Margaret Heffernan Quotes

When I'm working, I always listen to music to zone everyone else out.

We don't have a lot of neighbors so we can blast the stereo.

I can't write a line without music - it provides just the right amount of distraction to keep me focused. Clearly, I still miss the noisy roommates.

The worst thing you can think about when you're working is yourself.

I don't listen to music when I write - I find it distracting.

I have a very beautiful room that in my house that we bought in Princeton. It's glass on three sides, and you'd think that's the perfect place to write. Somehow in that nice room I feel too exposed, and I can notice I'm too distracted by things going on, so I end up writing in a not-very-nice office bedroom.

Working in an office with an array of electronic devices is like trying to get something done at home with half a dozen small children around. The calls for attention are constant.

The problem with too beautiful a view is that it's alright for the mulling stage. But for the writing stage, you want to be somewhere without a view, especially if it is very different from what you're writing.

I can't hear anything, John. Please, would you put on your headphones?

The show is called 'The Office,' and while it focuses on the people, the architecture of the space is very important.

I did a brief visit at Google X, and they have these little push scooters that you can go from one end of the compound to the other, and the floors are very smooth to maximize efficiency of the push scooters.

You can be watching the greatest film in the world, and if you hear your neighbor getting into a fight, you're at the window.

I've experienced firsthand the disconnect between furniture, their environments, and the way people work.

I write in public libraries and sometimes coffee shops. I can't write at home and gave up trying long ago. I need activity around me that I'm forced to block out. It helps me focus.

My office is just off my master bedroom. One of my theories is I needed to double-door it with three kids at home.

I'm very good at blocking out noise.

I've been singing quieter because I live in a thin-walled apartment.

I have a sofa on which I never nap, big windows with an ocean view that I rarely see because I keep the pleated shades down at all times while working. I know I'm a potential slacker, so I don't tempt myself.

Open offices keep everyone in tune with what is going on and keep the energy up. If an employee is about privacy, show him or her how to use the lock on the bathroom.

The Harvard Business Review recently had an article called 'The Human Moment,' about how to make real contact with a person at work: ... The fundamental thing you have to do is turn off your BlackBerry, close your laptop, end your daydream and pay full attention to the person.

What I need is a search engine that, no matter what I type in, comes back with GO BACK TO WORK.

I wasn't prepared for this big room with clattering typewriters and teletype printers. You could hardly hear yourself think.

I'm making a lot of noise as I walk.

I need noise and interruptions and irritation: irritation and discomfort are a great starter. The loneliness of doing it any other way would kill me.

I type in one place, but I write all over the house.