Because Apparently “Walls” Were Just Holding Us Back.
Ah, the open office: a modern architectural masterpiece designed to increase “collaboration,” “transparency,” and “accidental conversations by the snack cupboard.”
In reality? It’s a productivity demolition zone, especially if you have ADHD and require, you know, a functioning attention span.
Let’s be clear: ADHD and open-plan offices go together like Wi-Fi and microwaves. Technically, they can coexist, but expect frequent interference, glitchy performance, and the occasional existential meltdown.
If you’re a marketer with ADHD trying to survive in an open office, congratulations, you’ve basically been dropped into a live-action simulation of every distraction known to humanity.
Here’s your (slightly sarcastic but very real) survival guide:
- Headphones: Your Portable Office Walls
Your headphones are no longer just for music. They are your fortress. Your sacred boundary. Your passive-aggressive sign that you are not available to discuss Dave’s new standing desk setup.
🛑 Rule #1: Noise-cancelling or bust.
🎶 Rule #2: Instrumentals > lyrics. Otherwise, you’ll be singing instead of writing that campaign brief.
If possible, create a playlist called “Please Stop Talking to Me”—the algorithm will understand.
- Pick Your Desk Like You’re Choosing a Sniper Position
You don’t want to be:
Near the printer (constant noise)
Near the door (constant movement)
Near the kitchen (constant snack-based small talk)
Your ideal position? Back to the wall, farthest from traffic, ideally under a broken fluorescent light no one wants to sit near. Yes, you’re nesting. Yes, it’s absolutely necessary.
Pro tip: plants = natural barriers. Build your leafy fortress.
- Master the Art of the Strategic Disengage
Nothing screams “please distract me” like making eye contact with a bored colleague who just “wants to pick your brain.”
Have a line ready. Something professional, yet firm.
Like:
“I’m in a focus block right now—can we chat later?”
Or if you’re feeling spicy:
“If I don’t finish this today, I’ll have to start a new career. So… rain check?”
Bonus: say it while slowly putting your headphones back in, one earbud at a time. Assert dominance.
- Use Tools to Simulate Sanity
Your brain is already juggling creative concepts, client deadlines, and the sudden urge to reorganise your desktop folders. Let technology help:
🧠 Pomodoro timers: Trick your brain into believing time is real.
🧱 Browser blockers: Because the ADHD urge to Google “how do seagulls sleep” mid-project is eternal.
📅 Time-blocked calendars: Not just pretty colours, actual lifelines. Especially when everyone keeps saying, “It’ll only take five minutes.”
(It never takes five minutes.)
- Book “Fake” Meetings… with Yourself
Open offices weren’t built for uninterrupted work. So trick the system.
Create calendar events titled “Client Strategy Session” or “Q3 Content Sync” that are actually just you, hiding in a meeting room, getting actual work done without Karen narrating her lunch.
No one questions meetings. It’s the workplace’s one sacred cow. Use it.
- Embrace the Power of Strategic Chaos
Let’s be honest, you’ll never be the person with a colour-coded drawer and inbox zero. But that’s okay. Your ADHD brain may thrive on creative chaos, as long as you set your own systems.
Lean into what works:
Sticky notes everywhere? Great.
Giant whiteboard full of scribbles? Brilliant.
Three tabs open per task, each for a different level of panic? Iconic.
You do you. Just make sure your chaos contains your genius, not buries it.
- Be Honest (With Boundaries)
If you’re comfortable, share with your manager or team how open offices affect your focus. You don’t have to perform your attention span for others’ comfort.
Something like:
“I’m most productive with fewer interruptions, so I may work in a quiet space or use headphones during deep-focus tasks.”
It’s not an apology. It’s a professional boundary. Delivered with grace. And maybe a passive-aggressive mug that says, “This is my listening face, not my talking face.”
You’re Not Broken, The Office Is.
Let’s be real: open office plans were probably invented by someone who wanted to spy on their employees and had never once had an original thought interrupted by someone asking, “What time’s lunch?”
If you’re a marketer with ADHD, you bring immense value: fast thinking, deep creativity, unfiltered brilliance. You deserve a workspace that supports your brain, not one that feels like you’re working from inside a shopping mall.
So build your fortress. Claim your fake meeting room. Defend your focus like the sacred treasure it is.
And when in doubt? Headphones. Always.
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