Open plan offices can make you MISERABLE: Seeing colleagues all day leads to distraction and irritation, say scientists.

DongFeng5 has summarised the open-plan office dilemma well already, but from a personal experience, I hate them!

I never worked in an open plan office until I started my current job, which I have continued to struggle and adapt to.  Head count has increased substantially as well, to the point the office is out of room and we are crammed in like battery hens.  The noise, varying activities and general hustle and bustle is a nightmare to contend with.  I do wonder if this is related to my increase in shutdowns as they have become more frequent as head count has increased.

DongFeng5 has summarised the open-plan office dilemma well already, but from a personal experience, I hate them!

I never worked in an open plan office until I started my current job, which I have continued to struggle and adapt to.  Head count has increased substantially as well, to the point the office is out of room and we are crammed in like battery hens.  The noise, varying activities and general hustle and bustle is a nightmare to contend with.  I do wonder if this is related to my increase in shutdowns as they have become more frequent as head count has increased.

Your office environment may well be contributing to your triggers.

I have worked in "cubes", open plan, and also team-centric rooms with doors. The latter is by far the best, and open plan by far the worst.

You may well find that your colleagues (be they NT or ND) are similarly frustrated by their physical environment.

Does your office have a culture of "workers taking matters into their own hands"? Typically you only need one or two peeved individuals to act as "thought leaders" for the wider office to embark on improving their surroundings.

Poorly placed air conditioning vents have their airflow redirected with home-made deflectors made from cardboard.

Distractions in your peripheral vision can be eliminated by bringing in and strategically placing a pot plant or stuffed toy.

Audible distractions are best dealt with via a set of closed-back headphones that enclose the entire ear.

Unwanted visitors can be managed by the introduction of a semaphore or token system. People that do finally get to your desk can then be made to talk to the stuffed toy before you will assist them with their problems...

All this and more is entirely possible, depending upon how oppressive the underlying culture in your office really is.

I also have to say from a personal experience that I hate open plan offices.

I also continue to struggle.

The noise, varying activities and general hustle and bustle is a nightmare to contend with.