Went to the office to meet my colleagues and collaborate with my teammates. It was nice, but also quite unproductive due to all the noise.

Back in my days (haha) or even back in our previous office, people used to go into a meeting room or a phone room for longer online meetings. Now everyone was just doing their meetings out in the open working area. At one point I was literally surrounded by meetings, sitting in the middle of a triangle of meetings, plus there was one person who was listening to music on speakers. Like of course everyone wants to hear your music while they’re trying to work. And when people have got their headphones on, they’re usually even louder than when talking to someone right next to them, probably because they don’t hear themselves. It was like trying to work at a train station.

I wish I could use headphones but they give me a headache. And in my mind it’s the people making the noise who should adjust their behaviour in an office environment, not the ones who want some quiet.

I feel like an old curmudgeon. It’s not like I can tell everyone to just please keep it down, people are working here. Although I kind of wanted to.

It was very nice and quiet after five, though, when most folks had gone home.