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Distractions & How Sound Machines Help

October 17, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Distractions & Sound Machines

I’d ask if you are distracted at work, but I already know the answer- of course you are.  The average worker is distracted more than 2 hours everyday.  The good news is that this applies to almost all worker,s not just slackers.  So, don’t feel too badly about yourself.  However, the bad news is that the toll distraction takes is still the same, whether it’s your own fault or not.  Being distracted 2 out of 8 or 9 hours a day is a massive hit on your productivity any way you look at it.  Besides setting some personal boundaries and maybe having some tough boundaries with colleagues, there is something you can do that can help you literally tune out many distractions: a sound machine.

Unlike music, the white noise employed by sound machines doesn’t add to the distraction (have you ever unconsciously typed the lyrics to a song in an email or work document?). Instead, it drowns out background noise so that you can focus on work instead of co-worker chatter or gossip. In addition, sound machines aren’t just a nice idea or experiment or latest toy to play with- studies show that they can help you keep your focus and feel less stressed.  More specifically, studies have found that offices that utilized white noise showed an average of 48% improvement in their ability to focus on tasks, a 51% improvement in elimination of distractions (especially overheard conversations), and a 27% improvement in lowered stress levels.

  • A small portable option for a white noise machine is the Sound Oasis Travel White Noise Therapy System.  I like to think of this as the Mighty Mouse of the sound machines. It is tiny in stature, but can beat up all the big distractions keeping you from doing what you are supposed to be doing–working. Even better, since it’s portable, you can take it home with you to help you get better sleep at night.

  • If you don’t want a portable option, the Sound Oasis Deluxe Office White Noise System is a nice option. It’s not as small as the travel sound machine, but it does have a lot more features, including 20 main sounds & 5 mix sounds create 120 sound environment possibilities.
  • If you aren’t convinced and would just like to try it out, you could try a free online white noise generator. Just keep it open in a background browser window and you’ll be well on your way to working–without as much distraction and stress.

Sound machines have been shown to improve focus and tune out distraction.  It’s an easy fix for a costly problem at work.

 

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The Cost of Interruptions

July 27, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Being interrupted seems to be a part of life- whether at work or relaxing, someone wants or needs to speak to you or the phone rings or you overhear a conversation that distracts you.  That doesn’t even include all the times we distract and interrupt ourselves, especially online!  How many times are you in the middle of a brilliant {or at least legitimate} thought and you see that you have a new email or Facebook message?  As important as it is to see who just got a new pony in Farmville, will that fantasy farming really pay off at the end of the day?

On average, each worker experienced an interruption/distraction every 3 minutes!  Thus, it’s important to take toll of how and why you’re distracted at work and what you can do about it.

What Caused the Distractions?

A recent study looked at interruptions in the work place, what caused them, and what the results were.  This study found that most people suffered from both internal and external interruptions, meaning that they interrupted themselves and were also victims of outside interruptions.

How Long Did It Take to Get Back On Task?

Besides the shocking number of interruptions, this study took the time to note how long it took a worker to get back on task after each interruption.  As you doubtless know, a distraction outlives its actual moment- your mind processes what just happened and tends to linger before getting back on track, if it ever fully does.  In this particular study, it was found that there are normally 2 intervening tasks before focusing on the original task.  As a result, it takes more effort to reorient oneself to the context of that original task.  One part of this is that many interruptions are accompanied by one or more physical changes to the work environment.  Whether the worker shifted files, opened or closed windows, shot out a quick email, or answered a phone call as a result of the interruption (or interruptor), the physical layout of the work space has been altered, which also makes it difficult to get back on task quickly.  

What can you do about interruptions?

The bottom line is that every worker is surrounded by interruptions caused both by self and others.  It’s difficult to control for internal interruptions, but you can control for external interruptions.  A more recent development has been the use of office sound masking, the use of low-level white noise to cover office noise (i.e. unnecessary interruptions and distractions).  The result is less distraction, more focus, fewer errors, and lower stress levels.

While many interruptions are a necessary evil in the office, it’s equally important to recognize the strain they put on workers, as well as the hit productivity takes.  Many workers find that using a sound machine helps them tune out the unnecessary distractions.

 

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Use a Sound Machine to Reduce Distractions at Work

January 14, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Do you find yourself constantly distracted at work? Are you frustrated by how long it takes to do tasks because you just keep getting  interrupted?  Have you talked to your boss about it, but not gotten much, if any, help?

If this is the situation you find yourself in, I would encourage you to try using a white noise machine at your desk. Unlike music, it doesn’t divert your attention at all from what you are supposed to be concentrating on. What it does is drown out background noise so that you can focus on what you are doing, instead of trying to concentrate through the office drama of “what Jimmy said to Sally after this crazy thing happened.” Even better, studies show that it can help you focus better and feel less stressed. Studies have found that offices that utilized white noise showed an average of 48% improvement in their ability to focus on tasks, a 51% improvement in elimination of distractions (especially overheard conversations), and a 27% improvement in lowered stress levels.

A small portable option for a white noise machine is the Sound Oasis Travel White Noise Therapy System. I like to think of this as the Mighty Mouse of the sound machines. It is tiny in stature, but can beat up all the big distractions keeping you from doing what you are supposed to be doing–working. Even better, since its portable, you can take it home with you to help you get better sleep at night.

If you don’t want a portable option, the Sound Oasis Deluxe Office White Noise System is a nice option. Its not as small as the travel sound machine, but it does have a lot more features, including 20 main sounds & 5 mix sounds create 120 sound environment possibilities.

If you aren’t convinced and would just like to try it out, you could try a free online white noise generator. Just keep it open in a background browser window and you’ll be well on your way to working–without as much distraction and stress.

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Using Social Support to Stay Motivated

May 21, 2010 By Leave a Comment

A study recently came out from Stanford “showing that small amounts of social support, ranging from friends who encourage each other by email to occasional meetings with a fitness counselor, can produce large and lasting gains against one of America’s biggest health problems—physical inactivity.” Now, you may be wondering how this is applicable to this blog since the topic is Noisy Coworkers, not Unhealthy Coworkers. Stay with me for a minute while I explain.

Your Work Buddy may have to close the mini-blinds for you so you can actually concentrate.

I would like to propose that you could also use social support to help keep yourself on track while you are working. I know. Gasp! We are always decrying conversational distraction, among many other forms. However, there are just some days, like today when it is SO nice outside and I keep finding myself peering through the mini-blinds, wishing I was outside, that it would be nice to have a Work Buddy to gently encourage me to stay on track and to keep going. I suspect you might have the same problem occasionally–you have blocked out all the other distractions, but your mind just keeps wandering. Perhaps you could then inform your Work Buddy that it would be nice if, every once in a while, they would email you or just walk over and say “You can do it! Keep working!” or something similarly encouraging. It sounds cheesy, but based on the results of that study, I bet it would work.

So, I’ll be your Work Buddy today. “You can do it! Keep working!” (And now I am going to go close my mini-blinds so the gorgeous weather will quit calling out to me.)

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Distractions of Your Own Doing

March 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment

There are a lot of distractions at the office…

Evidently, most of them are a direct result of your own doing. Go figure. Here are a few tips to help you:

  1. The key board is for doing work- go ahead and keep that one.
  2. The mouse is also pretty useful- you might wanna keep that one around too.
  3. Use the disinfectant and put it away.  Like in a drawer.
  4. Play your games at home.  Unpopular, sure.  But work is for work- if you don’t want to work evenings and weekends, be more productive during the day.  Revolutionary, I know.
  5. Quit videoing your desktop and try white noise.  It might keep your attention in place.
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If it works for IBM and came from Harvard….

March 3, 2010 By 3 Comments

Quiet Time at Work?

Maybe there really was something to the quiet game.

I’ve heard of quiet times for children and of quiet times for spiritual meditation, but I’d never heard of quiet time for work.  According to a recent BNET article, IBM , Intel , U.S. Cellular and Deloitte &  Touche have taken charge of their employees’ time like this:

  • Time limits on e-mail use, and even banning e-mail on certain days
  • No-technology days, where employees clean their work space and tidy up the paperwork
  • Programs and processes that encourage face-to-face contact

These enforcements are by department and not company-wide in general.  Evidently, this idea of nursery schoolesque quiet time came from research at Harvard Business School:

“Ten years ago, Harvard Business School’s Leslie Perlow famously chronicled the interruption of a high-tech software company. Its engineers were interrupted so often they had to work nights and weekends. After studying the workplace for nine months, the source of the dysfunction became clear: No one could get anything done because of the bombardment of messages. Perlow came up with an intervention: Quiet Time. For four hours in the morning, the 17 engineers worked alone. All messaging and phone contact was banned. In the afternoon, communication could resume. Given time to concentrate, the engineers got a project for a color printer completed without the graveyard shift.”

The idea is to separate the over-worked employee from distracting interruptions (is that redundant?) so that they can fulfill their work commitments in a reasonable work week, thus enabling them much-deserved down time and weekends.

How about you?

What would a tech-free day look like?  Maybe you’re like me and your work centers around technology, so it seems impossible.  But what if you signed or logged out of nonessential programs? What if you turned off your cell phone (gasp)?   Furthermore, what if you barricaded yourself in a small closet with no refrigerator and no one to talk to?  I imagine you’d have a pretty productive day, but that you would emerge slightly lonely and more than a little ready to turn it all back on again.

So, I’d suggest periods of time, such as 2 hours a couple days a week, to power  down nonessentials and focus on specific tasks or phone calls.  To achieve the same level of fewer distractions, what about white noise?  I’ll even suggest a free white noise generator.  Bottom line, like this post suggests, it’s all about boundaries- whether you’re protecting your work time or your down time, certain boundaries need to be in place to help you guard your time and how you use it.

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Visualizing Distractions

February 15, 2010 By 1 Comment

Poor work. It'salways at the bottom of the totem pole.

Have you ever charted where your time goes?  I never really thought about it until I saw this hierarchy of distractions.  It’s a little too true.  My first thought was: It’s a good thing I live in Scotland and don’t have an iPhone. Would you believe they just came out with them here?  (And I’ve thought of the UK as so hip and fashion-forward.)  I also quickly deleted online dating (happily married and plan to stay that way) and eBay (no patience for it).  None of those deletions, however, changed the fact that I am distracted by all the rest ALL DAY.

These thoughts brought me to my original question- have you ever really put thought into what you do with your time? While I’m writing this, I have 8 tabs open, begging me to check them for updates.  That is nothing compared to my husband’s computer though.  Maybe it’s his electrical engineering background, but I have never seen the internet work so hard as on his computer.  Not unlike the ultimate trump at the top of the pyramid, we have to physically shut our lap tops if we’re going to have a real conversation or actually interact with our children.

Interestingly, it’s much harder to implement such rules during the work day.  Most of us work with computers.  In fact, emails, messages, blogs, and websites are critical parts of our work.  Therefore, it is difficult to set limits on them.  However, the average worker fritters away more than 2 hours everyday on distractions just like these, as well as conversational distractions and run-of-the-mill interruptions.  Two hours!  I don’t get paid by the hour, so it’s easy to dismiss that figure.  Regardless, I would get more projects done, and therefore get paid for more projects at the end of the day if I could reclaim those lost hours.  That’s 10 hours a week. Who couldn’t use an extra 10 hours?

If you’re with me in wanting more to show for your day, check out this possible solution: white noise generators.  I use white noise for work and for better sleep.  I like the nature sounds for work- keeps me alert and focused on my work instead of outside noise, and I prefer a more consistent hum for sleep (I’m not sure who wants to sleep with chirping birds…?)  The end result for me is that I am able to tune out annoyances vying for my attention and focus on what I need to at that moment, be it work or relaxation.  I hope it works for you, too.

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