Our noise footprint

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Public spaces in India are noisy

First-time visitors to India are often overwhelmed by the constantly high noise levels: vehicles honking, music blaring, construction work, loud conversations, aside from the general hustle and bustle of the streets.

Travel in a train or a bus. Go to a mall, a park, or a restaurant. In public spaces, everyone’s speakerphone is on. Metaphorically, but also very literally. No one uses headphones. It’s a cacophonic soup of multiple, simultaneous phone conversations, bollywood music, youtube videos, and instagram reels blaring away endlessly.

Noise is omnipresent here, and often does not abate until very, very late into the night. Anti-noise ordinances and regulations are practically non-existent here.

But our offices are less noisy, right?

Ummm, not really. Constant phone calls. Zoom meetings. Music playing in the background. Device and app notifications going off like fireworks. Loud hallway conversations.

For the last 8 years, I’ve worked out of a cabin in a co-working space. In my time here, I’ve seen hundreds of companies come and go. The one constant has been their high noise footprint. In many startups, these noisy environments are fomented by the founders themselves, who feel compelled to create this exuberant high-energy hustle-culture hubris. A founder once told me that a silent workspace feels “dead” to them, and that they feel compelled to inject some “energy”.

Once in a blue moon, someone from their HR department will send out a reminder (or post a super-cringy flyer) to keep noise levels down. Almost always lip service, never backed by any punitive action.

Sometimes someone in the org will hand out copies of Cal Newport’s Deep Work. The ironic thing being that everyone is so attention-deficit and hyper-distracted these days. We’re just unable to read a book from cover to cover these days. Deep work? What deep work? By default, there is no possibility of deep work here. Unless you change the environment. More on that a bit later.

Why oh why does this happen?

Over on social media, people often debate what causes this… a lack of workplace etiquette? Or a lack of civic sense? Personally, I think it’s neither.

I’m convinced that the singular root cause is the lack of awareness. If one is not aware of the rules/etiquettes, then can they be expected to follow them? Can they be blamed for breaking them? Our society has normalized noise to such an extent that people have become desensitized to it and don’t even know that quiet workspaces can be a possibility.

Lack of infrastructure planning also plays a part. Floor plans for office buildings do not often include focus rooms or phone rooms (for cost reasons).

Dealing with noise

Attempting to bring about larger cultural, societal change and awareness on this topic might seem futile. It may take decades (or centuries). We’ll all be long dead by then.

But let’s not be cynical! I encourage all of you to be good role models and lead by example. At least in your office. Your coworkers may not immediately follow suit, but they’ll slowly notice, then they’ll slowly emulate. Be hopeful and patient. It’s not a lost cause; it’s just a slow compounding thing.

In the interim, the other most important thing is acceptance. Accept and embrace the fact that noise is inevitable. You can’t fight it. You can’t change it anytime soon. Build your tolerance, adapt, and slowly learn to live with it.

Next, get a good pair of noise-cancelling headphones. It won’t cut out the noise entirely, but will bring it down to tolerable levels. What personally worked for me:

1. Foam earplugs. AND
2. Ear muffs (like the ones used in shooting ranges or construction sites). Dorky but highly effective!

Food for thought

I propose the concept of noise footprint. Similar to carbon footprint, but for noise. How much noise do you make in a day? A metric which could be applied to individuals, organizations, and societies. Create a world index! 😄

Remember those radar speed signs that warn you if you’re going too fast? In a similar vein, we need to build something that beeps when the decibel level in the office gets too high.

BTW - noise, distractions, and interruptions are all different things (but often correlated). More on that in a future post.

What are your thoughts on noise levels in offices? How do you deal with it? Any interesting stories or anecdotes? Please leave a comment below.

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