Sound Masking for Work
The benefits of sound masking are numerous, but the main factor of the establishment of speech privacy. Businesses, counseling services, churches, medical facilities, as well as government and military officials have found speech privacy crucial for two main reasons:
- Reduction of distractions. As mentioned above, workers can’t understand co-worker chatter, so they tend to be less distracted by it and more able to keep their focus on work, make fewer mistakes, and be more productive overall.
- Establishment of private confidentiality. In addition to allowing workers to work better, speech privacy allows for privacy when necessary.
Sound Masking for Home
You can even choose soothing nature sounds.
While these are indeed extremely important factors to consider for businesses and other facilities that need speech privacy, many of us need it for quite another purpose. And while measurably less professional and corporate, many would argue that this use of sound masking is closer to the heart because its intended subject is closer to our hearts: our children. Here’s the deal: I have had 3 children in the past 7 years. Each one has had his or her own sleep patterns and sleep needs, but the consistent thing was that they all needed a certain amount of sleep,t hat if not gotten, was heck to pay later.
Thus, I did and do what I have to to protect their sleep. My older two are past too many sleep problems, but their antics do tend to bother their baby sister, who would love to stay awake with them. Interestingly, while her room is practically miles away from their room, she seems to be at the hub of virtually everything else. Her room is literally surrounded by doors {4 to be precise}, doors that not only slam but also lead to important places, such as the back yard, the basement, our room, and the kitchen. This is challenging because while she is a good sleeper, she has to actually fall asleep first. And falling asleep while the big kids are running in and out or up and down or I am cooking in the kitchen is harder than it might seem for a socially aware child. This is where a sound machine comes in.
Rather than a corporate application, individual sound machines are ideal for the situation described above. The baby can tune out the intermittent noise the family makes and not only drift into a peaceful sleep, stay in a peaceful sleep. This brings a certain peace of mind for stressed parents like myself who tend to feel hamstrung during nap time or at bed time. There’s no reason not to live just because you’re trying to get the baby down to sleep. White noise is a great resource for every parent if a small child.
