Noisy offices are hellish places to work. You workload has been building up for days, and you’re fighting to get everything done to the best of your abilities. But your colleagues don’t care about your workload. They have last night’s TV to discuss, customer to argue with, and that sandwich they need to eat as loudly as possible.
It’s enough to send you mad.
In our years helping offices improve sound efficiency, we’ve picked up a few tricks that we’ll share with you here.
Invest in good headphones
A good pair of headphones are a must for any office worker. One, they’re a great way to block out the office chatter and noises that drive you up the wall. Two, they’re a clear sign that you’re knuckling down to some work, and so shouldn’t be disturbed. And three, you can catch up on the latest music to come out.
Buy some headphones that produce a quality sound, can keep noise from leaking out, and are comfortable and find a music subscription service so you have millions of songs at your finger tips.
Check out this rundown of the best headphones you can buy: http://www.trustedreviews.com/best-headphones_round-up
Take a break
If the people around you are starting to get a little too chatty, it might be the perfect opportunity for you to take break from your screen, and to stretch your legs. They are at work after all, and can’t spend the majority of their day talking.
After a ten minute break you may come back to find they’ve settle back into their work.
That break can help ensure you keep your cool when the noise becomes a bit too much.
Get ahead
You may find that the noise doesn’t actually bother you most of the time. It’s only a real problem when you’re racing towards a tight deadline or have a big project on. If that’s the case, let the team know that this coming week you’re going to be real busy, so a little respect when it comes to office noise would be nice.
More often than not, you’ll find that your colleagues completely understand. They too have to go through similar things remember.
Have the talk
Sometimes office noise can really get out of hand, and no amount of headphones or pre-planning can help. In these cases the only option is to offer a gentle reminder of how loud people are being.
If they’re good colleagues and employees, they’ll understand and tone it down. If the noise is still causing a problem, you’re going to have to go further up the chain.