How Sound Can Impact Our Mental & Physiological Health

1) Loud workplaces can be hazardous to humans – If you work in an open plan office, chances are noise levels will be louder than normal due to the absence of walls around your table that allows all kinds of noise to penetrate the entire space. Many people work around the problem by putting in headphones like the Bose QuietComFort 45 which tunes out room noise via a built-in noise cancelling app. Another approach is to also suggest to your higher-ups to use sound mitigating materials like acoustic ceiling tile, fabric sofas & ottomans, or replacing noisy floors like wood (or tile) with carpet. Find out if you can work from home more often. And if your workplace is using a hybrid model, suggest that workstations be spaced further apart in case there’s less people at the office coming into the office during the week. Reducing the amount of office desks is actually a timely idea now that there’s less people at the office at any point in time due to remote work. Employees can also suggest incorporating a few walls equipped with special sound deadening materials around their desks like cubicles of yore. People who are being asked to come back and work in person at the office are requesting for more ‘seated privacy’ (i.e. cubicles) as research has shown that office noise high noise levels generated by open offices can cause heightened stress and increase negative moods by as much as 25%.

2) Homes need to incorporate 'quiet rooms' to allow us to escape – Want to know something ironic? People have developed lots of labour savings devices to give us more time, except we’ve also created many distraction-causing technological gadgets that eat up whatever time we’ve saved. We’ve put TV sets in our living room, bedroom, and even our dining room that people use 21 hours a week on average leaving us no time to unplug and relax. Even those moments where we would allow our minds to wander have been taken over by constantly checking our social media, email inbox, or simply surfing the web on our smartphones. One of the easiest ways to prevent our impulses to take over is to put your TV inside an armoire or behind a panel of movable walls and shutoff your tech by a certain time each day. That way, you can decide to either read, take a nap, or walk in the park rather than just absentmindedly picking up the remote so that 3 hours of your post-work time simply evaporates into thin air as you become immersed in watching a glowing screen. We’ve left our busy-at-work days only to enter a busy-with-our-technology period of the day. The result? We experience increased levels of stress, anxiety and sleeplessness which can promote feelings of hopelessness, loneliness, and depression. Consider that your living room can be turned into a quiet room where you can lie down on the couch and get a chance to simply close your eyes and allow your mind and body to relax. Your bedroom can be a place to have deep and meaningful conversations with your partner if you put away (or at least shut down) the phone, tablet, laptop, or TV screen. And by agreeing to put away your smartphones during the length of each meal your dining table can be a place to truly engage with members of your family and make some interesting plans for the weekend, provided you’re all not looking down at something electronic and occupied elsewhere.

3) Cities have become too noisy – Vancouver, BC used to be what many would call a “one-horse town”. There were not as many cars, people, or even things to do. And then Expo 86 happened, which attracted a lot of immigrants from Hong Kong who were looking for a safe and family-friendly place to relocate as they were fleeing the 1997 handover to China. The city changed dramatically as a result. The derelict waterfront area around False Creek and Yaletown got redeveloped into a thriving community of new condos, restaurants, and pedestrian walkways that transformed the look and feel of the Vancouver. It also got a little noisier and busier. And then the city won the bid to host the 2010 Winter Olympics. That attracted even more immigrants from Iran, India, and the Philippines who were wowed by the forests, mountains, and waterways all in one dramatic setting. Enter more apartment buildings, retail stores, fine dining establishments, and people. With more people comes more traffic and more noise as construction crews work all day every day in various locations (used to be that you could count cranes on one hand, now there’s just too many of them on one street). While Vancouver is still not as crowded or noisy like mega-cities like London, Paris, or even Manila where I grew up in, it’s definitely getting there. And the more we must guard our health and sanity by not getting too caught up in the busyness and remembering to look after our physical and mental health. Luckily, Vancouver is also a place where people love to go outdoors and commune with nature or maintain a health and fitness routine (like running or biking). Which is why my wife and I like to walk twice a day (after lunch and dinner) for about 25 to 30 minutes so that we can catch our breath and lower our stress and anxiety levels from running our respective businesses.

4) We spend too little time catching our breath and smelling the roses – Before I got married and moved to Canada I would go up on my own ever year to a city called Baguio, which is 5 hour car-ride from Manila and situated 1.4 kms above sea level. Nestled within the Cordillera Central mountain range in Northern Luzon, it’s also the Philippines’ summer capital. I like going up there due to it’s cooler temperatures, light afternoon rains (which I found really refreshing), fragrant pine tree smell, almost total absence of traffic (which has totally changed since the building of the SM megamall shopping centre and various new apartment complexes), and the abundant parks and greenery. Those precious 3 days allowed me to unplug, disconnect from work, and allow me to dream. It’s hard to dream when you’re life is moving at a frenetic pace, you’ve got too much to do, and too when it’s constantly loud that you can’t hear the sound of your own thoughts or to listen to what your heart is telling you. Stepping back from that for a few days to appreciate the simple things really helps to quiet your mind and help your body to recover. It’s the one thing I like about being away in such a remote place. It clarifies your thinking and inspires you to remember who you are and what you were aiming for all along. Being in a busy city oftentimes makes you forget that when you’re in the thick of things. Being able to do this once a year, or once a week is something that would really benefit people if it’s incorporated into their daily routine. It really helps us all to slow down and smell the roses, and stay connected with our true purpose.

5) Using your car as a quiet room – Do you live in a small space where you’re constantly bumping into people? Or maybe you live in a a bigger space except you can’t get any alone time as there are kids, pets, partners, relatives, or an endless stream of people that make it impossible to find some alone time just to be alone with your thoughts. If this is the case, you can use your car to just shut your eyes, slow down and catch your breath. You can also take a drive to a nearby park and sit on a bench and enjoy some fresh air. Or you can stay in your car while you're out and about, especially if it’s raining or too cold/hot outside. Most people forget how soundproof modern cars are these days. And not all of us have a day or two to go to a mountain retreat. Sometimes we can only carve half an hour in an entire week to spend with ourselves. If that’s all the time you’ve got, then that’s ok. Go inside a place where you won’t be bothered, even if it’s just your vehicle and then close your eyes and just listen to your breathing (just make sure that your car engine is shut off and the windows are slightly open). Engaging in silence allows you to give your mind a respite from all the demands on your time and energy. It also helps stave off burnout, which oftentimes is caused by not being able to slow down and constantly being in motion or being engaged with our modern devices. Not doing anything helps our minds and bodies to take a break from all the demands of life and the incessant glow of our computer screens. And it helps our bodies from breaking down. I’m lucky to have a dedicated office in my home that allows me to work uninterruptedly or to simply think. But if you don’t then find a quiet spot around your house then sit in your car for a few minutes before entering your home to engage with your thoughts and dreams or for some quiet time so you can relax.