How to cope with office noise, without prejudice to their own ears
Productivity / / December 23, 2019
Since it is often difficult to ignore the voices of colleagues, many are trying to drown them. But everyone is suitable for this purpose, funds have their drawbacks. Noise Canceling Headphones seem quite good, but there are quite a few. Someone is using earplugs. But if you get out of the brightly colored pieces of foam ear every time someone wants to talk to you, this may seem strange.
Before you finally choose the means to deal with ambient noise, you must first make sure that it will bring more good than harm. Auditory acuity is often reduced when people age. About half of people over 65 years of experience this problem, and it is irreversible. According to the World Health Organization1.1 billion people at risk of hearing lossMore than 1.1 billion young people are also at risk due to the fact that about half the population in developed countries between the ages of 12 to 35 years of abuse loud music.
"People sostarivayut their ears much faster," - warns Tony Ricci (Tony Ricci), a neuroscientist at Stanford University.
The Verge journalist Rachel Baker (Rachel Becker) in order to avoid this problem, seek the advice of experts. Prior to that, she struggled with loud sounds in the office by listening to white noise in Apple EarPods headphones. But Rachel has decided to find out how much this daily load affects the auditory system, and whether there are alternatives better.
In-Ear Headphones - bad idea
Favorite way to the journalist was the worst. If you listen to the record with the white, brown, pink or any other noise in-ear headphones, so as not to hear the conversations of office, it will only make a loud environment even louder.
"There is a direct relationship between sound volume and the duration of its effect, enough to cause hearing damage," - says Tony Ricci. If you are day long drowned out the other's speech through headphones, expert advises to make a sound so loud.
Music, too, can hurt, but as white noise less otchotliv, it may seem deceptively quiet.
This position is held neuroscientist Stanford, cervico-head surgeon John ohala (John Oghalai). That is, people can listen to the sound very loud, even without realizing it.
"It masks the surrounding sounds, dominating over them," - he said sighing. - "It's like trying to talk to his wife when the baby is crying. I hear the child rather than a spouse. " In this metaphor, the child - white noise.
Headphones still better
Inserts sit tightly enough in the ears, which creates a new problem. They miss the surrounding sounds, because of what is necessary to increase the volume. Therefore, listening to white noise, it is desirable in the overhead headphones, because they isolate the ears and does not affect the pressure inside the ear canals.
According to groaning, even vacuum headphones serve as a better than average liners, because it reduces the level of background noise. With them, you do not have to turn up the volume. But Ricci is concerned that vacuum headphones can increase the pressure, which increases the sound vibrations.
Importantly, do not forget about the listening duration and volume. "Quiet music in the headphones should do no harm" - said Ricci.
What about the Noise Canceling Headphones?
The noise-canceling headphones have a microphone that picks up the sound environment. In response to such noise headphones generate sound waves reverse direction and as a result do not mask and suppress it. Best of all, this technology muffles monotonous low-frequency sounds such as the hum of the aircraft.
Noise-Canceling Headphones for office is not so good: their design is not to deal with high-frequency sounds of conversation. "The noise has to be monotonous, and when someone says, headphones cope worse," - said sighing.
Thus, the noise-canceling headphones are certainly more forgiving than conventional overhead or liners, but they are not very suitable for the office.
The best choice - it's earplugs
The best remedy is perhaps the simplest. It earplugs. It does not matter which one you choose - intracanal earplugs foam headphones or external to the format. In particularly noisy environments, you can even use two types at the same time.
There is a reason: earplugs do not mask the noise and do not displace it. They act as a physical barrier that protects the auditory system from getting sounds. "They reduce impact sound waves, and every sound is muffled from getting inside," - he said sighing. But first you need to get used to co-channel earplugs. "I think they make your ears sweat" - adds Ricci.
Thus, earplugs may be your most effective means of protection from the office noise. If they cause you discomfort, it is better to abandon the simple inserts and opt for overhead or vacuum headphones. But watch out for the volume level, especially if you listen to music instead of noise.