With the bleating of car alarms, the thud, thud, thud of street construction
and the general babble that is the life of the city, a work at home job can
be a mixed blessing. However there are several things you can do to banish
distraction and make your environment more comfortable, and easier to
concentrate in.
Picking an Place
If you are still looking for a place to live there are a lot of steps you
can take to ensure that your new home will have all the amenities you need
for work. First of all, be certain to try and get an apartment or house
which does not look out on a main street. If at all possible, an apartment
whose windows look out on an alley would be ideal.
If you do end up on a main street, try to find a place that has a small
recessed room that looks out over a side street or alley. This space can be
an office which can receive other noise deafening features at a later date.
If at all possible, try to control any environment you move into. Things
such as being close to the laundry room, the elevator, or the garbage room
in an apartment can all cause noise disruptions. If you can, you should also
try to avoid next door neighbors that have a colicky newborn or an impetuous
dog.
A Space of Your Own
It is important to have a separate
home office where you can go and work. This
allows you to differentiate between being at work, and being at rest. It
also allows you to set up an environment where you can take extra steps to
cancel noise distractions.
One drastic way to cut down on noise is to add insulation behind the drywall
in your walls. However this can be an expensive step. Alternately you can do
things such as add soundproofing strips to the creases in your windows, and
or hang a comforter over your door, to try and block out extra noise.
Canceling noise out is another good method. An air conditioners steady whirr
running in the background can go a long way to drowning out more chaotic,
less regular noises outdoors. If you can work while listening to music or
the television, either of those can be used to cancel out noise as well.
Classical music and jazz are great for this, as their lack of words makes
them less distracting themselves.
Accessories
There are a number of personal accessories you can buy to try and cancel out
noise. The simplest purchase would be a pair of disposable ear plugs. They
are effective at removing most noises and are relatively inexpensive.
There are also more high tech devices that claim to be able to completely
filter the noise from an area. These
noise canceling headsets work by
creating sound waves with a polarity that is opposite that of noise sound
waves. This works to effectively eliminate ambient noise in many situations,
although their effectiveness varies based on model and situation.
Conclusion
Basically, working from home is always going to be about willpower. Can you
force yourself to work, when the world is going on around you? Can you be
your own pain in the neck boss? While there are some ways to eliminate the
distractions caused by noise and outside variables, the greatest tool is
going to be your own ability to ignore them.
This article provided by
Home andDecorating News
