Survived my first day back − 7 July, 2008
I returned to work today with some misgivings. I had done some hand editing at home the day before, and had experienced tingling in my fingers. This caused me to worry quite a bit about whether I was really ready. But I’ve been away for such a long time, how could I not be ready yet? So I went in, figuring if things went really badly, we’d have to reevaluate.
It was almost the best possible circumstances. Not from a productivity point of view, no certainly not that. But from a mental health point of view, it was fantastic. My "chatty colleague", the main person responsible for my cube being so noisy, was on vacation. He and I have historically had a good relationship. He, my "esteemed colleague", another fellow, and I are a sort of clique within our little department.
However, as my chatty colleague has grown increasingly unhappy with his job and the organization, he has become increasingly chatty with our esteemed colleague, who sits in the cube right next to me. Our esteemed colleague isn’t just some guy. He is everybody’s favorite. I’m sure we would all love to talk to him all day long. I don’t, because I have a job to do and so does he. We carve out time to talk, and call it a coffee break. Sometimes we chat at work, but most of the time, when I’m at work, I am working. My chatty colleague, on the other hand, sometimes does talk to our esteemed colleague all day long, or least, it seems that way.
His constant interruption of our esteemed colleague is what has been sending me fleeing to conference rooms. So with him absent, I had a stress-free day. Granted, I didn’t have to think. If I had had to think, then the ambient noises of the cube space would have forced me to use my headphones since they were unpredictable in their occurrence. But I probably could have been pretty productive.
My chatty colleague returns tomorrow. I have to find a way to explain to him that his chattering must be quieter. I can hardly ask him to chatter less, although I certainly wish I could. I noticed that today, my esteemed colleague had a very heads down day, and probably go a lot more done than he would have if my chatty colleague had been present.
As much as I like David, sometimes I wonder when he ever does his job. From what I can tell, it is when Paul is somewhere else.
It was almost the best possible circumstances. Not from a productivity point of view, no certainly not that. But from a mental health point of view, it was fantastic. My "chatty colleague", the main person responsible for my cube being so noisy, was on vacation. He and I have historically had a good relationship. He, my "esteemed colleague", another fellow, and I are a sort of clique within our little department.
However, as my chatty colleague has grown increasingly unhappy with his job and the organization, he has become increasingly chatty with our esteemed colleague, who sits in the cube right next to me. Our esteemed colleague isn’t just some guy. He is everybody’s favorite. I’m sure we would all love to talk to him all day long. I don’t, because I have a job to do and so does he. We carve out time to talk, and call it a coffee break. Sometimes we chat at work, but most of the time, when I’m at work, I am working. My chatty colleague, on the other hand, sometimes does talk to our esteemed colleague all day long, or least, it seems that way.
His constant interruption of our esteemed colleague is what has been sending me fleeing to conference rooms. So with him absent, I had a stress-free day. Granted, I didn’t have to think. If I had had to think, then the ambient noises of the cube space would have forced me to use my headphones since they were unpredictable in their occurrence. But I probably could have been pretty productive.
My chatty colleague returns tomorrow. I have to find a way to explain to him that his chattering must be quieter. I can hardly ask him to chatter less, although I certainly wish I could. I noticed that today, my esteemed colleague had a very heads down day, and probably go a lot more done than he would have if my chatty colleague had been present.
As much as I like David, sometimes I wonder when he ever does his job. From what I can tell, it is when Paul is somewhere else.
Comments:
edunn (July 8, 2008. 01:17am)
Poor esteemed colleague and you! Maybe he needs to be put in an office to save the rest of you!!!
peahayes (August 29, 2008. 12:08am)
When I made this private, I revealed the esteemed colleague's name - Paul.