the door and/or hide in a corner, I've found that that interruption at least tends to resolve itself quickly and doesn't interrupt my flow. People react more predictably and reliably to familiar scenarios.

[lewisflude]

Locking the door is always an option I guess!

[colanderman]

I've done that. It makes it worse. You get confused people jiggling the handle, knocking, and looking inside, as they try to enter the conference room they didn't book, after which you need to unlock the door, and explain to them that you locked the door to avoid interruptions, can they please go away and research the social signal a locked door is meant to convey.

The trick is you need to look unremarkable, yet also uninterruptible. I think the best strategy (short of finding an employer that values productivity) is to team up with someone else who values getting work done, and book a conference room with them. That way it looks like you're "having a meeting" and no-one will ask vapid questions.

Better still, dial your cell phone with the room's conference phone, so it looks like it's "on" to anyone peering through the door's window, and sit with your back to the door. People are less likely to try to take over the conference room if it looks like it's complicated to get you to vacate.

[muzani]

You need a door, which sadly, most offices don't have.