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How to Deal With Loud Coworkers
Without losing your cool
I feel like I need ear protection at work. No, I don’t work at a construction site or a concert venue. I work in a regular old office, but it gets loud.
From shouted conversations, to hacking coughs, to music and ringtones, the modern office is a cacophony.
I made it through the installation of our building’s new roof last year, but lately, I’ve been getting distracted by everything. At times, I couldn’t focus, and I’ve had to get up and take a walk to clear my mind.
I thought that maybe I had misophonia, an extreme aversion to noise. But I’m not alone; other people get bothered by loud sounds, especially in open offices. And offices are getting noisier, impacting productivity and even making people leave jobs.
One way that employers can solve the problem is to allow open rooms for meetings, and allow workers to have a private space to make a call or finish a project. They can also encourage people to work from home.
If you don’t have those options, you have to get creative. You can’t turn a ruckus-filled office into a chapel overnight, but there are ways you can keep your focus (and sanity). Here are a few methods I’ve tried.
