Cut the Noise with Cubicle Extenders
Is your office a cacophony of racket, making it nearly impossible to get work done? Here are some ideas to help.
First, a cubicle extender could mean the world if your boss can be convinced it’s in his or her best interest to make the investment. You might do an informal poll among your office employees to see if they feel productivity would go up if they had a more private place to work in.
Cubicle privacy panels can be adjusted at different heights for each employee’s needs, and really enhance working conditions for those who work alone, while other desks can have shorter cubicle walls to allow collaboration between team members who need a more back and forth working environment.
While corporate is taking the idea of adding cubicle panel extenders to the budget, here are a few things you can do to limit distraction.
- Wear earplugs. They can help down out repetitive annoying sounds, like the guy four rows over who keep clearing his throat, the printer coming on and shutting off, or the fax beeping incessantly.
- Wear headphones. These are a boon if other people continually want to chat when you are trying to work. It’;s a social barrier as you are obviously listening to something and they would have to shout to get your attention.
- Play soothing sounds. Even if your boss doesn’t allow a radio in your cubicle, you might be able to slip a sound machine in that produces a calming overlay on top of the office jangle. You can even find websites that can play soothing sounds like rainfall on low on your speakers.
- Be firm about interruptions. Let co-workers know you have a heavy workload and you can’t get everything done if you take time out to gossip.
- Ask for a desk in a quiet part of the office. Can’t hurt!
Don’t give up if you have trouble staying focused. Keep trying things until something works, and rally other employees to your cause. Your boss might be tempted to try something new if you show them stats on how better working conditions do increase quality performance and productivity!