When Noise In The Office Interferes With Work

Illustration (Pixabay)

JAKARTA - Activities that are carried out in the office every day make a person accustomed to small sounds such as computer typing tones, pressing pen caps repeatedly, or whistling sounds from work colleagues. For some people it may be just a small detail that fills a void in an office situation, but for others it can interfere with their performance.

This discussion was started via a popular Reddit thread, some users complained about the small voice they often hear while working in the office. Reporting from the BBC, Sunday, November 24, a user admitted to being annoyed by the woman at his desk who often shuffled the remaining ice in a plastic glass. Another user also revealed that he memorized the type of food his office mates chewed because of the loud sound, whatever it was.

In fact, noise does affect a person in different working capacities. Some can enjoy uninterrupted noise, such as music.

A 2011 study involving 300 employees in the UK showed that on average, they spend a third of their workweek listening to music from a variety of genres. Various reasons were mentioned, some said it could help them be productive, others used music as a distraction while working. This means listening to music can be a helper for productive steps at work.

Misophonia is a mysterious disorder in which sounds heard everyday can trigger extreme anxiety, anger, or panic. The slightest sound can disturb a person who has misophonia.

Research on misophonia in 2017 showed that "sound triggers" typically lead to strong reactions in processing emotions. Emotions also signal the body like pain.

However, a study states that even though someone likes listening to music, there is better if someone works in silence. Still reported by the BBC, Nick Perham, a psychologist at Cardiff Metropolitan University, said some tasks require you to use inner steps to try to remember things.

Regarding music, Perham explained that most people perform worse when asked to remember something in order because they listen to music too often.

This trend of open-air noise is not universal. "I think it's important to realize that not everyone performs well in a noisy open office environment," explains Courtney von Hippel, a psychologist at the University of Queensland.