How do I deal with too many people moving in my field of vision since movement grabs my attention and disrupts my work?

Question

My desk is right near the entrance and the kitchen in a big office floor (140+ people) with lots of foot traffic. My other colleagues don't seem to mind this. We do not have cubicles and when people move around they're visible at all times.

I have ADHD and when I see something moving from the corner of my eye, I find it almost irresistible to look. I used to have this problem with sounds but then I bought an active noise cancelling headphone and it solved the sound portion of my ADHD. Employers don't care about mental problems like ADHD, Autism Spectrum or even depression, they just gloss over them and leave you to deal with it. Even if they did care, I'd have to constantly ask new or prospective employers to deal with "my problems". I'd have to change the minds of managers, and upper management in some cases, which would be a bigger challenge than I'm willing to undertake.

Still, my current problem is that I'm constantly finding myself looking at people because they enter my field of vision. This usually disrupts my train of thought, I find myself shifting through tabs on my browser for a good five minutes after I'm disrupted.

I'm not saying people should stop going to the kitchen or going near me, I'm aware that that's just impossible. I also don't think that I can change places too easily and even if I do, it might just aggravate the problem, since I'd be facing towards the interior instead and much more movement would be visible to me.

Is there any way to limit my field of vision, I've looked at glasses with side shields but they don't seem to be for this purpose (still providing vision from the sides). I'm seriously thinking of buying a pair of horse blinders at this point. I'm aware that the idea is ridiculous but it's better than being unable to focus for more than fifteen minutes at a time or just burying my face into my screen.

I'm also aware that I'll be having similar problems wherever I may work. This leads me to believe I have to find a solution that will work everywhere. Has anyone encountered a similar problem and how did you solve it for good?

Answer 1

The most important thing would be to communicate your problem to your manager, although you stated that you might not be taken seriously.

You could try and make it an issue of producitivity and not an issue about your ADHD, since this keeps you from doing your job in an efficient manner. Being placed near a busy place is the equivalent of you walking into your managers room every 10-15 minutes, strolling around his table and leaving again, either not saying a word or simply saying "Hello". I doubt they wouldn't be bothered by it, it's simply disturbing, which means you could probably start your argument this way.

Also try and find out if any of your colleagues share your sentiment. You might not achieve much by going alone, but if it's 10 to 20 people all asking for the same thing, that might be something your management might want to address.

If they agree, that this is a problem that needs solving, you could ask your company to provide so called "Desk Separators". Those can be easily attached to your desk and limit your vision in a way, that you'd need to stand up to see over them. They can also be easily removed. (Amazon link for reference: https://www.amazon.com/Owfeel-Partition-Separator-Libraries-Classrooms/dp/B07W5JYLS2).

If they don't want to spend any money you could ask permission to buy and install them yourself (and take them home again, if you should switch jobs, they might come in handy there too). If that fails also, then I guess your company is okay with the result/amount/quality of your work in which case it becomes a question of your personal wellbeing and whether or not you want to put up with it.

A word of warning: No matter what solution you come up with, if you're the only one to do it you might get ridiculed, so be prepared to have at least some of your colleagues make fun of you, especially if you decide to go for something as "extreme" as the horse blinders.

DISCLAIMER: I am not affiliated with either amazon nor the company referenced in the link. If someone has a better photo/reference feel free to edit or provide it in comments for me to replace.