"I am far more productive at work if I stay in the office late after everyone else has gone home and the phones aren't ringing. Staying late isn't for everyone, but it works for me. My new colleague, who has more experience than me and could be a great resource, will sometimes stay late as well. But she has a habit that is crashing my productivity."
"She pops by my office to say goodbye, but she talks for at least 20 minutes. She talks; we don't have conversations. She complains about the support staff, the clients, and the firm's business model. It's not that she's wrong about these things, it's that I don't care, and more importantly, she's interrupted my focus. Please give me a script for cutting this lost time down. Shutting the door makes my office too hot, so it's not an option."
"The nature of the modern office is such that it's almost impossible to get actual work done-the kind of work where you need to focus on something for more than five minutes without being interrupted by a meeting, a call, a colleague just stopping by to chat, or endless notifications from Slack. So I truly empathize with your desire to take advantage of the after-hours quiet, and how annoying it is that your colleague is so disruptive."
Working late after others leave provides quiet for deep focus, but a colleague's habitual 20-minute goodbye visits and complaints disrupt productivity. The colleague criticizes support staff, clients, and the firm's business model, interrupting concentration even if the criticisms are valid. Practical responses include politely cutting conversations short by saying one is in the middle of an important task and postponing the talk until morning, pretending to be on the phone, wearing headphones, or briefly closing the door during the usual departure time. Modern offices make extended focus difficult due to meetings, calls, drop-ins, and constant notifications, making after-hours strategies valuable.
Read at Slate Magazine
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