How to Stay Productive in a Loud Office

How to stay productive in a noisy office

If you find yourself in a noisy office, you might experience decreased productivity and higher levels of workplace stress. However, the following tips can help you salvage your productivity no matter the decibel level of your surroundings.

1. Wear earplugs or headphones.

Lynn Taylor, workplace expert and author of Tame Your Terrible Office Tyrant: How to Manage Childish Boss Behavior and Thrive in Your Job, noted that earplugs or noise-canceling headphones are excellent options for easily distracted workers. They drown out background noise and help the brain concentrate.

You can also play music through your headphones. Depending on your sensitivity to noise, mellow tunes can help the mind stay on task. Create a playlist that suits you and listen to it when the office is particularly loud. You might even feel more inspired, happier and productive while listening to music.

“Though it sounds strange to add more noise to a loud office, having a small white noise machine app on your phone can help mask any rhythmic sounds with steady, ambient noise,” explained Stephen Light, CMO and co-owner of Nolah Sleep. 

2. Locate a quiet room.

Workspaces with open-office layouts often make it impossible to ignore conversations and other people’s personal phone calls. While this layout might encourage collaboration, it can hinder productivity because workers overhear everything their colleagues say.

If you’re having trouble focusing in an open office, try to locate a quiet, private space where you can complete particularly intensive projects. “Find a conference room or empty office that you know isn’t off limits [to use] as a safe haven when you absolutely need quiet time,” Taylor advised.

Additionally, specific times might be louder than others. Plan your assignments according to the office’s volume. “Keep all your strategic and deep-thinking projects to hours of the day when it’s most quiet,” Taylor suggested. “For example, handle more transactional activities when the noise level is higher.”

Additionally, encourage colleagues to adhere to open-office etiquette best practices, such as monitoring their volume and being considerate of their co-workers’ needs.

3. Divide up jobs based on your concentration needs.

When the office is noisy, stick to low-level but necessary tasks. For example, it’s relatively easy to send emails in a distracting environment. However, save more involved jobs, such as writing, reading a complicated technical paper, or producing a video, for quieter times when you can concentrate. 

“Often, these tasks require you to keep a lot of information in your head at the same time to complete them,” explained Jeff Mains, CEO of Champion Leadership Group. “If you’re stopped in the middle of a project, you’ll have to go back and retrace your actions to get back on track.” 

Additionally, focus on one task at a time. “Oftentimes, employees multitask to accomplish more things faster,” noted Sonya Schwartz, founder of Her Norm. “However, that will only be possible if you can concentrate enough without external noises. Thus, focusing on a single task will help you keep your productivity.” 

4. Expose yourself to loud noises.

While exposing yourself to loud noises may seem counterproductive, one of the main reasons loud noises impact productivity is that we’re so used to quiet.

“Spend more time around constantly noisy environments,” advised Brian Nagele, CEO of Restaurant Clicks. “Most people will avoid the noise to be more productive, but that’s not always practical. Instead, make a conscious effort to situate yourself within the loudness.” 

Nagele said this will train your body to adjust to your background. Before long, those auditory distractions might become invisible to you. Of course, this doesn’t work for everyone, but it’s worth a try to lessen the impact of a noisy office.

5. Shut out your own distractions.

A loud office is distracting enough, but you might also be doing things to exacerbate how much that noise distracts you.

“Try some self-management techniques,” suggested Chris Anderson, founder of lifestyle platform Soothe Your Feet. “Put your phone away or put it on silent mode for a start. Close any unnecessary browsers and apps, leaving only the one open that you are working on. Make sure you have designated breaks, and stick as closely to these times as possible.” 

Eliminating productivity-killing workplace distractions within your control can mitigate the impact a loud office has on you.

6. Drown out distracting noise with other sounds.

Sometimes, working in a loud office is problematic because it’s hard to drown out the noise of conversations or music with easily distinguishable lyrics. Experiment with adding more noise, but a different kind of noise.

“Try sitting near an open window to the street where the traffic noise is audible, or sit in a common area with so many people talking that individual conversations become inaudible,” advised Dean Kaplan, CEO of The Kaplan Group.

This is a similar concept to using white noise. The distraction might not be the noise itself but a specific type of noise.

7. Adjust your work schedule.

If you work best when no one else is in the office, and it’s feasible to work outside of regular office hours, try getting to the office before anyone else or staying after others have left. Offices with flexible work policies often allow for creative work schedules.

“I once had to head in early to the office before opening hours in order to finish a deadline that was due at 9 a.m.,” said Ally Mashaura, editor-in-chief at Adventures Pursuit. “It was the first time in a very long time that I was able to stay focused on my report, which I can only conclude had to do with the fact there was almost no one in the office.” [Related: The Pros and Cons of a Compressed Work Schedule]

Mashaura also said most people aren’t really chatty in the morning, so don’t worry if you aren’t the only one getting to the office early.

8. Confront the issue.

When all else fails, be upfront. Executives and managers should set clear expectations for offices and departments and intervene before noise issues get out of hand. 

“It is up to the leaders in the organization to set the culture for the department, and it is best if the manager can set very clear expectations on unnecessary noise,” advised Dr. Jude Miller Burke, workplace psychologist and author of The Adversity Advantage: Turn Your Childhood Hardship into Career and Life Success. “Initiate dialogue each week about the noise level and encourage people to discuss it openly at staff meetings. Set the expectation that if someone is being extra loud with personal phone calls, jokes, or daily gossip, you should ask that person directly to be less noisy.”

If you feel uncomfortable confronting a co-worker, confide in a supervisor. Explain to them that the noise issue isn’t personal, but you’re unable to perform to your highest potential because of it. Burke recommends explaining that a more considerate office culture will improve productivity at the individual and group levels. 

“Maybe it would be worthwhile to discuss the noise level and creative solutions in a staff meeting,” Burke suggested. “You may be surprised as to the unique solutions that might come up that could be helpful.”

How loud offices affect productivity

Noisy offices are more than just annoying. They can hurt productivity — and the bottom line — in the following ways:

1. Loud offices increase stress.

A loud workplace can lead to workplace stress and other health issues.

“Noise and interruptions definitely affect productivity and increase employees’ stress, increasing blood pressure and heart rate,” Burke explained. “It is the rare individual who can day after day, hour after hour, focus well with a constant hum of background noise.”

Stress, in turn, can lead to a host of problems, from employee turnover to workplace burnout. In the APA’s 2023 Work in America Survey, 23 percent of respondents said work-related stress made them want to quit, while 20 percent admitted to stress lowering their productivity. Another 26 percent said they weren’t motivated to do their best because of stress.  

2. Loud offices disrupt workers.

According to a Workplace Acoustics study commissioned by Interface, 62 percent of office workers in the U.S., U.K., and Australia believe that decreasing distractions in the workplace is crucial to conducting business. In fact, many say loud noises in the office can negatively impact their creativity levels and ability to concentrate — both of which contribute to productivity. 

Additionally, an Oscar Acoustics survey revealed that 75 percent of respondents said loud offices prevented them from doing a good job, 40 percent said poor acoustics made it difficult to concentrate, and 30 percent said their moods were adversely affected.  

3. Loud offices affect attention and memory.

According to brain research, attention and memory are the cognitive domains most affected by noise; they’re both crucial aspects of productivity. If you can’t focus on your assignments or tasks, you won’t be able to make the necessary progress or work efficiently. Plus, operating with a poor memory can lead to excessive mistakes, missed deadlines and a lack of understanding of one’s workload. 

Working in a loud office

As an employee, you might not have the option to work remotely or in a quiet office space. If you’re stuck in a noisy workplace with disruptive workers or loud background noise, it can be difficult to maintain your productivity level. However, thoughtfully implementing specific strategies, including wearing headphones, drowning out bothersome noises with other sounds, adjusting your schedule, and confiding in a manager, can help you better navigate a loud office.