Re: FWD: Quiet workplace

["Dana Worley" <dana -at- campbellsci -dot- com>]

On 29 Feb 2004 at 5:27, Anonymous wrote:
 
> I find myself in a rather noisy part of the office.  I'm finding it
> increasingly difficult to concentrate on my work, and I'm feeling
> stressed by the mechanical noises and casual conversations going on
> around me. 

>  Am I alone in needing a relatively quiet place to work? How have
> others (especially lone writers like me) succeeded in negotiating for
> a quiet workspace? 

I had a dream when I was much younger that one day I would get an 
office with a door. Alas, It is never going to happen (but I'm thrilled to 
have a window!).

I think most of us have found ourselves living in cube-farms. Over 
time, if you are faced with the same voices/types of noises, you 
learn to filter it out. Oddly enough, I find mechanical noise the most 
tiring. Quite often in the evenings I find myself breathing a little sigh 
of relief when the air handlers turn off, even though I wasn't 
consciously aware of the noise during the workday.

Of course, if you are in a common area like that, it's hard to learn to 
filter the noise since it isn't the same voices all the time. I suggest 
noise filtering headphones. I looked at them at one time (to filter out 
a particularly annoying "personality" who moved into our area), but 
unfortunately, most are better at filtering mechanical noise than 
voices. (Check the internet; I found some good reviews.) But, even if 
they won't filter all of the noise, it's bound to filter some and that 
might be enough of an improvement to help your productivity.

I would continue to bring it up with your manager. If you've got a 
review coming up soon, discuss it then. Your manager may just not 
realize that it *really is* an issue. 

I could really use some headphones today. They are stripping off the 
metal siding from our building in a remodelling effort!

Dana