How can I focus on work better?

May 16, 2006 9:01 AM

What are some ways I can stay more focused at work?

At work, I share an office with someone else, whose job (being different from mine) involves him calling people/being called, getting up to pick up printouts, and having people dropping by to talk with him about something.

I find that it's hard for me to concentrate on my work with this going on, as it breaks my concentration every time the phone rings or someone walks in or out.

Are there are simple ways or techniques I can use to stay more focused on work, or to be less distracted/interrupted by things going on around me? I already listen to music with headphones, but short of deafening myself, my brain can still pick out most of the noises around me.

posted by Godbert to work & money (13 comments total)

Etymotic headphones
posted by caddis at 9:11 AM on May 16, 2006

You could use noise-cancelling or get some custom molded headphones, the Etymotics still don't really work that well for blocking noise.

You could also ask for your office to be moved since it's interfering with your work. There's got to be someone else in the same bind that you can swap with, or someone who's quiet that could share an office with you.
posted by SpecialK at 9:23 AM on May 16, 2006

Do noise-cancelling headphones work well for reducing noise from stuff like ringing phones and coughing? I recall having read that they don't work well for sharp, quick noises, but work well for background noises (like jet engines, trains, computer fans, etc.)
posted by Godbert at 9:48 AM on May 16, 2006

Godbert, you're right, but the over-ear ones (I don't reccomend the earbuds at all) work pretty well at cancelling the sharp ones as well because they muffle as well as compensate.
posted by SpecialK at 10:00 AM on May 16, 2006

Sounds like you need a new job.

Why? 'cause if management put both of you together and you have different jobs which may conflict with each other as you describe, they you're screwed.

So either talk to management or get a new job.

By the way, WHAT do you do that's so different from your office mate?
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 10:01 AM on May 16, 2006

Koss makes some earbuds that have foam inserts that many people hack to use with shooter earplugs. They are about $20. If you use those with shotgun ear protectors, the only thing you will hear is the blood coursing through your veins and your joints creaking as you shift your weight in your chair.
posted by mecran01 at 10:09 AM on May 16, 2006

By the way, WHAT do you do that's so different from your office mate?

I do software development, while he does all sorts of stuff, mostly in generating lots and lots of paperwork for responding to RFPs, generating relate notes for the application, and sometimes testing (there's probably more, too, but I'm not sure about it).

As far as trying to find a different space in the facility, that's easier said than done (in fact, I pondered asking about that, instead of this). Basically, every available space in the place is full, and people are put whereever there's room (one of the testers has a shared office near the sales staff; another shares an office with one of the bosses' secretary). The other developers are all grouped together, with individual cubicles, in a seperate area, but there's no room in there for another person.

I've been looking for a new job ever since they stuck a third person (now fired) in the room here, but haven't had much luck with it.

I'll have to look into a set of over-ear noise-cancelling headphones; I use a set of plain earbuds right now, because the only over-ear headphones I have (which aren't noise cancelling, and were given to me for free) get really uncomfortable after an hour or two.
posted by Godbert at 10:25 AM on May 16, 2006

I've tested noise-cancelling headphones, and they work well with continual, low frequency background noises (like jet engines, the dull runblings of senior management, etc). They aren't so good with intermittent, high pitched noises (like voices, the screams of the damned, etc).

A decent pair of in-ear headphones do a better job, but they need to be well fitted. Some people don't like them, and others have funny shaped ears that don't work well with them. But I'd pick the in-ear headphones over the noise cancelling ones...
posted by baggers at 10:26 AM on May 16, 2006

I use ear defenders. Use earplugs at the same time and you won't hear anything but your heartbeat. It might be also be worth asking if you can work from home one or two days a week.
posted by teleskiving at 11:39 AM on May 16, 2006

Noise canceling headphones might actually be worse than regular sealed over the ear headphones if only because they will cancel out the droning background noise allowing the distracting noise of you office mate to stand out even more. They probably are not actually worse though as they are specifically designed to reduce ambient noise, both through cancellation and mechanical attenuation. In the ear phones block the most sound and are more likely to be comfortable for long periods. Here are some choices in noise reduction phones. The Ultimate Ears UE-10 Pros look pretty nice. I wonder if you could tax them off as an employee business expense?
posted by caddis at 11:49 AM on May 16, 2006

Perhaps rather than asking management about a space move in general, you could look around and see if there are other similar mistmatches to yours that might trade? If there's some other Oscar/Felix office pairing out there, you could approach management with 'Jim and I would like to switch places, as we think it will make all four of us more productive. Is that okay?' instead of 'I can't stand it, move me.'
posted by jacquilynne at 11:56 AM on May 16, 2006

In addition to asking if YOU can work at home, ask your officemate to ask if HE can work from home also, but on different days than you.
posted by SuperSquirrel at 12:19 PM on May 16, 2006

Since you can't move, maybe you can rearrange your office to get more psychic privacy? Ie, move to the back of the office if you're in the front now so visitors aren't walking past you.
posted by footnote at 4:55 PM on May 16, 2006