I blogged previously about one of my Rally goals being to go without looking at a screen for an hour and how difficult that was to do. It's become more difficult at work than ever.
My day job recently remodeled the building I work in--it needed it because of how long it had been since the last refresh--and one of the additions has been large televisions everywhere. When I walk in from the parking deck, I pass two of these TVs in the main hallway and when I turn down another hallway to get to my office, there's another one. Then there's the TV on the back wall of my office.
It wouldn't be too bad if they were locked to the company's news network, however, they're not. The first screen I usually see will show company news. This is okay. The second screen, however, usually has some kind of station playing on it. This is not the way I want to start my morning. I need to ease into the day and the TV blaring whatever is like a rude slap. It usually makes me tense as soon as I can see it as I come down the hallway.
The third TV is one that is never on and I'm not sure why they installed that one since I've never seen it being used. The television in my office is generally okay, too. It's normally set to a camera that shows us a view of the airport. It's our version of a window.
Maybe I'm the only one who doesn't appreciate all the screens, but I look at computer screens all day for my job, I have a phone with a screen that requires attention, my car has a screen to control navigation, radio, temperature, and the phone, and when I get home and write, I'm staring at the computer again. Taking TVs out of the hallway isn't going to change these other factors, but it sure would be nice to have a break as I walk around the office.
