17 days into the circuit breaker, you’ve set up your home office and you’ve figured out how to work with your spouse. However, you still can’t seem to get that much-needed silence while working. From noise-cancelling headphones to soundproofing materials, here are five ideas for a quiet and more productive home office.
- Set a schedule
If you share your workspace with your family or housemates, getting it to be silent is almost impossible. Setting a schedule for your shared office is helpful in this case. Have a conversation about your upcoming meetings and important work tasks and figure out when each person should be alone in the home office. Putting up a ‘don’t disturb’ sign on the door is a helpful reminder as well. - Minimise echoes
If your home office is fairly empty, sounds and conversations will carry further and echo through the room. An easy way to avoid these echoes is to fill up your work space with soft furnishings. Desk chairs, couches, curtains and rugs can all help to absorb noise, making for a much quieter home office. Kitting out the room with shelves and other furniture will further soften any harsh sounds.
- Soundproof your walls
From drywall to fibreglass, there are many handy materials to soundproof your walls with. You can even make it a project for the circuit breaker, soundproofing more than just your office. We actually have a whole article about the best soundproofing materials to get you started! - Wear noise-cancelling headphones
If silence is really impossible to achieve, noise-cancelling headphones will become your new best friend. Make sure you get hold of a pair that sits comfortably and fully cancels out the noise around you, such as Philips’ new wireless over-ear headphones. Violà, a quiet home office!
Image courtesy of Burst
- Get a good amount of sleep
On those days when you cannot seem to find a quiet corner to work in the house, having enough energy to deal with the noise is crucial. Do your future self a favour and get a good amount of sleep even if your schedule is all over the place now. You will thank yourself later!
