I walked into work this morning and flipped the lights on like I normally do. No I am not the first one into the office just the one who can't stand to work in the dark (litterally and figuratively). I was met with the usual "we knew it was you because someone turned on the lights" and "Owwww, the light hurts my eyes" type comments. I unfortunately didn't handle it all that well and let someone have it about how working in a dark room causes me to have headaches so if they would be so kind as to let me work from home or in an office where I could turn on the lights I would be more than happy to leave the lights off for the rest of them.

While I didn't handle the situation well at all, it did bring to mind something that I have been thinking about a little lately. You see, I have noticed more and more the "mood music" at various places. I noticed it at the skating rink when I went ice skating with my family. Mostly because I would catch brief bits of songs amongst all the screaming and crashing. I would mostly find myself thinking that I am either too old or too young because I didn't recognize the song. Later at a movie theater I noticed that they had some music going before the start of the movie. That started me thinking about my work environment.

I generally work in a cubicle farm with all the attendant distractions as other people carry on phone conversations, talk about what they did in World of Warcraft the night before or what they plan on doing at lunch that day, or whatever else is going on in their lives. There is rearely a moment when there is comlete silence. I went out and bought a pair of noise cancelling headphones to allow me to concentrate on what I am doing when I need to. I have already mentioned the fact that I can't stand to work in a darkened room with a bright monitor. Another requirement is that the room be a comfortable temperature. That is a hard one since just about everyone seems to have a different idea of what a comfortable temperature is. I find that I tend to be cold when others are comfortable so I almost always have a sweater at hand so I can regulate my own temperature. Other than that, a glass of water and a window to look out occasionaly when I need to take a break and I think I could be happy working just about anywhere. I do have to admit I like working at home because I can control all of the aspects better than in a shared office. Unfortunately I don't get the opportunity as often as I would like.

So, what is your idea of the ideal work environment?