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Maximizing Productivity

September 28, 2010 By

Increasing productivity is a hot topic these days.  Since no one can magically make their work day longer (and who really wants to spend more time in the office anyway?!), every man and woman is trying to get more out of their 8 or 9 hours at work.  From cubicle dweller to office manager, maximizing productivity is a matter of survival.

Tips for Increasing Productivity

  • Try white noise, like this free white noise generator.  It’s a fact that office noise kills productivity, so covering it is your only defense sometimes.
  • Re-work your work space.  This is a multi-faceted.  First, clear away the clutter.  Throw away trash and file your papers.  Next, move all essential items so that they are within arm’s reach.  You want to avoid straining your arms, shoulders, wrists, and hands.  Finally, move your mouse in to be directly next to your keyboard. Your goal is to avoid straining yourself as you reach for your mouse, and you also want to be more productive-unnecessary reaching is a loss of time.
  • Consider upgrading to an ergonomic keyboard for efficiency. You might consider a left-handed keyboard or mini keyboard.  Both keyboards fit your wrists/hands better and move the number pad for faster typing.  The result is more efficient use.
  • Similarly, why not try an ergonomic mouse? Fingers can get tired after a ton of touch pad mousing.  Ergonomic mice are wonderful for customizing the work experience to your own needs.  When your mouse fits your hand, and as a result, your hand isn’t exhausted at the end of the day, you cant help but be more productive.
Just by re-working your desktop and trying a few new products, you can easily be more productive and get more out of your work day.
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Distance from Distraction, Not Staff

September 24, 2010 By

Managing Your Own Distraction

So often managers focus on their employees’ (seeming lack of) attention span so much that they neglect their own levels of distraction.  For just a moment, set aside your concerns about your workers and think about your own office set-up.  What distracts you?  Whether it’s meetings or constant interruptions, most managers find getting their own work done virtually impossible because they feel it’s important to be available.  So, how do you balance being available with your own need to work?

Distance from Distraction, Not Staff

being available is not synonymous with being distracted...at last it shouldn't be.

One possible solution is to use a sound machine.  That way, you can keep an open-door policy, but you are not held captive by every noise that runs your way.  Think of all the machinery and cell phones and sales calls and gossip that course through the office every day.  You can’t turn them off, but you can distance yourself from their impact by using a sound machine.   For instance, instead of buzzes and high-pitched voices, your brain can focus on a waterfall in the background, thus releasing it from distraction.  With just a little background sound of your choice, you can keep your mind on the work you need to do.

Plus, a sound machine should only distance you from noisy distractions, not from your employees.  The actual sound of the machine shouldn’t disturb anyone and certainly doesn’t keep anyone from knocking on your door.  There’s no reason you can’t be available, but still be productive.

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Distracted & Disgruntled at Work

September 21, 2010 By

Distracted & Disgruntled at Work

Too often, people come home from work having accomplished very little.  It’s no wonder- they feel that they clock in just in time for the phone to ring, a co-worker to sidle over for a “quick” chat, or a manager to call what feels like a waste of time meeting.  Here are a few tips for handling the necessary distractions at work.  From never-ending meetings to constant interruptions, workers are distracted and disgruntled at work.

  • Meetings are not only largely boring, they are also a huge time-suck.

    Minimize meetings. Lots of meetings are held to convey information that quite simply could be sent in an email or dealt with in some other less time-consuming way.  Keep whatever meetings are absolutely essential short and simple.  It may be necessary to give speakers time limits and to hold them accountable for honoring everyone’s time.

  • Institute a “quiet time.”  Many businesses such as IBM and Intel  have a set time that all electronic devices are at least silenced so that workers can use the quiet time to get organized, plan, think, or do a variety of tasks that are difficult to do with tons of buzzes and rings.  It’s up to you how often “quiet time” takes place and certainly how long it lasts.
  • Try sound machines or sound masking systems. Sound machines are great for individual offices and cubicles, while sound masking systems are better for entire offices or larger areas.  Either way, the idea is the same- soft white noise masks, or covers, intrusive noises so that the brain can focus more fully on a task.  Rather than get distracted by an errant sound, the brain simply tunes it out and continues to be productive.

It’s important to realize that everyone gets distracted.  Whatever your methods, minimize unnecessary distractions, and you’ll find that everyone (including you!)  can be more productive.

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A Quick Guide to Sound Machines

September 16, 2010 By

A Sound Machine for All

White noise and its use to combat distraction and other irritating noise-related phenomena have been around for many years.  From home use to classrooms to  treatment for tinnitus to medical and even government buildings, white noise technology has provided effective sound coverage, as well as heightened levels of privacy, and therefore, confidentiality.  Here’s a quick overview, or guide, to some of the most effective white noise machines and systems available today.

VoiceArrest- a Sound Masking System for an entire office building or floor, equipped with Direct-Field Technology or the most uniform, effective coverage to maximize productivity and confidentiality

Sonet White Noise System- an individual sound machine with multi-channel technology for a larger office, or even a cubicle, with 2 emitters.  An extension kit is also available.

Sound Oasis Deluxe for Offices- another effective single office coverage option, but with over 100  nature sounds and 3 speakers.

Sound Oasis Travel White Noise System- similar to the Sound Oasis with the same nature sound, this little machine is portable and will fit in any size luggage you have.  Great for when you’re on the road or even when you’re oscillating between several workstations.

Sound Oasis with Memory Card- the world’s only sound machine with sound card technology to help provide a relaxing  atmosphere for work, sleep, and even tinnitus.

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2 Distraction Aids: Time Blocking & White Noise Machines

September 14, 2010 By

The cost of distractions

As a manager, you know that distractions have a cost.  Usually it’s loss of focus/productivity, and therefore money.  A distracted worker is a disengaged worker.  Disengaged workers lose their sense of ownership in a project or task and also make more mistakes.  They usually suffer more stress and even miss work more frequently.  Sadly, disengaged workers also turn over faster, and training their replacements  is costly.  Add it all up and it’s a rather large price tag: $600 billion.  That’s right, distractions cost businesses hundreds of billion of dollars every year.

2 Tips for Avoiding Distraction at Work

To regain your workers’ attention and focus, it’s smart to enable them to have distraction-free solo work.  For many, time blocking allows for this.

  1. Time Block.  The basic idea is to cut away from all the turmoil in your office and devote a specific block of time to working on a project.  You set a start and stop time and during that period you focus on your work.  This means you shut down any unnecessary electronics and anything that rings.  You can do it, I promise.  With fewer (or no) distractions, you should be able to make some progress.

However, not all offices offer conference rooms for regular work, nor do they have enough rooms to house every distracted worker.  Another effective time-saver and productivity-booster is the use of a white noise machine.

  1. White noise machines.  By using white noise, you cover office distractions.  With a simple desktop generator, you can block out office noise and get to work because your mind is more focused.  You can hold a thought long enough to process it, and you aren’t drawn into unnecessary chatter.

Half the battle of reclaiming lost time at work is having a game plan.  By time blocking and covering noise, you allow your workers’ brains much needed-time to process and recalibrate.

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A Case Study in Sound Masking

September 14, 2010 By

It’s one thing to read about sound masking reducing office distractions and quite another to hear it directly from a company who experienced it.

A noisy situation

Sigma Relocation Group

Nick Barber is the co-owner of Sigma Relocation, a ever-expanding apartment-locating company in Dallas, Texas.  They were suffering a staggering loss of productivity and professionalism in their noisy call center.  Their specs looked like this:

  • 4500 square feet of open office workspace (main installation)
  • Mid-wall (42”) cubicle partitions and no interior walls
  • 48 licensed real estate agents working in a call center environment

The problem was that 48 naturally sociable realtors can’t keep their voices down even if they tried…and if they did try, they wouldn’t be doing their jobs.  Here are some of their complaints:

  • “Can you hold it down! I’ve got these high tech earphones on and my head covered with my jacket, and I still can’t talk with my client!”
  • “Even with the partition, the copier noise is bad enough, but with all the conversation I can’t get any work done!”
  • “Just hang in there. We’re going to take on more space and spread everyone back out. Even though our work cubes are twice the size of some centers, we can’t fill the empty desks and space between each of you in this new call center because it is the only way we have to keep the noise down!”

The Solution

Nick found himself  facing the need to rent unused space or to find another noise solution. Not wanting to spread out even more, Nick and his IT department put some time into discovering another option: sound masking.  Sound masking is based on white noise technology, or the use of low-level noise to help the brain tune out distracting noises.

After researching and gathering nationwide bids, Nick and his team chose Speech Privacy Systems.  He felt that,  in addition to being an established and reputable local company, Speech Privacy Systems also had the latest technology in sound masking, which is able to maintain the right frequencies and balance of frequencies across the space better than older, plenum-based systems. Nick noted himself, “If you’re running the older technology, to get the same level of privacy, we’d have to probably be running at a noticeably higher volume.” With this system, “Unless you know it is on, you don’t know what it is and just assume the air conditioner is on.”

Nick reported that, “We’ve been impressed…100% of the employees are in agreement that it has made a significant difference,” Nick said, “The employees are jazzed with it. Before they could literally hear me all the way down the 4500 square foot call center. That would be impossible at this point.”  He also cited the following improvements as a result of sound masking:

  • Happier, less distracted employees
  • Noticeable improvement in the work environment in terms of noise levels;
  • Increased productivity
  • Decreased ability to hear conversations more than 10-15 feet away; less socializing and other distractions; increased ability to focus on work.
  • Cost savings; more efficient utilization of space.

Finally, one of Nick’s favorite results was that he can now fill every desk as his company continues to expand by 2-3 employees per month.

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Office Noise: Sound Masking System or White Noise Machines?

September 9, 2010 By

Office Noise

US businesses lose $600 billion a year to distractions.

If you knew there was a problem that cost US businesses $600 billion a year, would you be concerned?  What if you knew that problem could be resolved?  How likely would you be to find and implement that solution?  I imagine most managers wouldn’t rest until they knew what the problem was and how to fix it.

Problem: Office Distractions

Solution: Better Focus through white noise machines

Office distractions might not seem as sinister as they really are.  Can water cooler gossip, loud sales guys, and slamming doors really cost us $600 billion?  Yes.  When you add up all those little and medium-sized noises over the course of a day, you end up seeing that the average employee is distracted more than 2 hours a day.  When you multiply 2 hours a day times 5 days a week and get 10 hours and then multiply that by the number of employees you have on staff, you start to see a whole lot more zeros.  Loss of time is loss of productivity, and loss of productivity is loss of money.  In this economy, nay in any economy, loss of money is never good.

Now, back to the solution.  Instead of banning conversation or anything of a decibel level over a pin dropping, you can cover sound.  In fact, you have 2 effective sound covering options.

  • Office-wide sound masking
  • Individual white noise machines

Sound masking is meant to treat large offices, conference rooms, or any larger treated area, such as a block of cubicles. Speakers are mounted within the ceiling tiles themselves and emit low-level white noise so that the barin can tune out distracting noises and stay sharper.

White noise machines do the same thing, but at a desktop level and for individuals (rather than a number of people or offices).

When choosing whether to mask sound with a system or individual machines, it’s wise to consider the amount of space you’re treating.  If you only have problem areas in scattered spots, it might be sage to invest in a few machines and place them for a few individuals.  However, if you need more than a few machines, it would probably be wiser to invest in an office-wide system.

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Sound Machines for Work

September 7, 2010 By

Distracted at Work

Most distractions at work are annoying...and they all cost something.

Regardless of the time of year or the weather outside or the deadlines looming, most workers find themselves distracted more than 2 hours every day.  A 2-hour loss of productivity is quite a hit in this economy where every minute counts.  It’s essential that we keep our minds on task and our heads out of the clouds.

If you ask the average worker what distracts him or her, you’d get a variety of answers, most of which are external distractions (meaning not their own fault).  In fact, surveyed workers say that all they want is a chance to do distraction-free solo work, work that doesn’t get constantly interrupted by seemingly unnecessary meetings or office chatter.

Sound Machine (aka white noise machine)

A simple, inexpensive solution for distraction is use of a sound machine.  Sound machines have many advantages and few disadvantages.  Sound machines come in a variety of shapes and sizes and offer a host of features that are usually adjustable for individual users.

How does white noise work?

Sound machines use white noise to help the brain tune out unwanted noises.  The result is two-fold: The brain is literally tricked into not perceiving various noises.  By not hearing or processing distracting sounds, the worker stays on track and disciplines his or her mind not to wander.

The cool thing is that while they help you get past intrusive noises, the white noise machine itself isn’t so loud that it issues a equally disturbing noise.  In fact, the worker in the cubicle next door is usually fairly oblivious to it even being turned on.  Plus, the user can choose what type of white noise to use from a myriad of nature sounds or a gentle hum like that of an HVAC system.

Why Go with Individual Machines?

White noise machines are much more efficient than headphones for covering office noise.  White noise usually keeps the mind focuses, whereas listening to music may end up becoming way more of a distraction that the office noise.  On the other extreme, while many businesses opt for office-wide sound masking, sometimes they find it prudent to treat small offices or individual cubicles with white noise machines instead.  This way, only some areas are treated, which might be all that is needed.

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3 Uses of White Noise in the Office

September 1, 2010 By

Distracted at Work

Do you struggle with distraction at work?  Chances are you do.  In fact, most people are distracted more than 2 hours every day.  What could you do with 2 more hours every day?  Now, what could your business do with 2 more hours per employee??

3 Uses of White Noise in the Office

How do you regain lost time in the office?  Well, you can’t ban cell phones and texting, but you can take control of all the noise heard round the office.  Rather than try to control noise, why not moderate it?  With white noise, you actually add noise to tune out noise.  By adding low-level unstructured noise from all over the sound spectrum, you allow your brain to tune out potentially distracting sounds and focus in on work.  Here are 3 common uses of white noise.

  • An emitter, or speaker, for a sound masking system

    Free White Noise Generator: a free online generator that can be customized by the user.

  • Sonet Sound System: A great individual solution for noise that is even and effective and doesn’t require any specialized knowledge.
  • Sound Masking: The best office-wide sound solution with invisible uniform distribution through speakers in the ceiling tiles.

Choosing which form of white noise to implement is largely dependent upon how large a group you need coverage for.  Ideally, every office would install sound masking, thus protecting the time of every employee.  However, not all businesses have a budget to cover that and some companies have opted for individual systems, such as the Sonet.  The main difference is how much space is treated.  It’s up to you to decide what your company needs and how valuable your time is.

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