Support Zone: Noise Reduction

In a busy working environment, one of the most difficult distractions to eliminate is noise. Yet there are possibilities.

• Escape to an unused office or boardroom for an hour. Take along your laptop or PDA and disappear. Just make sure to let people know when you'll be back, and use the rules of Keystone Time to ensure a politically successful disappearance.
• Relocate to a coffee shop. Though these places are usually quite busy, the surrounding conversations blend into a type of white noise, which actually allows for focus. Since most coffee shops also offer wireless internet access, it's a great opportunity for focused work.
• Use noise cancelling headphones. These headphones actually cut out a great deal of ambient noise, allowing you to settle into a quiet zone event at your desk. They don't render you totally deaf, but everything sounds much further away, as if in another room. They also serve really well when travelling, since they cut out most of an airplane's cabin noise and therefore cut out a great deal of traveller's fatigue. For a great explanation as to how they work, visit this story from CBC news.
• Use ambient music. Regular headphones playing ambient music is another technique for eliminating distraction. Whether through an MP3 player or through an online music station such as Iceberg Radio, so long as the music itself does not distract you, it's another great method for developing focus. For best results, choose "electronica," or other wordless music categories.
• Another great source of ambient music is Steven Halpern's CD "Music For Accelerated Learning, available through Amazon.com here.