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New Hires Working Conditions Noise Interrupting

I am fairly new in this company, and they page people on a loudspeaker system that is wired into every office. These interruptions are loud, and they make it hard for me to concentrate, talk on the phone, and contribute in meetings. The people who have been here for a while seem to ignore it, but it goes right through me. Do you have any suggestions?



If you stop what you are doing right now, you can hear other noises. Perhaps there are people talking, a heater whirring, or phones ringing, but you are used to them and can block them out. Depending upon volume and content, such sounds generally turn into background noise.

Although there are volume levels that are so great that some noises start out in the foreground and never leave, the kind of system you are describing sounds like one that is likely to blend in after a while. The best approach is for you to concentrate on your work and let some time pass.

By doing so, it should not be long before your mind automatically blocks out all of the pages except those that may be for you. At the same time, if the paging is incredibly intrusive, and you and several of your associates cannot block it out, then perhaps it would be a sound decision for you to discuss some paging alternatives with management.



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