- Leroy Acousti
3 OFFICE SOUND MYTHS
Updated: Nov 28, 2018
IF YOU IGNORE IT, WILL IT GO AWAY?
1. PEOPLE CAN TUNE OUT SOUND
The Scientific American says that if sound is present, no one is immune to it's distraction. BACKGROUND OR LOW-LEVEL noise in the home, work or school often disrupts people’s concentration. According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, ambient noise also affects people’s health by increasing general stress levels and aggravating stress-related conditions such as high blood pressure, coronary disease, peptic ulcers and migraine headaches. Continued exposure does not lead to habituation; in fact, the effects worsen.
2. HEADPHONES FIX OFFICE NOISE.Many of the leading articles in places such as Forbes and The Muse tout the ability of sound isolating headphones to fix the problem of office noise. However, this assumes that every employee does not plug them into their phone or computer to listen to music while they work. While music is fine for repetitive tasks that don't require thought, any analytical job or job requiring learning is dramatically decreased according to the Sparringmind.com. In other words, workers listening to music are just as inefficient as if they were listening to the discussions around them.
2. IF PEOPLE DON'T COMPLAIN ABOUT NOISE, IT ISN'T A PROBLEM.
First, people at work are afraid to complain about anything for fear of reproach or being fired. Combine this with a majority of workers who are unaware of how much noise really surrounds them and how much it is distracting them, and you have the perfect storm for people being silent about their lack of silence.
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