Dealing with “Life in a Cubicle!”

Living in a cubicle is no-fun …. Unless you make it that way!

How to Survive and Thrive:

Too much noise: Start by setting your computer to play soothing music or nature sounds lightly in the background so that you can barely hear it, but it counteracts the other disturbing noise. Try it! Play with the volume and sounds until you get it right. Set some favorites up in Windows media player. The shuffle feature will keep it fresh.

Interruptions: There are always people who are going nowhere fast in their career, and want you to join them! Don’t fall for it!

Here are a few techniques you can use:

1) If someone starts chatting with you, tell them you want to give them your full attention, but have to finish something up first. Set a time for them to stop back … they almost never will … and if they are early or late… tell them you haven’t finished or that you waited for them for 5 minutes, then started another project. Give them another time to stop back. See how this game is played? They will likely start bugging other targets more and you less.

2) Have them walk with you to another location, such as the copy machine, tell them what a great time you had chatting with them, and then leave them there.

3) Ask them to help you with a project you are working on. They want to chat to avoid work, this will have them either helping you or running for the hills – I don’t care which!

4) If they are of the opposite sex, talk briefly, then excuse yourself to go to the bathroom. Works like a charm!

Sterile Environment: Put up some motivational quotes and pictures in your cubicle. Also post one or two pictures of your family or loved ones to remind you why you work so hard. I also always had a picture of a peaceful scene that relaxed me.

Stiffness: 1) Buy your own chair! 2) Get a back massager to go over your chair .. charge people a $1.00 to sit there for 5 minutes! 3) Get up and stretch periodically. 4) Get outside for 2-3 minutes every hour! This is a huge boost psychologically. We need to see the outdoors and the sun, we are designed this way. Fully 15-25% of the country suffers from seasonal adjustment due to this … the rest are just stressed!

Network: One of the few good things about cubicle environments are there are lots of people near by who can be resources! Collect their basic personal information and send them cards on the web and occasional information you run across that may be of interest. This way you build the relationship and they will remember you fondly when you need a contact or resource. They might even be able to help you find your next job!