c2meworld.com: Chances are you are reading this article in a noisy environment. You may be aware of the noise level, or you can push the noise into the background—for the most part. There is also a very good chance that this noise is impairing your productivity, negatively impacting your normally pleasant disposition, and even eroding time off your lifespan.
13 comments:
On one hand, I love sound-scapes. I love walking or riding the bus and just letting the tiniest noises wash over and fill you. However, when you look at them in context of the article, they certainly appear to be harmful in a workplace setting. Not only can it be a distraction, but it can give a negative underlying mood, to a setting. It's very interesting to hear how architects much keep these acoustics in mind as well while designing. The article proves how beneficial it is for a designer to have a general knowledge of al aspects of his or her art.
I absolutely agree with what this article is saying. 33 is a great working environment, up to a point. It comes to a time when so many people are talking and creating that it's physically impossible to get any work done whatsoever. I think the phrase, "silence is golden" would work best here. In places like restaurants and public spaces, I find it impossible to concentrate unless I'm doing something that's either very basic or just sketching. Even as I type this, I'm sitting in my dorm room and it's hard for me to type coherent sentences because people are being people and talking and laughing etc. The author was spot on with this. Absolutely.
Like Anna, I also like listening to sound-scapes.there is always so much going on around us! However, I can also see where this article is coming from. Trying to do any kind of work in a loud environment can be difficult whether you are able to work and talk at the same time or not. So much life around you can be distracting and/or aggravating! I'm curious as to how many people go into designing minimal sound-scapes. I would imagine that there is a point at which a space cannot be completely quiet.
This article is kind of pointing out the obvious. If it is noisy, you wont get work done and your health may be impaired. What is do think is worth noting is to remember who is actually thinking of solutions to these work problems. The designing of buildings and work spaces are huge in determining the productivity of those who will be inhabiting the environment. I was recently cueing in a light booth from 4am to 7am and during that time one of the freshmen was blasting Metallica throughout the lobby. It was by the good graces of god and the architects that the booth is pretty sound proof so I was able to get work done.
Also a note to the freshmen, 33 will always be the example of people not getting work done in an open environment. The more people you pack into that small space, the worse it is as you guys probably already know.
This article is PROOF that a loud working environment is detrimental to the quality of your work. The old saying "you need to be quiet I cant think straight" must be true! I think everyone can take a valuable lessen from this article and reconsider polluting a work environment with noise. I know sometimes I can be just as guilty as anyone else but that being said Studio 33 is a WORK environment, 95% of the time I am in the studio trying to concentrate it is extremely loud. I hope most of the class reads this article and we can all agree on some house rules in regards to being loud and obnoxious while people are trying to get through stressful work. I would never have even considered that loud noise would make you physically uncomfortable but after reading the article and thinking about it the more it starts to make sense. While noise level has somewhat of a factor in distracting people I think any noise at all can play a large part in this as well. Why? Think about it... if someone is carrying out a reasonable "indoor voice" conversation but you sit close enough you hear what there talking about. Then all you can concentrate on is what food they think is better and why instead of where your next line should go. At the very least when I have to crank my music so loud to cover up people shouting about something or another from one side of the room to the other... We have a problem!
I get very distracted by any movement or noise around me so I understand why sound can be a big concern for productive environments. I think sometimes we get so used to having some kind of sound around us all the time that places that are truly silent it can feel strange. Although I wish the acoustics of every space could be more engineered, but I believe most building projects would not have the funds to go to the lengths the article talks about.
Soundscapes are really interesting, and it was really cool to read about how soundscapes can affect people. The right sounds can evoke positive emotions and a productive workspace, but bad acoustics and a bad soundscape can make a terrible workplace and negatively affect the productivity of everyone in a space. A great example of this, as Katie said, is 33. Sometimes it's great to go into 33 to be productive. The other 80 percent of the time though (guess who), being productive in 33 can be incredible difficult and it may be time to retreat to design 1 or 2. Also, to complete Katie's quote, "silence is golden, but duck tape is silver".
Hah! Thank you Thomas for the "silence is golden, but duck tape is silver," I'll have to remember that for future group projects.. >:) Anyways.. Articles such as this really tend to open up people's eyes in many ways. Some in a way that allows them to check themselves out and realize that maybe they need to try something new, and some in a way that causes them to more closely scrutinize others. I personally find it very difficult to work in a space with loud surrounding noise. I either have to crank my headphones or just go somewhere else entirely. Another interesting thing to consider is that what I can listen to largely depends on the type of work that I'm doing.
I completely agree with this article. I have been trying to do comments for two hours now and this is my first one. I am very easily distracted by clutter noise. Noise thats just like a buzzing or noise that does not have any order to eat. When people talk around i immediately lose focus. However I'm listening to the Lord of the Rings soundtrack right now and i find myself more focus and able to type without having to stop. I think in my brain there is a distinction between noise and sounds. Now this could be a product of my ADHD but i think it would be interesting to look into the correlation of the increase in noise-scapes and the increase of ADHD diagnoses.
The only part of the article that i disagree with is the phrase: "As sound begins to permeate every aspect of our society." I do not think it is only beginning, I think it has been around for a very long while. The ambient noise that is all around us every day, weather we are aware of it or not i think drastically affects our temperament and ability to focus. I cant say what the ideal combination of sound permeation is, as it is impossible to concentrate when it is too noisy, and when it is nearly silent, every footstep and door closing is immensely infuriating. It seems like it should be an environment filled with sounds familiar and normal to you.
I've always been pretty noise sensitive. I struggle to be around loud music, and usually end up leaving situations in which I either need to plug my ears or in which I can feel the vibrations of the music in my chest. I don't work well in loud environments and I personally am not very talkative. If I can't escape loud noises, I sometimes have to drown them out with more sounds (i.e. music). It's more so unorganized noise that needs to be replaced with organized sounds. I can focus better working to music than to chatter in a room. I definitely struggle to focus and with anxiety more when I can't control the noises around me.
I think its really interesting what this article is saying about how sounds and ambient conversations negatively effect our work productivity, especially as I am sitting in the computer cluster doing comments because our studio is too loud and distracting. I will say however though, that if the environment is too silent I cant focus either. My ideal working sound environment is one where there is subtle but constant ambient noise in the background. My brain is highly distracted by irregular noises so a constant subtle noise helps to keep me focused. I have also gotten used to this, so complete or almost complete silence distracts me also.
This article was so right! I am reading this in a noisy environment. Also, I think that the fact that it can attribute to the back pain of white collar workers is quite interesting. Though I found this interesting I do have to agree with Simone that the rest of the article points out the obvious. Your health can be effected if you are constantly put in loud environments. Also, productivity tends to go down in these environments. I would however be interested to read about how music may effect productivity due to the fact that I have heard that classical music will stimulate the brain.
Post a Comment