A 36-year-old woman revealed she was sitting UNDER her desk to avoid overstimulation

It went viral on LinkedIn after a woman said she was working under her desk while struggling with “overstimulation.”

Minnie Katzen Mayer, 36, is from Israel but attended Boston University last week in her office to describe how she escaped distractions when she shared a photo of herself under her desk with her laptop on professional networking online.

“I get weird looks when I do this at work,” she wrote. “So, I get it: I’m a 36-year-old grown adult, sitting under my desk with an ergonomic office chair that fits perfectly.”

In her candid post, she explained that stress, noise, bright ceiling lights or constant movement around her made her need a break from her surroundings.

Katzen Mayer, who works in product marketing, explains that she doesn’t see her colleagues struggling with overstimulation as she pulls her laptop under her desk.

Stress, noise, bright ceiling lights, a meeting that isn’t going well, an overwhelming project, or the constant movement around him are all things that make him need a break from his surroundings.

‘If I have to suffocate everything, I take my laptop and sit under the table; “I love the relative peace and physical limits it provides,” he said.

“I sit on my feet under the desk until my back reminds me that I am a 36-year-old, grown-up adult and an ergonomic office chair that fits perfectly.”

Katzen Mayer’s story has struck some people who struggled with open-plan office plans, especially after working from home during the pandemic.

Katzen Mayer’s story has struck some people who struggled with open office plans, especially after working from home during the pandemic.

More than 120,000 people commented on his post, which inspired thousands of comments, most of them positive.

One person commented, “This is totally understandable: very relevant to ‘I want to go to the office in 2 years’”. “People have phases and they need silence, but they also need stimulation and sound to find the balance they need to work in the optimal window.”

‘I love it. As someone who is neurodivergent, it’s hard to articulate what can happen if I’m overstimulated,” he said. ‘These open floor plans are nice in theory but not for everyone. I was at the office yesterday and was very distracted by every noise around me.

‘I never thought of that,’ said another. I have always had difficulties in open office environments. Visual noise is the worst of all auditory noise, not to mention. If I had to go back I might try this deal.

Despite the support, there were some critics who felt the need to make fun of Katzen Mayer’s handling of workplace overstimulation.

One person asked many people to defend themselves, commenting, “There is nothing more mature than hiding your problems under the table.”

There were also some critics who felt the need to ridicule Katzen Mayer’s way of dealing with overstimulation at work, which caused people to come to her defense.

Katzen Mayer told BuzzFeed that she is “very well supported” by her employer and that it is important to her that people choose the work environment that works best for them.

One LinkedIn user commented, “There is nothing more ignorant than when a man tells a woman how to wear it when his world is too much,” while another added: “She’s not hiding. She redirects and redirects herself, she. You cannot teach empathy.

“Or maybe people are different and have different ways of dealing with stress,” said another. “Open-plan offices are productive poison. I wonder how many people here are drinking too much that creates that shadow.”

Katzen Mayer spoke on BuzzFeed after her post went viral, saying she was “really embarrassed by the crowd’s reaction” about how she deals with stress and overstimulation at work.

‘First time me’ [sat under my desk]“I really needed a few moments to think and strategize for the next big change,” she recalls. “I had the overwhelming feeling that sitting under my desk for a while would help clear my thoughts. He did, and after 10 minutes I got up and felt focused again”.

Katzen Mayer says she is “very well supported” by her employer and believes it’s important for people to be able to choose the work environment that suits them best.

“No one said anything negative,” he said of his colleagues. “I have some curious looks and fun questions. My friends now know what it is and they occasionally ask if I can come over or if I need anything.