How can you improve your work environment?

Question

Work environment vary wildly. Some lucky few have the luxury of private offices while most of us are situated in some version or other of the open office space.

I'm looking for hints and tips of what each and every one of us can do, regardless of the details of your office layout, to improve our work environment. I realize there are always problems that you can not do much about and your boss refuses to solve, but what I'm looking for here are things that each and every professional developer can do.

What do you do to keep your focus up if your environment is loud? What are the small things you do during the workday to keep feeling comfortable through long programming sessions? How do you set up your equipment the best way?

Please share your best "Pimp my desk" experiences.

Answer 1

See also

What is the best physical operating environment for a developer

Keyboard for programmers

More keyboards for programmers

Good headphones for a noisy office

What tools/techniques can benefit a solo developer?

What is the best physical operating environment for a developer

Answer 2

I picked up a good set of headphones so that I can use them to block out the background noise and chatter. It really helps when I've got to get really deep into something.

The only reason it works is that I make sure I'm still available for people when they need me for questions and such, I just get them to IM me first.

Answer 3

1. Take breaks regularly. Not that many people do.
2. Plants are good if you have sunlight.
3. Talk and get on with co-workers!
4. Work somewhere that isn't authoritarian, and which allows casual web surfing, etc.
5. Don't have a phone!

Answer 4

Pick a real pretty and young secretary ;)

No, really, I think that the most important things are:

• a comfortable chair
• two brilliant LCD displays
• a good keyboard (I prefer IBM orDELL)
• headphones to shut down noisy coworkers

Answer 5

Being interrupted by a noisy office is something I really hate. So, I bought a set of ear-defenders to keep out office noise. Bizarre, I know, but it does the job.

I highly recommend the Peltor Optima III ear defenders. Wearing them helps me to concentrate and also acts as a highly visible "Do Not Disturb" sign.

Answer 6

The following are some things that I have found helpful:

• Headphones but not the open ear kind, closed ones that don't bug the rest of the office
• A mesh backed chair to keep you cool
• Dual monitors or at the very least a big single monitor. Our work was finally convinced that all developers needed these to be more productive and I will never go back
• A fast internet connection, internet should be more available than air

Answer 7

I set my screen height "high" to stop me slumping in the chair; sitting up straight stops you falling asleep and is a lot better for your back.

I hide me pens at lunch time so they are there when I come back from eating.

I planned to keep 15 minutes a day to tidy and class the piles on my desk (still try to squeeze it in though).

Long programming sessions always involve a compile session or importing test data that takes a couple of minutes. So I get away from the screen and stretch my legs. This helps in the long run.

Answer 8

Use a noice cancelling headphone (look here), encourage your collegues not to disturb you every 5 minutes.

And do not check your email account every minute. Turn off auto notification and check emails twice a day.

Yes, i know especially the last point is a hard challenge!

Answer 9

I don't really mind shared office spaces as long as you sit together with people who are on the same project. But if you share space you do need enough separate rooms to have telephone conversations and meetings. This will at least get the noise-level down a bit.

Having things like daily stand-up meetings can also cut down on the number of ad-hoc meetings that you need.

If you have a coffee corner then it's a good idea to get some chairs or even sofa's there so people can blow off steam somewhere else than in the shared working-space.

Try to get some people to do walks during lunch. This is a good way to get some informal face-time and get everyone's energy up.

Developers usually try to get the biggest development boxes they can get. I find that performance is usually good enough with most computers and that it's usually better to spend more of the budget on bigger monitors and low noise boxes than on bigger processors (memory is still important though.)

Answer 10

Adjust your chair. Feet should be flat on floor as a minimum. If you can't adjust it be inventive, get a cushion or jack up the desk.

Be concious of your posture. Slouching shoulders and leaning into the monitor for long periods is bad.

Learn how to tune out from noise. One technique is relaxation exercise. Train yourself to relax in your own time by lying down with eyes closed (preferbly darkened room, mood music optional) and go into your own imaginanion feel yourself sinking into the floor.

Keep your desk organised. In, current, out, archive. Purge the archive regularly and ruthlessly.

Break your eyes away from the monitor hourly and vary your focus by looking elsewhere for a few minutes. Have a stretch.

Regular energetic exercise of one form or another is great for avoiding tiredness. Keep some fresh fruit always to hand on yuor desk.

Invest in an office toy.

Remember: 1.No-one on their deathbed says: "I wish I'd spent more time at the office." 2. Apart from life and death matters, nothing is that important.

Learn how to make Scoubidou it works wonders for strengthening RSI/Typing weary hands and wrists. (Well.. does for me anyway)

Answer 11

The one thing I purchased recently that has made the most difference was my Aeron. I'd been looking at them for years but always balked at the price. Finally, after months of coming home from work and not wanting to sit infront of my computer anymore, I broke down and got it. Now when I get home it's a joy to sit infront of the computer again. The mesh back and lock-forward positioning are my two favorite things. It is no longer fatiguing to sit!

Answer 12

On the topic of headphones, don't shell out the big bucks for active noise canceling ones. Get some canal phones instead, they're like earbuds but are actually inserted into your ear canal a bit rather than just resting outside of it. This has two great benefits:

1. They fill and block your ear canal, drastically reducing environmental noise.
2. Thanks to the noise reduction, you can listen to your music quieter and it sounds louder and more clear, which is good for your ears.

I got a pair of Skull Candy-branded ones at Staples a while back for $13 and they're probably the best headphones I've ever owned, though to be fair I've never spent for than about $50 on a pair.

It also takes a bit of adjustment getting used to having something stuck in your ear, but totally worth it.

Answer 13

2 things:

• Good music in the headphones
• Frequent breaks

Answer 14

The office is a place to work and not hang out, chat, play games, or any other 'living' activities. Do your job and go live your life.

Get rid of as much as you can off of your desk: phone, keyboard, mouse, monitor, notepad, pencil (See: Zen Habits.

Have headphones ready if you need them.

Let others know how important it is to be left alone when you're in the zone.