How do people make it through a full day at work without talking to anyone? (work from home, interest)

[20yrsinBranson]

Originally Posted by Fat_plain_woman

To me eight hours is a real long time. I am always at awe with people who come into work and at the end of the day say that they do not know where the time went and the day just flew by. In every office job I have had, the day seemed to last forever.

Another thing I do not understand is how people can come to work and sit at their desk all day and not talk to a single person for the entire day. At my employer most conversation with coworkers is online (email and instant message), so they can still be called a team player and not say a word verbally. I always wonder if these people ever get bored like me and want to reach out and talk to someone face to face, at least once in a while.

Can you go all day without talking to someone at work and not get bored, restless or lonely?

When I am at work I am busy. If there is nothing to do at the moment, I find something to do. There are always files to organize, things to clean and straighten out, etc.

Because I am always busy doing something the time does go by quickly generally speaking. Also, I have no need to talk to anyone else and would be perfectly happy not to have to. The best days are the days that no one else is around and I can just do what I have to do quietly. People constantly interrupt and bother me when they are there. I have work to do.

20yrsinBranson

[Alex Libman]

There's no hard-wired rule that people need social interaction, it's just a matter of habit, and the modern world makes it ever-more optional. Take me, for example - I'm a loner, and I work online. I've went for weeks without talking to anyone, except maybe a couple words at a store cash register, and it seemed perfectly natural. The human mind is very flexible, it can adapt to the levels of social interaction that are ideal of its survival.

[kattwoman2]

I'm a newbie in the marketing department who has also been recurited as the receptionist. My office is pretty laid back (except for the head honchos) and there's some conversations that go on between co-workers, but most of the time the people are either too busy or everyone is at least twenty years older than me or more and they do not believe they can talk to me about things more than "How's your day" or "Don't ever get married or have teenage girls ."

I don't talk about most of the stuff I talk about to my friends b/c I'm the only person in my office who voted for Obama while everyone else vote McCain but wished they could have voted Palin. Or, I will want to talk about my friend's plans on marrying his boyfriend and they will get upset b/c it's sinful. I mean, we talk about the weather and such, but sometimes as everyone says it's good to stay out of office politics.

[Kaye02]

I'm pretty introverted, I guess. I'd absolutely love a job where I could go all day without having to talk to anyone.

Kaye

[sunsprit]

Time flies when you're having fun!

Seriously, I've put in a lot of 12-15 hour days for 30 years without any interaction with others.

Sometimes, I've come in on weekends (when my business is closed), kept the doors locked, didn't answer the 'phone ... and got more done without those pesky client interruptions than if I'd been writing job tickets and sourcing parts for the projects in house. I loved the retail automotive repair trade, and did it for almost 40 years.

Now that I don't have a retail shop business, I spend a lot of days on my farming tasks. It's not uncommon to service a tractor and equipment and head out to the fields for 8-14 hours of continuous work in my "mobile office", communing with my crops. I love it, and plan on doing this until I'm into my 80's ... maybe longer.

I've got neighbors still farming in their 90's ... and wouldn't give it up for the millions of dollars their farms would bring today. IF that's a role model, I'm signing up ... not heading for a rocking chair.

[bande1102]

I'm a remote worker so I communicate by email----love it. I am so much more productive. Out of office politics and love it.

When I worked in office, I always kept to myself. I don't see coworkers as "friends" and didn't necessarily feel the need to go beyond acting professionally courteous.

When I worked in medical claims we were discouraged from talking and disturbing our cube-mates. We actually had "quiet time" during the day where we couldn't talk in the office for hours at a time in order to get production in. Didn't bother me at all--except for the fact that I felt like I was in preschool, but that's another story.

[caligurltotx]

bande1102 that is funny... but I think it makes sense. Because when folks are talking they usually stop working. Or they have to go to someone else's desk to talk and again they can't be working.

I know one place I hate is the hair salon! I used to have a stylist that was the greatest person and did great hair but let her get into a conversation you could add an extra hour to yr visit. She "talked" with her hands so she couldn't do hair at the same time. When her mouth was moving her hands had to also!

[kattwoman2]

Originally Posted by bande1102

I'm a remote worker so I communicate by email----love it. I am so much more productive. Out of office politics and love it.

When I worked in office, I always kept to myself. I don't see coworkers as "friends" and didn't necessarily feel the need to go beyond acting professionally courteous.

When I worked in medical claims we were discouraged from talking and disturbing our cube-mates. We actually had "quiet time" during the day where we couldn't talk in the office for hours at a time in order to get production in. Didn't bother me at all--except for the fact that I felt like I was in preschool, but that's another story.

Wow! You couldn't talk for hours at a time? I mean, granted I can see how it makes you more productive in some regards, but I also think that socialization develops teamwork and the ability to become more effective when your job involves gathering information from others. I think if I had to be silent for hours at a time I would be lost. I mean, I don't constantly socialize, but I have been working at my job for over 2 months but sometimes new things pop up and I need to ask around to get advice on what to do since some co-workers do not check their e-mail as often.

[bande1102]

Originally Posted by kattwoman2

Wow! You couldn't talk for hours at a time? I mean, granted I can see how it makes you more productive in some regards, but I also think that socialization develops teamwork and the ability to become more effective when your job involves gathering information from others. I think if I had to be silent for hours at a time I would be lost. I mean, I don't constantly socialize, but I have been working at my job for over 2 months but sometimes new things pop up and I need to ask around to get advice on what to do since some co-workers do not check their e-mail as often.

Well, we couldn't talk at our cubicles. We could leave the work area and go to the lunchroom or outside to converse. For example, quiet time was between 9-12 and after that you could talk about work-related issues. To tell you the truth before they instituted that rule, there were coworkers who wandered and talked incessantly. And the rest of us picked up their slack. Not sure I agreed with the enforced quiet time, but I saw the point.

[bande1102]

Originally Posted by caligurltotx

bande1102 that is funny... but I think it makes sense. Because when folks are talking they usually stop working. Or they have to go to someone else's desk to talk and again they can't be working.

I know one place I hate is the hair salon! I used to have a stylist that was the greatest person and did great hair but let her get into a conversation you could add an extra hour to yr visit. She "talked" with her hands so she couldn't do hair at the same time. When her mouth was moving her hands had to also!

I HATE that! And if you're getting highlights done, forget it. Its like you're captive in their chair and you're stuck pretending you actually care about what they're saying--so much that you're actually pleased you get to waste your time their listening to them Hahaha. Seriously, though, I've actually switched hairdressers if they weren't able to talk and cut at the same time.