So, yet another day at the office, huh? You get up in the morning, get ready and make your way there. After a while, you get inside the building and start walking towards the cube, or any designated space. It’s time to get ready for your daily tasks.
You settle in and start the day. And just as you are beginning to focus, something interrupts you. It’s that colleague who thinks he has a nice voice, so he always strolls down the hallways humming one song or the other. This morning, he’s feeling particularly confident in his skills, and tries to hit a really high note. It’s Whitney Houston time, guys!
Yes, he’s a guy, but who says he cannot handle “I Will Always Love You”. Oh my dear God, it’s so annoying. I’m not saying he can’t sing, it’s just that you can’t listen. All of a sudden, he stops, and you can shift your focus back to what’s really important.
Some Peace And Quiet Time – Or Is It?
But, oh no, there’s a reason he stopped. Bumping into another coworker means it’s time for a chat. Get ready to hear all about how their weekends went. And it doesn’t do you any good that they are standing really, really close to your space. You cannot help but stop working until they are done.
Luckily, they both have their own jobs to do, so it doesn’t last very long. Finally, you can actually start working. There’s a lot of pressure too, because you already feel that you are way behind on some time-sensitive issues. But, now you are all focused and ready to grab the bull by the horns. And that’s when someone’s phone starts ringing.
If someone had taken your picture at the very moment you thought that you were finally focused on your tasks, it could have easily been labeled as “taken moments before a disaster”. Afterward, you just lost it. And you know how you get when you lose it.
What I have described above is a perfectly normal, regular day in an office. Everyone has a chat here and there, swings on their screeching chair, or makes any noise whatsoever. And so do you. That’s exactly why you cannot blame them and complain.
After all, it’s not that bad when you imagine how much worse it could be. Just imagine having a Dwight Schrute in your office. How maddening would that be? I am guessing that he could easily end up on the list of the most annoying office sounds. Read here.
Some Peace And Quiet Time Take Two – For Real This Time?
Yes, this time, it’s for real! Do you know how I can be so sure? Well, it’s simple. I know that this isn’t the first time that the office noises have stressed you out. So you have probably found a solution by now. Get your gadget out of your bag and… Wait, what? You don’t have one? Oh, you poor, poor soul…
It’s high time that you helped yourself. Working in such conditions is unproductive, frustrating, and often times unbearable. Fortunately, there is a pretty convenient solution. You should check it out and see if you think it might work for you. Let me offer some input.
Sure, there are always options to try and solve the noise problem yourself. You can try to mask some of those by increasing background sounds, or resort to a few different tricks. But, in the end, you can never be sure whether that will be effective, or a waste of time.
More tricks here: https://hbr.org/2015/03/stop-noise-from-ruining-your-open-office
Yet, there is a rather simple solution, called the white noise machine. This is a device that produces calming sounds. You can hear the ocean, or the wind, and generally all kinds of sounds from the nature that can make you feel at peace. So, even if a coworker manages to disturb you for a second, it won’t be long before you forget all about it with these magnificent gadgets.
Magic At Work
This is an extremely popular sound masking option and it’s time to find out how it functions. Of course, it’s not magic at work here, but it can work magic at your work. Try saying that out loud – too much “work”, huh?
Anyway, let’s get down to it. These machines, naturally, don’t block any sounds from entering your space. Instead, they take all the transient frequencies that could possibly be heard around you and muffle them to the point when they all start sounding like steady and unobtrusive noises.
Does this sound like you are replacing one evil for another? Because, that’s not the case. Steady noises are not only easy for our brain to ignore, but they can also be pretty pleasant to the ear. Let’s put it this way – using the best white noise maker for at work will feel like turning a frog into a prince. So, tell me, which do you prefer?
Benefits
Apart from being good for your nerves and allowing you to avoid a quarrel or two with your colleagues, what else is there that this machine can do? You thought that was it, am I right? But no, I kept some of the best parts for the end.
First of all, with no annoying and disruptive noises, you will finally be able to focus on that time-sensitive issue and get it done before the deadline. Productivity tends to increase highly when there aren’t many distractions around. Who knows, you might even end up with some time to spare.
Secondly, this will help you have a private conversation with your client, in person, or on the phone. And I mean, really private, even though you might be surrounded by people. Isn’t the primary function of the machine is to obscure speech?
In addition to everything, research has shown that these devices have a positive impact on people’s health. This really doesn’t come as a surprise. Given how irritating noises can stress you out, it’s really easy to conclude that muffling them is good for our health.
