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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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The Tyranny of the Urgent

April 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment

In 1967 a gentleman by the name of Charles Hummel published a pamphlet entitled “The Tyranny of the Urgent.” Over 40 years later his words hold even more truth today then they did back then.With the advent of cell phones, texts, and email, there are more ‘urgent’ things to do than ever before.

“Your greatest danger is letting the urgent things crowd out the important.”

By prioritizing the important over the urgent, you will not end up like this stressed out dude.

There are so many demands on our time everyday. Its difficult to get everything done that we need to. In his short essay, Hummel argues that the urgent things crowd out the important things. For example, constant emails, phone calls, and text messages keep you from what is actually important–finishing projects at work, spending quality time with your family, etc.

Hummel writes, “We live in constant tension between the urgent and the important. The problem is that many important tasks need not be done today, or even this week.” The urgent is prioritized and the important is pushed to the side. My family and I have seen this happen in our lives over the past few years. My husband is in graduate school trying to finish up a PhD and we have two small children. There is constantly something urgent happening in a house with two small children (diaper needs changed, someone needs a drink of water, someone hit someone else). These are important and need to be attended to, but overall, my husband getting out the door and into his office so he can finish his thesis is ultimately more important for our family. (So he can graduate, get a job, etc.) We deal with the tyranny of the urgent every single day in many different situations.

If allowed to continue, it can often lead to a sense of frustration–‘Why can’t I get anything done, even though I feel like I am working or busy all of the time?’ One way to stop this cycle is to stop allowing the urgent to take precedence when you are doing the important things. Get rid of the urgent, if possible. This obviously has to be balanced with each and every situation, but if applied wisely, could help to relieve some of the frustration and allow you to actually do something that is important. For example, if you know you need to work on a project, then don’t leave your inbox up on your computer, don’t answer your phone, find a way to minimize discussions with coworkers, and get to work.  Not only will it take less time if you aren’t constantly being distracted, but you are accomplishing what you need to and that always feels good.

How do you deal with the ‘tyranny of the urgent?’ Any more suggestions for managing this while working with noisy coworkers?

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Casual Friday: How NOT to be Distracting

March 26, 2010 By Leave a Comment

A lot of offices have casual Friday when you can kind of ‘let loose’ with your wardrobe and wear more casual clothes to work. This is all fine and good, except when your coworkers take the idea of casual Friday a little too far. We all know you’d never do that, but just to make sure, we’d thought we’d give you some tips to still look professional and casual, but not distracting. Because even though we here at Noisy Coworkers love us some white noise, it can only help so much with certain distractions.

Tips for Casual Friday

1. Wear clothes that fit. This seems obvious, but it  is not always a given.

Wow! I think this woman violated every rule but number 5. What do you bet she is wearing white tennis shoes?

If you have flesh bulging out anywhere, it is safe to say that you should probably just put that back in the closet (or the trash can). For good. If it looks like you painted the clothing on or have to really squeeze yourself into, again, please put that back in the closet.

2. Don’t wear clothing that is too revealing. Nothing too low. Nothing too short. If you would wear it to a night club, then please don’t wear that to work.  Another good rule of thumb is that if you have to keep adjusting your clothing, it might not be a good fit (pun  intended).

3. Don’t wear clothing with holes in it. I know the fashions come and go about whether having holes in your jeans is cool or not, but at the office, it just looks like you didn’t care enough to change into some decent clothes. If there are holes in the article of clothing, or if you have ever worn said clothing to do yard work in, then these items are also a no no at the office.

I know these are supposed to be fashionable, but this is definitely not professional.

4. Please try to match. My husband once had a professor whom we wondered if he didn’t close his eyes every morning, reach into his closet and pull things out and then put them on in the dark and never look at this outfit again. Seriously, they were hideous.   Don’t mix patterns. Black and brown do NOT look good together. (I know some would argue, but I’m sticking with this one.) No day glow colors. Simple principles like that. (If you are in the fashion industry, please disregard everything I just said. You guys make up your own rules, it seems.)

5. No tennis shoes, especially white ones. There are lots of other nice looking and comfortable shoe options out there. It looks a lot more professional if you don’t have tennis shoes on. (Unless you work at a gym. And then I still don’t like white tennis shoes.  How hard is it to throw in some blue or, Lord forbid, yellow?)

6. If you would wear it to bed or to exercise in, then leave those in the gym bag or the laundry room. Definitely not work wear.

7. Just because you are dressed casually doesn’t mean you need to act too casually. Keep it professional, people.

I’m sure you could think of a lot more rules regarding this subject, but if you follow these, you’ll be well on your way to looking good. And for all your other coworkers who don’t read this? Feel free to print this out and post it somewhere highly visible. You’ll be glad you did.

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Limiting distractions at work

December 15, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Don’t answer your phone.

Turn off your computer or at least don’t access the internet.

Ask you coworkers to tone down their conversations and not to interrupt you.

Yes, my friends, these are the top suggestions for limiting work-related distractions. Does this sound off to anyone else?  It seems to me that answering the phone, using the computer, and having healthy relationships with coworkers are fairly essential parts of working. Now, I’ll agree that I can limit what I contribute to my own distraction level by turning off my cell phone and not compulsively checking my email, but I can’t help what others contribute.  I’ve tried a lot of things, but coworker confrontations are not high on my list of helpful or even productive work tactics.  What has been helpful for me is the use of white noise.  Unlike music or ear plugs, white noise is adjustable without being distracting in and of itself.  Give it a shot and see what you think.

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