To have a whinge about a colleague

[lastqueenofscotland]

I work with a lady who is really a nice person but Jesus she never stops talking.

I technically finished at 4 but locked myself away in a room to do a task that requires a bit of concentration, like involves long numbers and making sure things are right with codes etc or our systems won't work.
She keeps coming in, asking questions she knows the answer to, telling me the Wimbledon scores, offering me cocktail sausages (I'm vegetarian and she knows this) etc etc etc.
Earlier in the day she was also giving me a running commentary about EVERYTHING she was doing, literally "I'm eating a sandwhich" "I have a cup of tea" "I'm putting this down here " "I'm cleaning my glasses."
Usually in a team of ten it gets deflected but it's just me and her today and I'm about to scream.

[Aquamarine1029]

Speak up for yourself. Just tell her you need to be left alone to focus on your work. That's not being rude, it's being assertive.

[FluffyEwok]

God I feel your pain I have one like this. Eventually I had a pregnancy hormonal breakdown in work which was not my proudest moment and told my manager I can't cope with the constant questions they were driving me over the edge. Shes never asked me a question again

[Timeforabiscuit]

I changed jobs because of someone like this

Hand to hold

[ProphetOfDoom]

Noise cancelling headphones?

[dudsville]

I have a colleague who says everything out loud and a brief question can lead her to then going on to related theories and further examples. On and on. I give her some time, since its her way, and then I tell her I have to get back to work. She's able to accommodate that but if I sense she's about to bubble over again I say out loud some brief update and how if I keep my focus I should finish. These "updates" seem to fit with how she negociates the world and keeps her in check while I work.

[TheSnowFairy]

I work with someone who doesn't speak.

Me 'how was your weekend?'
Them 'fine'
Me ' did you do anything nice?'
Them 'no'

A middle ground between not shutting up (op's colleague) and complete silence would be good

[lljkk]

ha! I am sat between the 2 chattiest people in the office. I put on headphones to concentrate. I started with very quiet classical music but now have learnt to work with fairly loud rock music. They know I am not responsive. Bless the officemate who bought us all such great headphones.

[Donttouchthethings]

Say, "I'd love to chat but I really need to concentrate at the moment. Can we catch up later?" Just keep repeating.

[RedSkySuperStar]

Ah I used to work with someone like this and I just gave one word answers or no answers and she finally got the hint. Bit rude but it was that or snapping at her. She latched on to someone else to distract after that.