When was the last time you sat in your house in complete silence?
I honestly can’t remember a time that my house was absolutely silent. Even when the children are at school and I’m home alone there are still so many noises in the house. The computer whirrs away as I work, the fridge hums, the washing machine is inevitably spinning and sounding as if it’s about to take off.
After a while you just get used to these noises, but are they ultimately making us stressed?
Studies have found that even sounds we’re not really aware of can have a negative impact on our well-being.
The president of the International Commission on the Biological Effects of Noise, Mathias Basner, explains that “The easiest way to define noise is “unwanted sound” and prolonged noise can cause us to release stress hormones, such as adrenaline, which can raise cholesterol”.
It’s been found that our risk of heart disease can also increase as noise levels increase.
The thing is, it’s not just obvious loud noises like the children running around playing or the TV blaring that we deal with in our homes every day.
A lot of the time it’s lots of different noises that all add together to make a far from peaceful living environment. One of the issues is that a lot of homes these days are quite open plan, so noises aren’t contained to separate rooms.
Have you ever had that thing where you’re trying to watch TV but the kettle boiling in the kitchen is so noisy that you end up having to turn the volume up, making even more noise? Gloria Elliot, chief executive of the Noise Abatement Society, points out that it’s this cumulative effect of noise upon noise that makes our stress levels rise.
Keep this in mind next time you go shopping for a new kettle or potentially noisy appliance, and look for one that has the noise abatement society’s ‘quiet mark’ on it.
There are a few other things to consider to try and reduce noise levels in your home.
If you notice a fair bit of noise coming in from outside your house, like cars driving past or loud neighbours coming and going at all hours, then look at replacing old windows with new uPVC windows. And then block the noise out even more by putting up nice thick curtains, preferably ones that go all the way down to the floor.
To help you sleep more soundly at night you should try to reduce noise levels in your bedroom as much as possible. According to the World Health Organisation one in five people in Europe are regularly exposed to sound levels during the night which could damage their health significantly.
You can put rugs down and add more soft furnishings like cushions and blankets to your bed to help absorb noise. It’s also worth putting thick curtains on the windows in the bedroom too, to block outside noise.
It it’s at all possible then think about moving your furniture around to help reduce noise from next door neighbours. Putting a big wardrobe or bookshelf by a ‘noisy’ wall can help to reduce the sound levels coming through.
Along with these ways to reduce noise levels in your house, it’s also a good idea to reduce stress by building some quiet into your life in general.
If you’re going to a meeting or an appointment then leave in plenty of time so you can sit quietly for 5 minutes before you need to go in. And when you’re at home try and find a 5 minute window to just sit quietly. This might be when you first come home from work, or after you’ve put the children to bed.
Try to resist the temptation to just put the TV on and instead find a quiet part of the house, like the conservatory if you have one, or the dining room and just sit still and breathe for a few minutes.
Our lives are so busy these days, and so noisy too, it’s no wonder we end up feeling stressed and overstimulated at times.
It really is worth doing whatever we can to reduce the sound levels in our homes, so that on those rare occasions when the children are quiet the house is actually quiet too.
Disclaimer: this is a collaborative post