Surviving the open-plan office: How to reset a tired brain right at your desk

The office never quite falls silent

Eva puts on her headphones and tries to finish an important presentation. The moment she sinks into the work, someone asks a colleague about their weekend plans. A phone rings. A meeting reminder pops up. Several people walk past behind her, and the printer starts producing more documents.

There is nothing unusual about this. This is what an ordinary day looks like in many offices. The biggest problem isn't the noise itself. It is the number of small interruptions that constantly force us to switch our attention. In the evening you then go home feeling that you were doing something all day, and yet you never got to what mattered most.

The greatest energy thief is called interruption

When someone interrupts us in the middle of concentrating, we don't return to where we left off. The brain first has to find the thread of the thought again, recall the context, and only then continue. A single moment like that lasts only a few seconds. Over the course of a day, though, it can happen dozens or even hundreds of times. No wonder we feel tired in the afternoon, even though we have been sitting in a chair all day. Many people therefore think they need another coffee. In reality, their mind often needs something quite different. A short pause without any further stimulation.

i Tým autorů Calmory

Two minutes of calm in the middle of the office

You don't need to look for an empty room or leave the building. Close the document for a moment, silence the notifications on your phone, and place both feet on the floor. Take three slow breaths. Soften your shoulders, which may have been raised almost unnoticed for several hours already. Let your eyes rest on one spot for a moment, or close them briefly if the setting allows. Then drink some water. Even when working in an air-conditioned office, people often forget to drink, even though drinking enough water supports both concentration and mental performance.

In two minutes the office will not change. What will change is the way you experience it.

Calm is not a place. It is a skill.

Many people wait until there is silence around them. But a moment like that may never come in an open-plan office. Learning to find calm in the middle of the bustle is a skill that is useful well beyond work. It helps when travelling, while waiting for an important meeting, and on ordinary days when everything is happening at once.

The open-plan office is unlikely to disappear. We can, however, change the way we respond to it. That is where the strength of a short meditation lies. It doesn't need perfect conditions. A few minutes are enough, during which we stop fighting the world around us and turn our attention towards ourselves for a while.

i Tým autorů Calmory

In closing

A busy office doesn't have to stand in the way of a short pause. Sometimes that is exactly where the greatest need to slow down arises. Two minutes of mindful breathing, a glass of water, and a brief rest for the eyes can be what decides whether you merely get through the afternoon, or work with greater calm and focus.

Calmory recommends

Whenever during the day you feel your attention beginning to fray, don't reach for another coffee first. Close your work document for two minutes, drink a few sips of water, take three slow breaths, and briefly relax your shoulders and your jaw. A short pause can be the quickest reset you give yourself during the working day.