Sometimes, a closed door is more than just a physical barrier – it’s a clear sign you want to be left alone.

So, what would you do when a coworker repeatedly ignores this signal and keeps barging in? Would you confront her or give her a more obvious sign?

In the following story, an office worker decides enough is enough and takes a simple yet effective step to regain her peace and quiet. Let’s see what happened.

Closed door means DND

So I work in an office, it’s pretty busy, but my office door stays open most of the time, and I get lots of people walking by and interrupting my day, asking questions, or just shooting the bull.

I’m behind on my workload, because of some unplanned delays. I mention this to my boss and say that I’m closing the door for a few hours to get stuff done without interruption. Enter Sally.

Sally’s reaction to a closed door is to knock and open it, which is a minor inconvenience. So she proceeds to do this to me a couple of times, because her tasks are linked to the fires I’ve spent the morning fighting. Every time she does this, my train of thought gets derailed and I have to waste time getting back into my rhythm.

Here she comes again.

She left the door ajar, after finishing talking to me, so I got up and walked over to the door to close it. I turned the latch on the doorknob, meaning I’m now locked in my office. Sweet peace.

Sure enough, a few minutes later, here comes Sally. Knock, knock, handle turns a lot less than she’s used to, and she shoulders her way into the door. The thud of her impacting my door is quite satisfying.

I’m sure she will have something to say later, but that can wait for another day.

Wow! That’s one way to tell Sally to stay out.

Here’s how Reddit readers weighed in on this situation.

This person has a great point.

Here’s someone else who thinks the person should’ve communicated it to Sally better.

Explaining it like this would’ve been easier.

This person uses a sign.

A little direct communication goes a long way. Next time, they should try to be more upfront, and this probably won’t happen.
If you liked this post, check out this story about an employee who got revenge on a co-worker who kept grading their work suspiciously low.