Sound Masking and Three Other Cool Tips on How You can Get More out of Your Work Day

Are you one of those people who griped at not having enough time to accomplish anything at home or in the office?  It seems that the hours have gone shorter these days; you have lots of paperwork in your "In" tray, but there's just not enough time to do them - really?  Read about cool tips here on how you can become more productive, 365 days of every year, and keep your job (and the roof over your head during these perilous economic conditions).

Most people have productivity issues, but if you happen to be an employer paying salaries to a less productive workforce, specific measures should be implemented at once, before low productivity hits your bottom line.  On the other hand, if you are an employee, you should realize that you are not indispensable in your employer's business.  If you do not contribute as much as your employer expects you should, you might find yourself flipping over the pages of the classified ads for your next job.

Get the work done.  If you want to keep your job, that is.

However, employers should also take notice why productivity nosedives; there could be some factors affecting employees' performance that only you, as employer, can resolve; such as noise distractions and loss of speech privacy.

Here are five cool tips on how you can get more things done every day:

1. Keep clutter off your table.  Arrange files neatly on your table, label them correctly and put them inside folders for easy retrieval in case you need them, and throw the trash please!  This simple reminder can save time and effort in the long run.

2. Go ergonomics.  Ergonomics is the science of "fitting the tool to its user".  The use of ergonomic mouse, keyboard and chair can minimize, if not totally prevent, symptoms of repetitive strain injuries that can adversely affect your productivity and office performance.

3. Arrange your work station to promote efficiency.  Minimize the need to stand up or move around to get things you need while you do your work.  Arrange everything within your easy reach, like putting your mouse close to your keyboard; pen and paper, stapler and staple wires and other office supplies in their respective utility boxes.

4. Install personal sound masking system in your work area.   Expert studies have revealed that noise distractions consume about ten hours off an employee's productive time, each week.  Now, compute how much that impacts your revenue per month.  "Small leaks sink a ship", remember?

You may not have noticed it, but when your office environment is noisy you get distracted and therefore cannot deliver productive work hours.  If you have not heard about sound masking, it's about time you scour the internet for information about it.

My recommendation:  VoiceArrest Speech Privacy System  available at SpeechPrivacySystems.com provides sound masking for an entire office area.  Tuning out noise distractions has never been this easy and cost-efficient!  Open-offices, including multiple offices in the same area can now benefit from uniform and seamless sound masking by the world's most effective gadget:  VoiceArrest Sound Masking System.

Photo credit:  MichalMarcol/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Sound Masking: The Trick to Keeping Things Private in a Public Place

Sound masking  is THE best solution to your privacy issues in the workplace.  It masks noise, without the big expense, such as when you build higher walls or partition the entire workplace into multiple offices, just to acquire privacy.  Read more about it.

In this time and age where information is available with just a click on the mouse, your privacy is constantly under threat.  Software has been designed to counter these threats and so far, the result has been impressive.  Although there have been reported cases of identity theft and other fraudulent activities on the internet, people took cognizance of various software and applications that protect their privacy; cyber crimes still exist, but their impact on unwitting victims have abated. 

What about your privacy at your work place?  What protects your privacy from eavesdroppers, or from colleagues who surreptitiously glance your way whenever you make a sales call?

The Sound Masking Phenomenon

Stops Eavesdroppers in their Tracks.  Sound masking creates speech privacy where privacy is most unlikely achieved, such as in a crowded office space, in a buzzing call center, or in a corporate boardroom where confidential information may leak through thin walls.

Sound masking is not totally obliterating oral communication from your work environment; in fact, the technology that puts an entire office on mute, as you work, has yet to be discovered.  Sound masking simply "masks" or neutralizes conversation to a level that it becomes less perceptible by the human brain, and therefore becomes incomprehensible to people who should not be privy to it in the first place.  This is how speech or oral privacy is achieved.

Stops Noise before it Distracts.  Sound masking creates buzz on the internet as more and more people have experienced the benefits of better concentration at work, without the incessant noise of foot traffic, office chatter and office equipments.  Sound masking does not eliminate noise, but it “overrides” it with its own low-level background sound making noise less intelligible.  This creates the desired privacy at work.

There is nothing rocket science about sound masking.  It simply operates on the theory that if noise or speech has been brought to a level that it cannot be understood, it cannot distract.   

A white noise generator produces low level whooshing sound, similar to the sound produced by your air conditioning unit.  It is so low you may not even recognize it's there.  Sound masking creates privacy anywhere and anytime you want it.

My Recommendation:  VoiceArrest sound masking system masks noise in an entire workplace; it is effective against noise in both multiple offices and open-spaces.

Photo credit:  MichalMarcol/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Powerful Tips on How Mini Keyboards and Sound Masking Systems can Fire up Your Performance

Does a sloppy work performance worry you?  It should.  At this time and age, competition at the work place is fiercer; you cannot allow your poor performance to get in the way of your maintaining your job.  It would be tragic if you lose your job at this time.  Most companies have downsized their manpower requirements just to cope with the economic crunch, and this has denied some families three square meals a day.  You would not want to be added to the grim statistics, would you?

Regardless of how much employers would want to save on labor cost, they would not make a bad decision on letting go of those employees who perform and those who contribute in keeping the business stay afloat.  This is where you should help yourself.  Do not allow simple health issues deter you from your course; you can keep your job if you truly want to.

Here are never-thought-about tips that can help you get back on the road to productivity:

1.  Purchase a sound masking system for the home.  Noise pollution robs an employee of productive time; however, this is something you cannot get away from, unless you convince your employer to protect his bottom line from the effects of low productivity arising from office distractions.  Your best option is to replenish the energy you have lost in the office by having a restful sleep at home.  This is possible by sound masking your home from noise, inside and outside of it.

2.   Create a suitable work environment.  You spend eight hours a day on the minimum within your work station and this can affect your office performance.  Imagine sitting for long hours behind an office desk, on a chair that has no lumbar support, or spend hours in a cramped-up space where you can barely stretch your legs?  Your office environment can affect your performance at work. 

Have a word with your boss.  Ergonomics desk and mouse, mini keyboard and an ergonomic chair that has both lumbar support and a foot rest can minimize the ill effects of carpal tunnel syndrome, back pain and shoulder pain that can slow down your productivity by at least 80%.  Your employer should realize that if he scrimps from buying these ergonomically-designed office equipments he runs the risk of hurting his bottom line – his choice.

Do not cave-in to the challenges of the times.  You just have to exercise a little imagination on how to bring back the excitement you once had towards your job that got you on your feet the first month you were hired.  Do not hesitate to discard your old keyboard and replace it with an ergonomic mini-keyboard; a few dollars won’t hurt your wallet, but carpal tunnel due to an old keyboard that strains your fingers and wrists surely will.

Get enough rest at night by switching off noise from your home with a sound masking system like Voice Arrest available at SpeechPrivacySystems.com and wake up packed with energy that sustains you for another day in the office.  Make your performance irresistibly useful to your employer; this is the only real anti-dote to losing your job!

Personal Sound Masking System: How it Improves Competence at Work

Even Superman would have a hard time working in an open-office layout, considering his penchant to listen to even the most remote sound.  Too bad for Superman, he was meant to save the world, or so the script went on for years, otherwise he would have surely asked for a personal sound masking system!

Thank Jor-el he did not put bionic ears on you too; however, that does not save you from the irritating noise of your office fax machine and the blabber of your officemate.  Sadly, most employees nowadays have to work in cramped office areas because the boss wants to save space, but only to sacrifice privacy, including a little sanity.

It’s just good technology has picked up the clue from this current office trend and whipped up a new invention – personal sound masking system, a.k.a. white noise machine.

What does it do?

This portable machine “masks” intruding noise in the office that can distract your focus, and consequently diminish your productivity and efficiency.  You simply place it on top of your desk; office distractions, such as boisterous laughter of your colleagues or the annoying sound of the office printer will simply vanish, as the soothing sound that comes from your personal white noise machine masks the noise and renders it inaudible or unintelligible to you.  What you cannot intelligently understand, you would not pay attention to, and therefore won’t throw your concentration off its horse, until you have finished your job.   

Sounds cool?

How it Improves Competence at Work

It minimizes error, if not totally eliminates it.  Studies have revealed that most occupational accidents can happen when an employee is stressed out, fatigued, or inept to handle the task.  Noise distractions have been proven to cause stress, which can affect thought patterns or how a person formulates thoughts through problems or situations.  When there is disorganized thought brought about by stress, it is easy to conclude that a person may not deliver sound judgment, and may commit lots of errors at work.

New Portable Office Gadget That May Just Save you from Lay-off

To stay on top of their game, employers often think two or three steps ahead of their competitors, and would not hesitate to take on drastic measures against those they consider threats to the attainment of their goal.  If you don't show much teamwork or you contribute little in the accomplishment of your company's goals - that's a template for lay-off.  

How do you keep your job? It's no brainer:  deliver.   Show results that your employer expect from you.  Do not cause delay that may create a domino-effect on all other tasks and hamper the company’s deadline to accomplish an important project, or close a new deal.  No employer in his sane mind would lay-off an employee who contributes effectively towards a common goal and brings in more revenue. 

Impress your boss by finishing your tasks on time, or at less time - all the time.  Don’t gripe; provide solutions where there seems none.  Become a productive employee.  You’ll never go wrong on this one!

Here is one power tool that can help you achieve this goal -

Personal White Noise Machine.   This is an innovative solution to today’s cramped office spaces and open-office layouts where your privacy is compromised by a lack of space, and your chance to focus on your work gets as thin as the cubicle partition wall that separates you from an office mate.

Personal White Noise Machine is a lightweight sound masking device with a heavyweight effect on your work performance.  It is portable and easy on your budget, too.

 You can buy one unit and place it on top of your desk.  Personal white noise machine masks noise, a.k.a. office distractions that can destroy your focus, leave you disorganized, inefficient and unproductive. 

Work in Peace and in Style – Anywhere

Secure your job by becoming the kind of employee, any employer wishes to keep.  Become productive and efficient at work with a little help from a personal sound masking system you can carry around, and tune in to anytime a little quiet is necessary to keep your productivity going so you finish your job.  

Photo credit:  Ambro/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

How Managers Use Sound Masking to Promote Harmonious Working Relationship among Their Employees

One of the tougher challenges that a manager faces is how to keep peace inside the office.  He should not allow individual differences and petty prejudices hinder the growth of his business.  Literally, there is peace inside the office when bickering is non-existent and everyone strives to work harmoniously with his peers.

However, when eavesdropping becomes a pastime and speech privacy is threatened, it is about time that employers should rethink about their office acoustics plan or consider the installation of sound masking system.

"Faces of distractions".  Noise distractions come in all forms and sizes.  From an infamous office employee who hops from one cubicle to another weaving gossip, to the boisterous laughter of another who cannot keep the fun to himself, to foot traffic, opening and closing of doors, ringing of the phone or the incessant buzzing sound of the fax machine or the office printer - these are noise distractions that can make employees feel restless and unable to focus on their work.  Their frustration can get worse when at the end of the day they seemed to have accomplished little.  Many people can have short fuses when they are disappointed, and oftentimes this is just the ember that can start an office squabble.

Disappointment can also leave them feeling stressed out and listless.  A few more weeks and they could be lining outside the doctor's clinic, wondering what virus hits them.  If noise is a virus, it is a vicious one; it just keeps on coming back, until you decide to get rid of its source.  However, turning off the source of the noise is not always feasible.  You would not put duct tape on the mouth of an office blabber (unless she is your mother-in-law) would you?.

An employee's downtime is never good for business.  Studies revealed that each employee loses about two hours to office distractions, everyday.  In 2008 alone, companies lost over a billion dollars to sick leaves, vacation leaves and medical costs.  

The Inevitable Solution

Why not treat the problem right at its source?  If noise poses risk on your employees' health and creates a gaping hole in your company's coffers due to low productivity, sound masking may just be the solution you need.