Treating the Noise Problem
Last time we briefly discussed how distracted and unhappy workers (namely cubicle dwellers) are in loud, distracting work places. Besides being overstimulated and interrupted all too frequently in a noisy office, they also felt that their jobs were menial and less important as a result. Maybe it’s the clear awareness of not having a corner office, or maybe it’s just the lack of tranquility- regardless of the reason, office noise and its resulting distraction level are depressing and demoralizing for many workers.
So, it’s no surprise that when the noise was treated with sound masking, productivity levels picked up. Here is the abstract from another part of the same study I just summarized:
To test the effects of masked and unmasked office noise on arousal, stress and cognitive performance, each of three groups of 15 student volunteers was exposed to one of the following conditions: taped office noise (54 dbA with bursts to 60-66 dbA), the same noise masked by white noise at 59 dbA, and no extraneous noise. Findings confirmed predictions based on theories of arousal and disruptive stress. The no noise group performed best on a measure of cognitive complexity and felt the least disturbed and stressed by the environment. Masked noise subjects performed better than those in the unmasked condition on both complexity and a simple attention task; they felt more aroused but less disturbed or stressed by the environment. The findings are relevant to both theoretical and applied aspects of ambient noise.
Treating Your Noise Problem
Sometimes distractions are just feet away.
There were a lot of $5 words in there, so here’s a quick summary- workers in no-noise offices fared the best as the most productive and least stressed workers. Workers in treated areas (ie areas with sound masking) performed better than noisy office workers, and even though they were aware of the masking, they were less disturbed and felt less stress.
So, you may be wishing you could be in the no-noise group. You’re not alone- that would be awesome for everyone. But the very nature of an open office does not allow for silence, peaceful as it may be. Noise is the standard soundtrack. Thus, the lesser of the two evils is treating that noise. An easy option for you is a white noise machine, aka a sound machine. You can try a free online generator, or you can purchase one of your choice. Either way, you’re using white noise to help your brain tune out the noise and stay focused on work.
The bottom line is that if you’re unhappy at work, it may be due to office noise and too many distractions. An easy remedy is to use a sound machine so you can tune out the distraction.
