Dealing with smells

Are there any smells that you like? You know how coroners rub Vapo-rub under their noses when dealing with bodies ( ;-) ), maybe you could have something pleasant smelling with you that you can sniff? Or rub on your hands to smell? I'm thinking mostly for situations at work if you can't just get up and go away from the smell

Yes good idea - I'm not sure what smell to go for though. Needs to be something strong enough to block the others out, but not strong enough to be annoying itself.

At home I've been known to burn incense sticks to cope with the late night fry-ups, these annoy my wife but thankfully I can use them in my hobby room.

Also once famously sprayed deodorant over my shoulder towards someone eating fish in the office :-) to keep the fishy smell away.

Maybe I should just bring a can of Oust to work :-)

Yes good idea - I'm not sure what smell to go for though. Needs to be something strong enough to block the others out, but not strong enough to be annoying itself.

At home I've been known to burn incense sticks to cope with the late night fry-ups, these annoy my wife but thankfully I can use them in my hobby room.

Also once famously sprayed deodorant over my shoulder towards someone eating fish in the office :-) to keep the fishy smell away.

Maybe I should just bring a can of Oust to work :-)

I've been talking to the office managers / admins about noise recently and there isn't a policy as such just occasional reminders. Food isn't covered apart from cleaning up after yourself in the kitchen.

I really struggle with asking directly as it seems so trivial to most people.

Most offices frown upon people eating smelly food at their desks...

I'd check if there's an official policy & if there is maybe get HR to put a 'gentle reminder' out to everyone.

If that fails you could ask serial offenders directly if they'd mind not eating fish in the office (do you have a designated canteen space?)

If you do take the direct approach I bet you get people thanking you.

You could always put an anonymous note on the office fridge as well - I wrote a huge 'passive aggressive' (hold the 'passive') note on an 8 foot long whiteboard that I positioned by the side of my team's desks when someone kept taking calls standing there wearing headphones and talking VERY LOUDLY into the microphone...

It worked wonders! 

Sometimes I think that air fresheners smell worse than what they are supposed to be covering up! Smells can definitely give you a headache - someone in my office sprayed really nasty perfume all over herself (in the office - surely that is something for the bathroom??) and I instantly got a migraine.

I keep a cotton scarf in my drawer that I will put across my face and breathe through in the even of any bad smells at work. It's surprising how much of the odour that prevents from making it into your nose. OK, you look like a bit of a freak, but I'd rather that than end up feeling ill. You could maybe get away with the same with a handkerchief, perhaps with something you actually like the smell of on it?

I have tried breathing through  my mouth instead of my nose, but that doesn't work. If the smell is strong enough, I can taste it too!