How Working in an Open-plan Office with Poor Sound Insulation is Like Flying Every Day

But, without the Exotic Destination!

I was recently moved to a new project team at work, that is located a different building. As a highly sensitive introvert, I’m not particularly keen on change, but it’s not been too great an adjustment as far as the work and people go. However, since the move I have been coming home utterly exhausted each day with barely enough energy to make myself a sandwich for my evening meal. I can put some of this down to the extra work I’ve been having to do to extend myself as a 'pretend extrovert', to come across as outgoing and enthusiastic while I learn the ropes of the new position. It’s always easier to fade into the comfort of the background once the introductions have been made and the novelty of the ‘newbie in the office’ has worn off.

But there’s more going on here than that – I’m realising I’m in an environment that is not good for my high sensitivity. The building I am in now is old with poor sound-proofing and awfully loud air-conditioning and with its with low ceilings and small floors all extraneous noise is bounced around and amplified instead of absorbed. To most people, our floor is probably not all that noisy – I’m working with a group of software developers who are not terribly boisterous and this suits my introverted style perfectly.

However, because of my sensitivity, the noise level is loud enough  for me that I hear everything – great if you’re an antelope on the savannah listening for predators, but a pain in an office environment.  I’m constantly aware of the drone of the air-conditioning, the regular clickety-clack of the photocopier, computers whirring, doors opening and closing, the elevators moving up and down and the beep they make when they arrive at our floor, the beep of the microwave and clinking of dishes in the kitchen, people talking on the other side of the room (not just a murmur – but hearing every word of the conversation), someone clicking his pen while thinking about a problem, the tapping of fingers on keyboards, the clock ticking on the wall, the sound of someone hanging up their coat on the coat stand, pages being stacked and stapled several desks away, the rustle of food wrappers as people eat their lunch...

Others in the office don’t seem aware of the problem. They appear to tolerate a higher noise level and probably experience the noise as merely an indistinguishable background hum. They don’t notice what I notice. Unfortunately I can’t simply switch off to it. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we had lids on our ears like we have on our eyes? I can force myself to ignore the noise, but doing so takes conscious effort and uses up energy.

And so I come home exhausted every day. It struck me that it’s the some head-throbbing, body-aching fatigue that I feel after a long-haul flight. This makes total sense. When flying, one is assaulted by the drone of the engines and cabin air-conditioning, conversations of people around you, various random sounds of the aircraft, people moving about, meals being distributed, children crying, overhead lockers opening and closing – all of which seem to reverberate around your head. (Added to this, there’s the dry stuffy air of the cabin, which is also common in many offices and you remain seated for long periods of time, just as you do at your office desk). We all know that these conditions on board aircraft contribute to fatigue, jetlag and even illness in many travellers, yet we see similar conditions in our workplaces as normal and acceptable.

It is known that chronic exposure to low-level noise leads to fatigue, irritableness and even depression. Yet, bring up the subject of troublesome noise levels in an office environment and people look at you as if you’re odd. "Really? I like background noise," they reply. They also probably enjoy listening to music in addition to the background noise. Of course they do – extroverts thrive on, and are energised, by stimulation. As much as I like music, this doesn’t help me – it does drown out some of the background noise to a point, but I find that music also tires me after a while – it’s still non-stop auditory input. And sensory overload is the highly sensitive’s enemy.

Earplugs to the rescue

So, my solution? Earplugs. I don’t care what I look like wearing them, my sanity is at stake - I’m tired of being tired and sleeping all my precious free-time away. I tried a pair of foam plugs to start with, and wow, what a difference! By turning down the volume of the background buzz, I immediately felt calmer, less stressed and more alert. The foam ones hurt a little from the pressure they exert on the ear canal by expanding back to their original shape, so I have ordered a pair of moulded plugs. It definitely works though, I’m already finding my energy levels are improving and I don’t feel so wiped out when I get home. Why? By blocking out all the extraneous noise that uses up so much of my subconscious attention, I have more energy to apply to things that I do want to pay attention to. Instead of processing every sound, that processing energy can now be diverted to the tasks at hand or stored up for use later. It’s that simple!

It’s not all bad

What do I like about my deep processing of sound? That I can walk along a busy city street and from out of the cacophony of traffic and people noise, I can pick out and zero in on the chirping of a tiny sparrow sitting on a window ledge six storeys above my head. It’s as if I’m the only one who knows he’s there and he’s singing just for me.

A final thought – why don’t people whisper anymore?

What happened to the courtesy of whispering? When I was a child, my parents taught me that it was rude to disturb people around me and that if I wanted to talk to someone when others were near, that I should whisper.  In the modern office, several conversations can be going on at once, all at normal-to-loud volume, sometimes by people standing right next to a person trying to get on with their work. Why is this okay? What happened to mutual respect and speaking in hushed tones around other people?