> What I have been bothered by is the idea of someone staring over my shoulder whenever they feel like it while I'm at work.
Yes, it's seriously creepy. In fact, this is what prevents me from being able to wear headphones to mitigate the noise of an open office -- if I'm wearing headphones, then I'm constantly psychologically "on guard" and looking around since I can't hear if someone has approached me.
But if I don't wear them, then it's too noisy to work.
That dichotomy is why I simply cannot function in an open office.
Back in the day ThinkGeek (IIRC) sold a little curved mirror to stick onto the corner of your monitor so you could see when people were behind you. I suspect you could do much the same with stick on curved mirrors designed to be attached to outside car mirrors.
That's what I did the last time I had to work in such a setting. I didn't find it really helped me, though, because the issue isn't how far I need to turn my head, the issue is that I can't get into the flow because I'm always checking.
I so get this. I'm twitchy by nature when I see people approaching from the side or think somebody behind me, which is probably good instincts in nature but sucks in open office. I can do open but need my back to a wall, or better yet a corner.
Yes, it's seriously creepy. In fact, this is what prevents me from being able to wear headphones to mitigate the noise of an open office -- if I'm wearing headphones, then I'm constantly psychologically "on guard" and looking around since I can't hear if someone has approached me.
But if I don't wear them, then it's too noisy to work.
That dichotomy is why I simply cannot function in an open office.