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Noisy Coworkers And Other Sounds Are A Distraction In Workplace

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Re: Noisy Coworkers And Other Sounds Are A Distraction In Workplace

#21

Post by jb55 »

davidtgoldblatt wrote: post #18

An anecdote for those who hoped they'd find suggestions in the comments: I ended up buying some over-the-head earmuff headphones aimed at construction workers (I think with a 25dB noise reduction rating). I put in ear plugs, then the headphones, and play some light music; even relatively loud and nearby conversations drop away pretty quickly. (Ordinary "noise cancelling" headphones aren't intended to block the sound…

With Bose Quiet Comfort + electronic music, I find it blocks out talking pretty well

Re: Noisy Coworkers And Other Sounds Are A Distraction In Workplace

#22

Post by blisterpeanuts »

space99 wrote: post #15

This thread is brought to you by Bose quiet comfort headphones. They are amazing!

I just got the QC 35 and it's truly awesome. I work from home so I don't need it as much as I did a few years ago, but it's still fantastic.

Re: Noisy Coworkers And Other Sounds Are A Distraction In Workplace

#23

Post by joesmo »

bcheung wrote: post #5

I'd say environmental factors such as being so freaking hot that you are sweating or so freaking cold you have to bring in a heater to counteract the AC are pretty distracting as well. And in terms of productivity, not having enough ventilation so that the air builds up CO2 makes people really tired and unproductive.

Totally! I once quit a job because the average temperature in the office was 85F in winter (also really shitty spaghetti code)! Unfortunately, not before I got incredibly sick. When I complained, they said they could do nothing about it because other people were freezing. In the Bay Area, on the other hand, I had a job in a similar place that was always freezing, even when it was warm outside. That was actually not as bad, but still annoying to have to wear a heavy winter coat indoors all the time.

The point is, big giant spaces / warehouses are not offices and using them as such without proper comforts will make your employees hate you. If it's an open office on top of that, they'll hate you twice as much because I've never met a single person who prefers open offices for themselves.

Re: Noisy Coworkers And Other Sounds Are A Distraction In Workplace

#24

Post by haddr »

Couldn't agree more on the article. Recently they put next to us a group of people who is 50% of their time on the phone. While some of them try to speak low, other just yell. It is probably the most frustrating work setup I experienced in my career. It is really distracting.

Re: Noisy Coworkers And Other Sounds Are A Distraction In Workplace

#25

Post by rdiddly »

Active noise-cancelling headphones plus a white noise generator, is where it's at.

These are the best headphones I've used: https://amzn.com/B00X9KV0HU They come in Apple- or Android-compatible versions.

They won't cancel everything. In general they're great with anything constant (hums/motors/fans etc.) but the more impulsive (in the physics sense) a sound wave is, the more of it seeps through. Human speech I find it damps it pretty significantly but not all the way.

That's where white noise comes in. From that dampened state, a very quiet level of white noise is enough to perceptually drown out any loudmouths who have no concept of an "indoor voice." Use something like simplynoise.com or an app. For Android I like Noise Machine - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.synopsia.n... For iPhone I believe there's an app literally called White Noise.

Not affiliated with any of these people.

Don't use music... that's just as distracting as someone talking. YMMV

Re: Noisy Coworkers And Other Sounds Are A Distraction In Workplace

#26

Post by ryandrake »

Different strokes for different folks. I'm probably the only person on HN that prefers open office workspaces. I currently have an office to myself and it's so lonely and isolating. I think I'd go crazy working all day without human interaction, so I hardly ever use it. And, no, chat isn't an adequate substitute. I'll generally charge up my laptop and go out and work in a break room or some other common area with actual human beings around--much better. If it gets noisy and I want to block out distractions headphones work just fine.

Re: Noisy Coworkers And Other Sounds Are A Distraction In Workplace

#27

Post by harveywi »

ritchiea wrote: post #16

I will never understand why this is such a point of contention on HN and why it isn't accepted that some people legitimately prefer open office plans while others prefer quiet. And even more practical and intelligent would be to offer different kinds of spaces so that people can choose where to work based on a particular mood. But instead we just get weekly complaints about open offices. I'm probably more productive…

Probably because people do not get to choose. The end result can have awful consequences for many people in various aspects of their life that should not be affected by their work environment, the most benign of which is demoralization.

Re: Noisy Coworkers And Other Sounds Are A Distraction In Workplace

#28

Post by 6DM »

pklausler wrote: post #10

The problem with open office plans is that it takes just one noisy person to spoil it for everybody. If managed carefully and actively, they can work -- it just takes an manager willing to correct bad behavior or send sick people home. Where I work, I have a budding tupperware percussionist, three imminent victims of whooping cough, some parents managing high-maintenance offspring over cell phones, and one guy who co…

I feel your pain. One thing that used to really irk me was a manager (with an office) that would have loud speakerphone conversations with the door wide open...

I used to use ear buds to block it out, but I don't recommend it. It actually does damage your hearing. I didn't figure that out for a while. Luckily my hearing has seemed to improve a bit.

I highly recommend over the ear noise cancelling head phones. They get rid of the office A/C sounds, turn the volume down on voices and are less damaging.

Re: Noisy Coworkers And Other Sounds Are A Distraction In Workplace

#30

Post by pavel_lishin »

post_break wrote: post #6

Coworker who is extremely loud on the phone. I get 0 work done when she's on the phone. She's so loud I can't hear people when I'm on the phone. We have an "open door" policy at work so if I close my door to my own office it looks weird. If I tell her she's being too loud I look like an asshole. We're moving to a new building and I'm going to be on a different floor than her and I can't wait. So many years of listeni…

We recently had an office re-org (in the physical "take your shit to different desks" sense). Our manager lobbied hard, and succeeded, to move our relatively small engineering team and stick us in the corner, away from sales folks, etc., who are on the phone all day - and especially from the one person who was frequently on the phone and loud enough to go through my big over-the-ear headphones.
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