Do you want to amp those creative juices? It turns out that ambient noise is the key to encourage those creative juice to flow. It’s not loud rock music nor silence. It turns out that those moderate noises promote abstract processing which leads to increased creativity. Just as we struggle to do certain things, we think of more creative ways to solve the problem.
Do you think it’s harder to process when you hear one-sided conversations or an entire conversation between 2 people in a room? Apparently, studies have shown that it’s more distracting to listen to one-sided conversation & that the distracted listener tends to recall that conversation more probably because you’re annoyed & distracted. I can’t count how many times I’ve heard of complaints because of someone talking to loudly in a mobile phone conversation.
Check-out the graph. It looks like productivity is at it’s peak when the room temperature is in the low 70s. When it’s too cold, your body has to work harder to keep you warm thus, you get distracted.
Finally, lighting. Some people get really thrown off with harsh, overlighted offices. If there’s WIFI in the patio, guess where people are (if the glare doesn’t affect the monitor resolution)? Why? Because most people like natural lighting. It turns out that “dim (unnatural) lighting helps us to feel less constrained and free to explore and take risks. Two of the studies tested this feeling in particular, and found that “darkness elicits a feeling of being free from constraints and triggers a risky, explorative processing style.””
Source: The Science Behind Your Ideal Work Environment