Ever since the cubicle was invented, office workers have dealt with the distractions that go along with a workplace devoid of privacy. Sights, sounds and smells that would be private in a hard-walled office become everyone's business in a cubicle officescape. Coping with life inside a cubicle can be difficult.

　　自从小隔间的出现，办公室的白领们就需要应对各种各样的干扰，随之也失去了个人隐私。各种视觉，听觉，还有嗅觉上的冲击，也许在一间被墙围得严丝密缝的办公室里是私人的，但在小隔间的公司却隐私全无。在小隔间的日常工作就会变得相对困难。

　　Going hand in hand with the lack of privacy is a lack of productivity induced by constant distractions. Anyone who has worked in a cubicle for more than a day can fess up to listening to someone else's entire phone conversation. And there is a good chance nosiness wasn't to blame. A conversation on the other side of the flimsy partition doesn't even have to be interesting to pull those nearby out of their work. The reaction is natural.

　　与同事共同在缺乏隐私的空间里工作，都会常常受各种干扰，从而降低工作创造力。每个曾经长时间在小隔间工作的白领都会很坦率地表示——他们常常受到别人通话的影响。不过也有不能怪罪于噪音的时候。在薄薄的挡板外的对话也并不有趣得足以转移周遭人的工作注意力。这种反应也是自然的。

　　So what are you to do in an environment constantly pulling your attention away from what you are supposed to be doing? Try these tips to keep office distractions at bay.

　　那么，在一个一直干扰你注意力的工作环境中你该如何应对呢?下面这些小提示就能帮助你解决这个难题。

　　1. Invest in some noise-canceling headphones.

　　1. 在消音耳机上花点功夫。

　　Offices can be loud and raucous, or they can be quiet as a cemetery. Both can be distracting. Noisy offices can make it hard to concentrate because of all the different things going on. For some, silent offices make it difficult to stay on task.

　　办公室都有可能是声音嘈杂的，或者是静如墓园的。但两种都有可能对你造成干扰。喧闹的办公室让你难以集中注意力，因为太多不同的事情都在同时进行。而某些安静的办公室则会让你难以坚持完成一件任务。

　　No matter which camp you're in, noise-canceling headphones allow you to set the soundtrack to your workday. If you like quiet, they can shut out ringing phones and jabbering co-workers. If you like background music to fend off other sounds, you can have that.

　　无论你身处哪家公司，消音耳机可以让你调整日常工作的声音频道。如果你偏爱安静，耳机就能为你阻隔烦人的铃声和喋喋不休的同事。如果你需要背景音乐抵消其他声音，你也可以做到。

　　There are a few drawbacks to noise-canceling headphones. One, you may not hear your phone ring. If your phone has a light to indicate it is ringing -- which most office phones have -- put your phone in your peripheral vision where you will see when the light illuminates. Second, you may not hear the fire alarm. Fortunately, today's fire alarm system also have flashing lights that are hard to miss no matter where you are on the office floor. Third, you can easily be startled by co-workers coming to visit you. You can try repositioning yourself within the cubicle so that people cannot sneak up on you.

　　不过完全消音的耳机还是有一些缺点的。首先，你可能听不到你的手机铃声。如果你的电话有来电的指示灯——一般大多数办公室都有的——把手机放到次要显眼的位置，这样你就能看到提示灯亮了。其次，你可能听不到火警警报。不过幸运的是，如今的火警警报系统已经备有闪光灯，这样无论你在办公室的哪个地方都能注意到了。再者，你很容易被前来的同事吓到。你可以重新调整自己在小隔间的位置，以防同事们悄悄地靠近你而把你吓到。

　　2. Book a conference room when you need total silence.

　　2. 在需要完全安静的环境时，预约会议室。

　　Think a conference room is only for meetings? Think again.

　　你以为会议室只能用作开会吗?再想想。

　　If you need total silence to work on something, booking a conference room is a perfectly legitimate strategy. You might get some funny looks if you plop down in a conference room with glass walls, but you need to get your work done, so those rubberneckers can just keep on walking.

　　如果你需要一个完全安静的环境处理一些事情，那么预约会议室就是一个再好不过的策略。也许你在玻璃墙里的会议室摔倒看起来是一件很逗趣的事情，但你的确需要完成工作，而那些凑热闹的人只能继续他们的步行与张望。

　　Now, you can't make a conference room your permanent office, so use this tactic only when necessary. If you need to do some quality assurance work on some data or screen a stack of job applications, you need uninterrupted silence, and in some workplaces, the only places to get that are conference rooms.

　　但是，你不能把会议室作为你永久的办公场地，所以这个技巧还是在有必要的时候再使用吧。如果你需要处理一些数据上保证质量的工作，或浏览一堆工作的申请，你就需要一个不受打扰的安静的地方，而在一些公司，唯一能够符合要求的就是会议室了。

　　3. Work from home when you can.

　　3. 如有条件，在家工作。

　　Working from home is not an option for some government employees, but for many, telework is an option either on a routine basis or occasionally. Telework provides flexibility for government workers. For an employee to telework, the arrangement must fit two things: the employee and the position. This means the employee's work ethic, style and supervision needs must fit with telework, and the employee's job duties must be able to be performed remotely.

　　在家办公并不是只为某些公务员的特权，但对于很多人来说，远程办公也是一个要么是日常所需，要么是偶尔的选择。远程办公能为公务员提供非常灵活的办公条件。如果一位员工需要进行远程办公，那么办公的安排就需要符合这两点要求：员工和岗位。这意味着员工的职业规范，风格以及管理都必须与远程办公相适应，而且员工的工作性质也要允许远程操控。

　　Working from home allows you to set an environment that works for you. Noise level, temperature and aromas are all under your control. Can you work better at your dining room table than in your cubicle? Do it.

　　在家办公可以让你自己布置适合自己的工作场所。噪音，温度以及气味程度，一切都掌握在你的手中。你能在餐桌上工作比在小隔间更有效率吗?那就这样做吧。

　　If working from home or some other location is possible, give it a try. You might like it. If you don't, you can go back to your old way of working.

　　如有可能，就在家里或其他地方办公。也许你会喜欢这种模式。如果你并不喜欢，那就回归原本的工作模式吧。

　　Keep a close eye on your productivity. If it goes down, you should notice before your boss does, and you should know when to call off the telework experiment.

　　密切地关注自己的创造力。如果创造力低下，你必须比上司更早发现，并且你还需要知道何时停止这种远程办公的模式。

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（责任编辑：何莹莹）