Anxiety and noise and work

itchyfeet123

theshoefairy wrote: »

I just wondered of other people's opinions on this and whether I am overreacting. Would it be worth going to my doctor for a note re the noise? It sounds silly I know but I just can't deal with it.

As a practical suggestion, and assuming you have some kind of job where you're mainly working on a computer, have you thought about a pair of noise cancelling headphones? The good ones can be pricey, but it sounds like they could make a real difference.

Sarastro

I do think your employer has been reasonable, if a bit blunt about it. The holiday and promotion issues are fair enough and I think they've acted consistently. I would go back to occupational health about the noise issue - forget the seating bit because if it were quiet, you wouldn't have a problem (right?!) with that seat so they should address the noise. You could put forward some suggestion e.g acoustic screens which aren't very expensive as a solution. Don't forget anxiety brings with it all sorts of disastrous thinking patterns and maybe find ways to say things that the employer might find easier to deal with (e.g the noise is distracting me from my work and I can't hear people on the phone properly rather than, the noise is going to make me anxious). They should know how to deal with anxiety but they don't (although they are trying).

WobblyDog

itchyfeet123 wrote: »

As a practical suggestion, and assuming you have some kind of job where you're mainly working on a computer, have you thought about a pair of noise cancelling headphones? The good ones can be pricey, but it sounds like they could make a real difference.

Another vote for noise cancelling-headphones. They are unfortunately necessary in the increasingly noisy and crowded offices that employers favour these days. I prefer the Bose over-ear type.

It's also possible to buy noise-cancelling headets with integrated microphones, for making telephone calls, but you would have to find ones compatible with your employer's phone system.

FBaby

Frankly, you are coming across with a massive sense of entitlement. It's not because your illness is not your fault (most are not), that the company should go with all what you want.

Why should you be automatically entitled to be given the chance of a promotion when so far, you have cost the company a lot of money by being off sick. The fact that it wasn't your fault doesn't change this. They have a duty to ensure that they are maximising their revenue and that means reducing the chance of paying someone more who is more at risk of being off again. All they are required to do is follow the law. It sounds like they have already gone above this for you.

Holiday. Surely your OH knows that the time should have requested the time before booking it, especially considering that you haven't been back to work long. Again, you were very lucky that they agreed to your request. For you to moan that they shouldn't have reminded you of that is showing a complete lack of appreciation for their flexibility.

As for the new seating plan, again, why do you think that you should be more entitled to the better seat than anyone else? If the kitchen noise was such an issue, why didn't you bring it up before. If it's such an issue, it's going to be for everyone, in which case, the action to take is not to protect you whilst the others can deal with it, but to make sure that people in the kitchen keep the noise down.

Red-Squirrel_2

I think its worth considering that some of the other people on your team may have had very valid reasons for requesting certain seats that you don't know anything about.

Timpu

You can't do much about the past but you can work towards positioning yourself well for the future.

If you want to move teams, figure out what you need to do to achieve that. If you want to be a team leader, ditto.

Vectis

Sorry, but I'm going to have to give another vote to saying you're lucky to still have a job after taking a year off sick out of 2 years employment.

At this stage, if you want to stay there, I'd be knuckling down and doing everything I could not to ruffle any feathers. And that means not issuing lists of 'wants' (which is how your op comes across, unfortunately). I'd also be putting on hold any thoughts of promotion until you have a track record with the company for reliability.

At the moment, from what you've said, I think you should be thanking your employer for sticking with you when many others would have got rid of you by now considering your attendance record.

As others have said, try and do something yourself about noise distractions (by the way, many of us have to put a finger in one ear when on the phone in a noisy office, it's not unusual). Noise cancelling headphones or simple ear plugs (maybe in one ear so you can still use the phone?) might help.

Of course, you could look for another job, but your attendance record will weigh heavily against you.