Working in a cafe could make you more productive, study finds
At their very best, offices are warm, quiet places to work – but at their worst freezing, noisy and incredibly distracting.
Which is why it may not come as a surprise that if we could all work in cafes, we’d actually be more productive according to a study.
Yes, cafes are technically often more noisy – with that background noise of the coffee machine and people chatting – but rather than a hindrance, it’s this extra noise that helps us to be more productive.
Because think about it: What’s more distracting, two colleagues having a conversation you can hear clearly, or the sound of several conversations that you can’t make out individually?
Japanese researchers asked volunteers to do something simple on a computer – once with meaningless noise in the background, and again with audible, clear conversations.
According to The Telegraph, their brains were also monitored to see if they were ‘processing’ the noises or ignoring them.
The study found that specific noises like meaningful conversation or music caused more annoyance than meaningless noises, and had the participants struggling to perform on tasks more.
Dr Takahiro Tamesue of Yamaguchi University Japan said: “Surrounding conversations often disturb the business operations conducted in such open offices.
“Because it is difficult to soundproof an open office, a way to mask meaningful speech with some other sound would be of great benefit for achieving a comfortable sound environment.”
He added: “The experiments suggest that when designing sound environments in spaces used for cognitive tasks – such as the workplace or schools – it is appropriate to consider not only the sound level, but also meaningfulness of the noise that is likely to be present.”
Great news for freelancers. But for the rest of us, we can but dream.
Do you think it’s easier to work in a cafe than an office? Tweet us at @YahooStyleUK.
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