David Baxter PhD
Late Founder
The Open Office and ADHD: Imperfect Together
by Allison Russo, ADDitude
November 20, 2017
?The first step,? my doctor said, ?is to move out of the co-working space.? I was a business owner at the time, and had just relocated my company to Washington, DC. Before the move, I?d been off meds for two years, managing through yoga, ginseng, and a lot of patience from loved ones. But living and working in a bigger city meant more stimulating surroundings, and it didn?t take long for me to meltdown. I saw a doctor right away, and I told him about my worsening symptoms. He told me to change my office environment? and to change it fast.
The open office environment was designed for collaboration. But when other employers saw how much money they could save by cramming everyone in a single room, open offices went mainstream: 70 percent of American companies now have them.
As an extrovert with ADHD, the open office should have been heaven for me. There are no barriers, no hierarchies, no rules. The open office is a wall-free, cubicle-free room, just desk after desk lined with happy, gleeful workers. Or, as I like to call it, hell.
When you put someone with ADHD in an open office, you might as well throw her paycheck in the trashcan. Because that?s how much value you?re going to get from her work. For people with ADHD, the open office is not a collaborative space. It?s a loud, chaotic wasteland.
Adults with ADHD love to collaborate, don?t get me wrong. We are collaborating geniuses. Our boundless creativity means no one will put together a better marketing plan, strategize a better way to take down the competition, or forecast where an industry is heading better than someone with ADHD. Please don?t stunt our talent by making us work in a distracting free for all.
When we are crammed in room with 30 worker bees, we can?t concentrate on the job you hired us to do. How could we? The person in front of us is on the phone, the guy across the room is grinding coffee, and the lady to our left won?t stop popping her gum. And if you?d really like to ensure we get nothing done, throw in an office dog.
It?s unfair to put unneeded obstacles in an employee?s path. And when my doctor showed me how unfair, I moved my company into a traditional environment the very next day.
But not everyone can make her employer move. Not everyone can go to their boss and demand a room with a door that shuts. ADHD or no ADHD, we have to be realistic.
If you have been diagnosed but don?t have the power to change your office floor plan, what can you do?
I won?t tell you to wear headphones. Someone?s probably given you that advice already and ? if you?re like me ? you know they aren?t enough. You deserve better than a life of distracting yourself in order to avoid distraction.
Elaine Taylor-Klaus, coach and co-founder at ImpactADHD, has advice: ?I have a client who asked her manager if she could use a conference room when she has ?brain work? to do, like writing?.She?s not asking not to do the writing, only to be able to do it in a location that helps her focus.?
It may also help to remind your boss that ADHDers aren?t the only ones who suffer in open office environments. BBC reports that open offices lower workplace productivity by 15 percent, even when people don?t have ADHD. A University of Sydney study revealed that 25-30 percent of employees in an open office find the noise level too distracting. And the Washington Post says, ?The open-office trend is destroying the workplace.?
Open offices may destroy productivity, but you don?t have to let them destroy you. Have an honest talk with your doctor about your work environment and how it affects your self-esteem, productivity, and personal threshold for outside stimuli. Everyone with ADHD is different: Find what works, and is healthy, for you.
by Allison Russo, ADDitude
November 20, 2017
?The first step,? my doctor said, ?is to move out of the co-working space.? I was a business owner at the time, and had just relocated my company to Washington, DC. Before the move, I?d been off meds for two years, managing through yoga, ginseng, and a lot of patience from loved ones. But living and working in a bigger city meant more stimulating surroundings, and it didn?t take long for me to meltdown. I saw a doctor right away, and I told him about my worsening symptoms. He told me to change my office environment? and to change it fast.
The open office environment was designed for collaboration. But when other employers saw how much money they could save by cramming everyone in a single room, open offices went mainstream: 70 percent of American companies now have them.
As an extrovert with ADHD, the open office should have been heaven for me. There are no barriers, no hierarchies, no rules. The open office is a wall-free, cubicle-free room, just desk after desk lined with happy, gleeful workers. Or, as I like to call it, hell.
When you put someone with ADHD in an open office, you might as well throw her paycheck in the trashcan. Because that?s how much value you?re going to get from her work. For people with ADHD, the open office is not a collaborative space. It?s a loud, chaotic wasteland.
Adults with ADHD love to collaborate, don?t get me wrong. We are collaborating geniuses. Our boundless creativity means no one will put together a better marketing plan, strategize a better way to take down the competition, or forecast where an industry is heading better than someone with ADHD. Please don?t stunt our talent by making us work in a distracting free for all.
When we are crammed in room with 30 worker bees, we can?t concentrate on the job you hired us to do. How could we? The person in front of us is on the phone, the guy across the room is grinding coffee, and the lady to our left won?t stop popping her gum. And if you?d really like to ensure we get nothing done, throw in an office dog.
It?s unfair to put unneeded obstacles in an employee?s path. And when my doctor showed me how unfair, I moved my company into a traditional environment the very next day.
But not everyone can make her employer move. Not everyone can go to their boss and demand a room with a door that shuts. ADHD or no ADHD, we have to be realistic.
If you have been diagnosed but don?t have the power to change your office floor plan, what can you do?
I won?t tell you to wear headphones. Someone?s probably given you that advice already and ? if you?re like me ? you know they aren?t enough. You deserve better than a life of distracting yourself in order to avoid distraction.
Elaine Taylor-Klaus, coach and co-founder at ImpactADHD, has advice: ?I have a client who asked her manager if she could use a conference room when she has ?brain work? to do, like writing?.She?s not asking not to do the writing, only to be able to do it in a location that helps her focus.?
It may also help to remind your boss that ADHDers aren?t the only ones who suffer in open office environments. BBC reports that open offices lower workplace productivity by 15 percent, even when people don?t have ADHD. A University of Sydney study revealed that 25-30 percent of employees in an open office find the noise level too distracting. And the Washington Post says, ?The open-office trend is destroying the workplace.?
Open offices may destroy productivity, but you don?t have to let them destroy you. Have an honest talk with your doctor about your work environment and how it affects your self-esteem, productivity, and personal threshold for outside stimuli. Everyone with ADHD is different: Find what works, and is healthy, for you.
