Tuned out

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

I work in an environment where half the staff sit at their computer wearing earphones and listening to their iPod. Presumably they’re listening to their favourite tracks while dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s.  As someone who was brought up being told that I couldn’t listen to my music while I do my homework I can’t help but look askance at this.

Besides the dubious benefits to productivity, the fact is that this is a bad look and pretty anti-social. Now the office is not meant to be an overtly social environment, but the fact remains that most people work as part of a team. Not only should their work integrate into the work of the whole, they should be seen to be part of the team. Wearing earphones in the office puts barriers between people and weakens the team ethos, if only cosmetically.

You might think that someone like me who is always listening to something and who spends half their life plugged into an iPod would applaud this. Clearly I don’t. I feel like a bit of an old fashioned stick in the mud, but my view ultimately is that I’m being paid to do a job, not listen to music. I find it hard to believe that efficiency is not impeded by the distractions of music – or worse still, talk.

It seems a sign of the times though. I went the other day to have a chat to one of the managers and was surprised to find him sitting at his desk listening to his iPod. It had me re-considering my position, and taking the view that this is not an aberration, but rather the way it is becoming. I asked myself, do I stand on principle and deign the pleasure, or do I join the throng?

There’s no doubt I would love to listen to my favourite music while I worked. In some ways it is easier for me to justify than most as I work independently – I’m not part of a team. It would certainly help alleviate much of the boredom I often experience as I wait for the slow moving cogs to do a revolution.

Frankly I’m undecided, but suspect that for all my resistance I’ll end up joining the rush. It’s not a good look, but if everyone else is doing it why should I miss out?