You can’t pick your family, and it’s usually the same with your coworkers—it’s often just the luck of the draw whether you wind up spending your workdays with wonderful people or annoying ones. That means there’s likely to be at least one person in your office who sets your teeth on edge.
Maybe it’s someone with a strong opinion on just about everything who takes the liberty of voicing it all the time. Maybe it’s just their work habits—like sending a million emails to resolve an issue when it really only takes one or two. Or maybe it’s just the way they crack their knuckles, snap their gum, or hum to themselves while you’re trying to work.
When your biggest office distractions aren’t things like Slack or meetings or your own Facebook account but other people, your options for getting back on track may feel limited. The bad news is that they are pretty limited; when you get down to it, there are really only two potential courses of action open to you. The good news, on the other hand, is that you don’t need to learn a complicated mind hack to help you focus or to download yet another productivity app. Here’s a straightforward guide to prevent your irritating colleagues from driving you crazy.