Why Office Noise Bothers Some People More Than Others (bbc.com) 97
An anonymous reader shares an excerpt from a report via the BBC: According to a 2015 survey of the most annoying office noises by Avanta Serviced Office Group, conversations were rated the most vexing, closely followed by coughing, sneezing and sniffing, loud phone voices, ringing phones and whistling. Why do we find it so hard to be around these everyday noises? What is it about them that allows them to lodge in our brains and make it impossible to think? [...] Back in 2011, researchers from University College London and the University of London decided to find out. First of all, the researchers asked 118 female secondary school students to complete a questionnaire, which revealed how extroverted or introverted each was -- essentially, whether they thrive on socializing and being immersed in the outside world or if they find these experiences exhausting. Next the students were subjected to a battery of cognitive challenges -- and to add extra difficulty, they were asked to complete them while listening to British garage music, or the clamor of a classroom. A control group completed them in silence.
As the researchers suspected, all the students performed better in silence. But they also found that, in general -- with the exception of one test -- the more extroverted they were, the less they were affected by noise. A person's level of extroversion is thought to be a key aspect of their personality -- one of the so-called 'Big Five' factors that determines who we are, along with things like how open we are to new experiences. According to one prominent theory, extroverts are inherently "understimulated," so they tend to seek out situations which increase their level of arousal -- like noisy environments. Meanwhile, introverts have the opposite problem; as the famous poet, novelist and introvert Charles Bukowski put it: "People empty me. I have to get away to refill." With this in mind, it makes sense that more introverted workers would be more affected by the background noise, since anything that increases their level of arousal, like music or the chatter of colleagues, could be overwhelming.
As the researchers suspected, all the students performed better in silence. But they also found that, in general -- with the exception of one test -- the more extroverted they were, the less they were affected by noise. A person's level of extroversion is thought to be a key aspect of their personality -- one of the so-called 'Big Five' factors that determines who we are, along with things like how open we are to new experiences. According to one prominent theory, extroverts are inherently "understimulated," so they tend to seek out situations which increase their level of arousal -- like noisy environments. Meanwhile, introverts have the opposite problem; as the famous poet, novelist and introvert Charles Bukowski put it: "People empty me. I have to get away to refill." With this in mind, it makes sense that more introverted workers would be more affected by the background noise, since anything that increases their level of arousal, like music or the chatter of colleagues, could be overwhelming.
How about this: (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:How about this: (Score:5, Interesting)
Type of work maybe? Office work often involves at least more complicated processes (filling out orders with dozens of fields and rules about when you need to do what) if not novel creative thinking (programming, architecture, marketing etc). Which both that and what is found in this study makes me very annoyed when offices purposefully remove barriers to distraction because they were sold a bill of goods (by a probably extroverted) productivity expert. 70% of your workforce might be more collaborative but you can't ignore that you've made the work environment hell for the other 30% and it's not their fault they are that way.
Ex I work in software development. You hired a band of high IQ guys that excelled in school which primarily involved working by yourself in quiet and thinking your way through problems. Then all of a sudden you want to put them in an office without even cubicle walls, and pong pong and arcade games near by, and daily group meetings, and ad hoc desk chats all around and wonder why they might find that annoying.
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Type of work maybe? Office work often involves at least more complicated processes (filling out orders with dozens of fields and rules about when you need to do what) if not novel creative thinking (programming, architecture, marketing etc).
The character of the noise matters. Act someone who suffers from hyperacusis [wikipedia.org].
Re:How about this: (Score:5, Insightful)
In the office I need complete silence, but I have no trouble working 100% concentrated in a busy café in town next to an equally busy street.
I would suspect office noises are fairly irregular, while busy cafe's have enough noise it effectively becomes white noise. This is part of why I always listen to music, it doesn't drown the noise out, instead it gives me constant noise so changes in office noise don't seem sudden.
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Why would you expect that? There are no rules as to what a space "should" be like - the noises in your specific office *are* the natural noises for that office. After the first few days, that should be what you expect. And if confounded expectations are actually the source of your problem, it will then vanish.
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Why would you expect that?
It's a foreign concept to narcissists, but the default in any setting with the potential to involve different tastes and preferences should be the state that maximizes each individual's ability to accommodate their own preferences. If I prefer noise while I work I can wear headphones and listen to music, people talking, nature, or whatever noise I want. If I prefer quiet there is nothing I can do that will quiet the din of the loudmouths and inconsiderate douche bags playing music. Therefor, the default off
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It's the same basic reason offices should be kept cool. There is no practical upper limit to how many clothes I should wear, but there is a limit to how much I can take off. Personally I got used to being in the tropics without much in the way of A/C but I can accommodate those who are not so acclimated by just wearing a sweater.
I don't expect them to strip down and show us their beach bod.
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That's untrue. I can wear a lot of clothes, but if my hands are cold, I can't wear anything on them because I need to type and even the thinnest merino slip-on gloves interfere with that.
In general, that's not a problem for me, because my circulation is pretty good—like most men—but a lot of women have poor circulation to their extremities. Piling on sweaters makes them warm, but their hands are still cold. (This is why your girlfriend is always trying to jam her cold hands or feet against your
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That's untrue. I can wear a lot of clothes, but if my hands are cold, I can't wear anything on them because I need to type and even the thinnest merino slip-on gloves interfere with that.
In general, that's not a problem for me, because my circulation is pretty good—like most men—but a lot of women have poor circulation to their extremities. Piling on sweaters makes them warm, but their hands are still cold. (This is why your girlfriend is always trying to jam her cold hands or feet against your bare back.)
But there's actually a perfectly good compromise to that, which is to use the natural temperature gradient of the office. Heating an office is a constant balancing act, because the air isn't a uniform temperature no matter what you do. There will be natural hot spots in a large room, as well as natural cool zones. Let people be arranged by their temperature preferences, if they have a strong one one way or another.
The downside? Sometimes teams will be broken up slightly. But I've rarely needed to sit right next to a specific person for work purposes. Walking 30s across the office is no real impediment, if you even need to talk to them in person rather than over email or a chat app at all.
Yeah, I worked in one large office with an imbalance in the cooling system that caused it to blow cold air on me all day long, while the other end of the office was too warm. I wore a winter coat in July, but it was cold enough my fingers were still freezing.
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Years back I saw a nice show detailing a "green" office building in Mexico City. Every cubicle had a warm/cold vent under the desk and you adjusted your vent to make your workspace comfy the way you liked it. The claim was that because the common space was not heavily air conditioned that it won for both individual comfort and HVAC bills.
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One thing I have noticed is that I am not distracted by people on television but people actually here are quite distracting even if they're not trying to talk to me. I wonder if at least part of it is that there is no possibility of interaction with the people on TV.
Perhaps, since in the cafe there is a general expectation that you not interact with other groups of people while at your table they too are less distracting.
I can't say I've really nailed it down, but there seems to be something to that line of
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It's probably also assisted by the fact that the TV has a specific direction you can sort of tune out, while people move. Someone yapping on their phone as they pace back and forth is far more annoying than the same person on the same phone but standing in one spot.
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The commercials, otoh, will always impinge. They are louder and far more dynamic sounding.
That's how TIVO knocked out commercials.
myNoise.net (Score:2)
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Re:How about this: (Score:4, Interesting)
Same here. Most of it is the level - at the office, the noise is generally low, and any one thing stands out, while at the coffee shop it's a steady cacophony.
Also, I think in the coffee shop I *know* none of the noise is directed at me. At the office, I've always got to pay at least a little attention in case someone's trying to interact with me.
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What gets to me are those who cannot close a door like a civilised person. It's just slam, slam, slam for those lazy animals. It becomes many times worse when they can't decide whether to go in or go out and just keep slamming the fucking door all day.
I have already told them to stop numerous times, others have told them to stop numerous times and they have already been reprimanded twice so now I am pursuing their dismissal from the company.
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There are very simple pneumatic devices that can be attached to doors that prevent this....
Sounds like that might be a better avenue to pursue for you.
My issue is people who don't close the door to the conference room after their meeting starts. The room is right next to my work space. I always have to be the "passive aggressive" ass who has to ask them to close the door....
Comment removed (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Office Space (Score:5, Funny)
"Are you saying it's quiet?"
"Quite!"
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I would loved to have the basement for office space. Quite is blissful. Don't trip over the bodies, your review is next.
Okay Milton
PHBs and Open Plan (Score:5, Insightful)
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Yep. Insensitive clods^W^W Extroverts genuinely don't understand Introverts.
(...how could they?)
Re:PHBs and Open Plan (Score:4)
Yeah, where I work they went to this "Open office space" and call it "Inspiring Working Conditions", most of us HATE it.... I refer to it as "Demoralizing Concentration Destroying Workspace"
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> most of us HATE it
Life is too short to work at a place that doesn't value their employees' humanity.
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When you've got 20 years seniority, you're 50, and you have an easy work around, you make due.
I know a LOT of the interns and students there for short term lose interest in working for the company after they graduate though
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They call it "facilitating collaboration" around here. It's a fucking nightmare, I would WFH or just schedule most of my personal activities during work hours and get work done afterwards. Fortunately my current employer supports us in maintaining total silence in cubeland.
Re: PHBs and Open Plan (Score:2)
I score 96 percentile on Extrovert. Similar score when others evaluate me.
Can't stand the open office!
If I measure the sound level it comes as "quiet library". However every 3 to 5 seconds there is a sudden human noise which stands out like a fly on a wedding cake.
IMO, it's the contrast. Also, MT in their infinite wisdom placed a kitchen in the middle of every open floor. OMG!
I think the average quiet period is before 7AM and after 6PM and lasts for a few minutes since there are "only" 20% of the people pre
Open Plan Offices (Score:5, Insightful)
Which is probably why extroverted people within a business decide that Open Plan Offices are Great, especially Hot Desking as you are near new people all the time!
And the generally introverted developers suffer greatly from the constant noise, hubbub, people movement, interruptions. And the business suffers from the reduced productivity that results. Luckily hot desking often comes with Work from Home capability, that likely is when all the useful work is done.
Re:Open Plan Offices (Score:5, Insightful)
Hot desking is stupid. A friend of mine works at a place with it and they don't even let you work from home. Every day you have to get your stuff out from a locker (laptop, plants, pictures whatever it is you like in your space) setup your desk work then put it all away again at the end of the day. Makes no sense. The only argument I can see for it in this case is if you need to work with a different person occasionally you can sit next to each other that day ad hoc. There's another solution that works for that though: give people offices and then you can just go to their office when you need them. How novel: offices in an office building ;)
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Generally hot desking used to be used for shift work. I had a job at the beginning of my career in a NOC and there were three shifts sharing the same workspace. The problem is that it expanded beyond this because companies started kicking people out of the office to home and into coffee shops in the 2000s, but now that they're pulling them back in, they don't have enough space left for everyone.
I saw a study a while back that shows people wasted 15 minutes on average a day looking for and setting up their w
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Maybe, that could keep down the requests for raises or at least maybe psychologically play with people so they think they have to accept a smaller one.
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I guess if the 15min employee time is cheaper than the extra rent for the space to have everyone a dedicated desk its a win. Probably to make it work everyone would have to hot desk including management and sales. They are the ones in my experience more likely to be away from office, the managers also tend to have seniority higher vacation allotment so are out more for that too.
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Wouldn't hot desking just reward the people that get in earlier? Or is there some kind of system by which you cannot use the same desk more than X days in a row?
I could see a hot desk system turning into a permanent desk system naturally by arrival times.
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If management wants hot desks, help them out. Set a desk on fire today!
Working through noise distractions (Score:3)
Makes sense. Socializing is essentially tolerating the noise of others in exchange for the chance to win the approval of your peers... it is apparently innate, according to Maslow, yet there is some survival benefit to being able to operate efficiently alone.
I wonder (Score:4, Funny)
Why does noise bother some more than others? (Score:3)
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Neurodiversity is hardly news, TFA has been under a rock for the past 30 years.
What about "white noise" (Score:4, Informative)
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I'm a strong introvert, too, so I like either quiet or enough hubub that I can't focus on any one thing, but I really dislike white noise. Something about the unending hiss/whir just grates on me after a while, and if it's pervasive enough it'll start to feel like sinus pressure, almost.
If I really have to tune something out, I do better with headphones and music. Usually if it's something I know well, I can sort of stop paying attention to it because it's predictable, I guess?
The only time I can live with
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I can't stand white noise either, which makes the open office environments where they intentionally pump in white noise especially annoying. I know it's supposed to mask other noise and conversations, but it's either set too quiet to be effective and that makes it a simply useless and irritating background drone, or it is set really loud, which just makes it a head-pounding, never-ending assault on my ears that has to be endured anytime I'm in the office.
While I do find the noise from a fridge or an air ha
Re: What about "white noise" (Score:2)
Oh no, sir! My best year so far was sitting in a room with an extreme introvert.
I'm the opposite. I loved it! It was always quiet in the room but when I needed advice from him I got it. Detailed discussions using the white board we had. 2 to 4 people in a session. Bliss.
And when he needed something done quickly from the facility team I'd go negotiating with my skills and he would be amazed that they stay on a Friday evening to help us because 'it's you, Evtim'.
Man, I got tons of work done during that year.
Non work loud conversations (Score:4, Informative)
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Good thing presenters have global controls to mute/unmute attendees.
In other news (Score:3)
This is.... (Score:3)
...my wife completely. She HATES working in an office with all the surrounding office noises. And shere she works, she can;t wear headphones either. She's just a s bad at home when trying to work on something.
Luckily, I can wear headphones at work, and I do all the time.
Hiatal Hernia (Score:3)
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I'm afraid to ask what a INFJ is.
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“Geek cred”? It likely just means he isn’t a college student or a person who incessantly self-analyzes.
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Given that it's incredibly easy to google that term [google.com], yes, they lost a lot of geek cred.
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A basic result in behavior is that an irritant in one modality (like your pinched nerve) can readily affect performance in another (like your tolerance of distraction). Or, to put it in vernacular terms, when we feel better, we do better.
Computer Work / Autism Spectrum (Score:5, Insightful)
It's the worst thing I think for the kind of autism-spectrum folks that are naturally drawn to computer work - heightened sensory sensitivity comes with the territory which makes the noise distraction that much more difficult to deal with.
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And ADHD -- there are some theories that part of the issue with ADHD is that your mind doesn't automatically filter out things that aren't threats. (which might be why I notice spelling mistakes, litter, and other annoyances that other people gloss over).
But when you have an office mate that makes loud phone personal calls... it really, really makes it difficult for me to get work done. General hallway noise wasn't nearly as much of a problem as someone specifically talking, and even worse a one-sided con
What's an extrovert in 2019? (Score:2)
Is it easy to find the extrovert in the endless sea of mass narcissism, fed by the I'm-better-than-you psychological mind fuck we call social media?
Asking for another planet...
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Follow me on Insta to find out.
Especially conversation (Score:2)
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That's pretty much my experience. If the noise is typical in the environment, I can get by without too much in the way of distractions. Coffee shops? OK. The clickety-clack on a commuter train? OK. Music (of my own choice)? OK. But throw in loud conversations and any flow I might have been in is shot to hell. At one employer, we moved from cubicles to a new building with an almost open office plan ("cubicles but with low partitions). The distraction level shot up considerably, primarily from people talking.
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I have to listen to music loud enough to drown out loud conversations. Hearing voices and speech simply drowns out my inner thinking if it involves reasoning. The music, instrumental with no vocals, is bearable.
If I am drawing or painting then voices are not a distraction because it is a different brain skill involved.
But in general, open plan with chatty people is a fucking nightmare. It is the ONLY thing which has ever led me to utter the words "I hate my job".
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I can't listen to music and work. I even end up turning off the music in games after a while -- generally not because it is bad, but because there is not enough of it and I'm tired of hearing the same tracks again and again.
Just as speech (or noises that can easily be converted by pareidolia into something resembling speech) causes us to go into "listen mode" and try to tease out information, I can't stop deconstructing and analyzing music. It's worse if the music has lyrics, but the problem remains even wi
We need more studies like this (Score:4, Interesting)
Anyone who needs quiet for their job and has had to work in open-plan offices can tell you they're a nightmare for concentration. Unfortunately anecdotes aren't accepted as data even when overwhelming. Open plan offices work at startups simply because there's not enough space to have offices in most cases, and tech companies because...not sure, but I think it might just be because they pay their employees so much and act as concierges for their lives to keep them in the office. You're not going to question Mother Google or Father Microsoft if you're being paid well and given 3 meals a day.
I'm glad someone finally did a cross-cutting study through the introvert/extrovert ranks. It makes total sense that a life-of-the-party marketing person, a type-A glad-handing salesman and an affable extroverted manager would thrive in open-office spaces. Add in hot-desking too, because everyone wants to be sitting next to a new opportunity to win friends and influence people every day, amirite? I'm introverted but not so much that I can't hang out with these people, and we're on different planets as far as what works for us environment-wise. I need quiet and personal space. I don't want to be sitting in a team room across a cafeteria table from my colleagues. Let me "collaborate" through non-extroverted means.
The open space thing is just a ploy to save real estate costs, as well as play into this Agile DevOps collaboration fantasy managers seem to have. FAANG companies and startups are in the popular management consulting literature as being a "digitally transformed" workplace and companies are doing everything they can to act like them. Problem is, you don't get world-class collaboration by stuffing normal employees into the same workspace and making them stare at each other. You get it by hiring the entire output of CS Ph.D. programs and getting them to sell ads more efficiently, or doing a Netflix and paying whatever their staff demands so they don't leave.
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While it may have originated as a means to control costs and keep office plans smaller/cheaper, I think open plan seating has become a way by which extroverts can select for other extroverts without ever specifying that's what they're looking for. In most industries, where the introverts and autists are just a sliver of the workforce available to them, this probably is sustainable for the businesses. Not so much when you're in a field where those types tend to cluster.
Chit-Chat Is The Worse (Score:2)
Especially if those individuals complain about having to step in and help with the workload of the time-sensitive workers.
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No, chit-chatting is not the worst.
The worst are a couple of middle-aged women whispering to each other loudly enough that you can hear them doing it, but not loud enough to hear what they're saying.
Loud phone voice, ringing phones (Score:1)
One size does not fit all (Score:4, Insightful)
Some people's work involves networking. Other people synchronize, then work alone in concentrated silence.
Some have easily separated, moderately demanding tasks that can be multitasked. Others have difficult problems with significant ramp-up times to doing real work.
Some people have attention-deficit and hyperfocused neurologies who can do great work if engaged and not distracted, but the open office is hell for that. So too people on the autistic/aspberger spectrum, who are easily overstimulated, irritated by frivolity, but are also really engaged and truth-driven thinkers who are exactly the people you want to be hitting all cylinders doing what they're supposed to do.
Some are best in an open office, others need to migrate based on their role, others need their quiet corner away from the sales team. Some are best working fully remote.
One size does not fit all when it comes to offices, and we're not all working on the same stuff. People are different neurologically and physically because we have different roles to play. That's what specialization in society is all about.
It's Mild Misophonia (Score:3)
Noisy offices, noisy neighbors, whistling (when not in music), just being loud. It's annoying as hell.
It's very simple. (Score:1)
/. noise (Score:2)
Noise on /. in the form of blatantly obvious posts annoys me th e most.
Microsoft won't stop the stupid (Score:1)
this seems way oversimplified (Score:2)
I test in a varying range from fully introverted to on the borderline between the two. However, I have never been bothered by office noise. Even a jackhammer would not bother me.
In my case, it has more to do with my ability to focus. If I am focused on something, I shut out interruptions completely. Yelling at me is less likely to get my attention than a tap on the shoulder. Though it is an ability that is notably decreasing with age (I'm in my early 50s and have seen gradual decrease in this since about 29
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Maybe then, these studies confuse cause and effect.
My upbringing had me spend long periods on my own away from people. So maybe I never developed that skill, not because I'm introvert, but because introversion exacerbated the situation of always being alone in the quiet and so not having to develop early on the skill to block things out.
Oddly I find it much easier to block whilst drawing or painting, losing all track of time as well. But not when coding. Reading is about fifty fifty.
Studies like this (Score:1)
That's normal (Score:3)
For example, I am especially bothered by office noice because I retired 6 years ago.
von Neumann was an extraovert (Score:3)
von Neumann was very social and he also *thrived* on noise. At home, he was only able to get work done in the living room with the TV blaring in the background. Working at Princeton, people in adjacent offices (like Einstein) complained about how loud he was cranking the record player.
So open floor plans favor extroverts? (Score:1)
Thank You! (Score:1)
I hate coming to work in a cube not because of the work, but the noise bugs the shit out of me.
Words! (Score:2)
I can't read words and hear spoken/sung words at the same time. The heard words disrupt my reading.
If you work as a software developer, you spend most of your time reading: either code or documentation.
I often listen to music in headphones while working, but it has to be all instrumental. Most of it is soundtracks from movies and video games, and also remixes of classic C64 game music. [kwed.org]
If the background noise is a cacophony, such as the background noise in a convention hall, then that does not impact my conc
All of it! (Score:2)
It all impacts me and, yes, I'm and introvert. Conversation, white noise, pink noise, music, kids, TV, etc. I've never understood how people work while listening to music, watching TV, etc. I wish there was a way to manage it but I haven't found one. Noise canceling headphones help, but aren't practical. Ear plugs are less practical. I can do repetitive or simple work, but in depth analysis, writing, etc. all suffer heavily. To make matters worse, I have an HVAC duct on one side and pink noise/sound m
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Accept a 95% pay cut and switch to a simple agrarian lifestyle?
Slightly Autisic People are More Sensitive (Score:2)
This is a genuine recording.... (Score:2)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/vt1a... [dropbox.com]
That is legitimately recorded 2 booths, away around 15 feet (over 3 metres)
Every Thursday is spaghetti day. It's insane. I'm not joking this is a real recording. My fiends know about this, I've posted it elsewhere on the net.
Bear in mind, it's recorded on a cell phone too, with call phone microphone.....
It's actual hell
Breaking news (Score:2)
Open-plan offices are bad, commuting is worse (Score:2)
Four days a week, I have a 45-minute commute each way in intense Bay Area traffic. When I get to the office, Iâ(TM)m already frazzled, then I have the open desk environment to deal with. By the time I get home at night, Iâ(TM)m utterly exhausted.
On the fifth day, I work at home. No commute, quiet work environment. I get a lot more done and itâ(TM)s better for the planet. Most of my colleagues feel the same about our work-from-home day.
A lot of studies have been done recently that provide stro
Sleeping in front of the television (Score:2)
i can identify!!! (Score:1)