Open plan problems

I sit in a large room with 3 others, when I need to do work, I put on headphones and listen to stuff, this is an indication that I’m busy and don’t want to be interrupted. This doesn’t always work, no matter how long I ignore them, they still get through my headphone block.

Solution (currently in practice by naismi)

Everyone in the open plan office gets three balls, as soft or hard as required dependant on office politics. You get someone’s attention by throwing a ball at them, if it is a direct hit, they will respond. This way, you can only get interrupted as much as you interrupt, because there are only a limited number of balls available, and when you interrupt someone three times, you have to then wait until you are interrupted to get the chance to interrupt again.
  ¶ 4:49 PM