I like the idea of having firmly established and signalled boundaries in the workplace regarding interruptions.
The problem with headphones is that I tend to have mine on all day because I like listening to music while I work.
My coworker has a small flagpole on his desk with a red flag that says "DO NOT DISTURB."
A friend at another company tends to wear ear plugs while he works, and he built a little red/green light to notify people.
Be it with headphones, flags, or lights, I'm with you. The expectation that we need to be immediately accessible is pretty disruptive, and it's not that difficult to leave an asynchronous message so that people can get back to you when their schedule allows.
I like the idea of having firmly established and signalled boundaries in the workplace regarding interruptions.
The problem with headphones is that I tend to have mine on all day because I like listening to music while I work.
My coworker has a small flagpole on his desk with a red flag that says "DO NOT DISTURB."
A friend at another company tends to wear ear plugs while he works, and he built a little red/green light to notify people.
Be it with headphones, flags, or lights, I'm with you. The expectation that we need to be immediately accessible is pretty disruptive, and it's not that difficult to leave an asynchronous message so that people can get back to you when their schedule allows.
Yes, that's definitely the issue with headphones, if you're accustomed to wearing them all day.