One thing we’ve learned from our work-from-home arrangement over the past year is how much we’ve taken our former workspaces for granted. While being closer to family members can bring comfort and assurance during this time, working amidst the distractions of a home may not be the most conducive environment for everyone.

You know what we’re talking about: barking dogs; crying kids; the sounds of the TV from the other room; family members entering the room every five minutes—the list goes on. You always find yourself worrying about the next Zoom meeting because of all the noises that could disrupt your call, and it can get tough to focus on even the simplest work tasks at hand. These are the moments you wish you were back at the office, in a coffee shop, or any other place designed for optimal productivity, which you have taken for granted.

Most of us have no choice. Even if quarantine measures continue to ease, many of us will still work from home, either for our own safety or because our companies opt to continue the set up. The good news is that there are efficient and sustainable investments like home acoustic treatments we can use to be able to adapt to the current situation at home. 

Here are three reasons why proper sound treatment at home will bring the productivity you need and to help #InspirePossibilities:

1) Clearer communication.

Communication is important to an organization’s success. With online meetings becoming a major way of communicating with teammates and clients, the efficiency of our work can suffer when we aren’t heard loud and clear. This is why it’s important to manage not just background noises, but untreated room acoustics that can make rooms louder than necessary. Zoom has discussed how sound treatment helps optimize the online conference experience. With acoustic panels, microphones are able to “hear the source more directly and diminish the sound artifacts that may be residual in the room.” Acoustic panels also play a major role in the premium quality of call centers, as they help control unwanted levels of background noise, greatly improving speech intelligibility.

With home being your new office space, investing in acoustic panels will help make a difference to your day-to-day communication. As we navigate through a time of social distancing, being clear and intelligible is essential to keep operations going.

2) Better focus.

There have been many scientific studies confirming how excessive noise can cause disruption and stress, ultimately leading to a decrease in the productivity of office workers. In a study by British Gypsum, respondents remarked that the main office distractions were people talking on the phone (64%) and office chit-chat (76%). These noises were enough to decrease accuracy of work by 67%. If productivity in offices can easily suffer from these sounds, what more when you’re working from home, where noise is more unrestrained?

After reducing noise through acoustic treatments, British Gypsum reported that the ability to focus increased by 48%, while distraction levels and stress symptoms decreased by 51% and 27% respectively. Acoustic panels and tiles can have a large effect on one’s productivity levels. They could be just what you need to concentrate in an active home.

3) Stronger brainpower.

Noise reduction interiors can also help you relax, which is good for your brain.

One interesting study published in the journal Brain, Structure and Function found that, when exposed to silence for two hours everyday, mice developed new cells in their hippocampus—the region of our brain associated with memory and learning. One of the researchers, Imke Kirste, found that silence was "really helping the new generated cells to differentiate into neurons, and integrate into the system." This means that silence could actually enhance our brain’s functions.

By investing in practices like proper sound treatment at home, you could keep your brain in good shape. And we all need a well-functioning brain to make the best decisions and strategies in this uncertain climate.

Keep Your Home’s Workspace Noiseless