I was halfway through an email when the noise hit me all at once. Three conversations, a ringing phone, the hum of the air conditioning, and a coworker’s keyboard clicking blended into one wall of sound. I read the same sentence four times and still couldn’t take it in.
Sensory overload happens when your brain receives more sights, sounds, and other input than it can sort through at once. It isn’t a formal diagnosis, but the stress it causes is real. Open offices are built to help people work together. Yet for some of us, all that shared noise and light makes it hard to get anything done.
Why Open Offices Can Overwhelm Some Brains
For a long time, I thought I was just bad at focusing. Then I learned about sensory processing sensitivity (SPS). It’s a personality trait linked to processing information more deeply and reacting more strongly to your surroundings. About 30% of people score high on this trait (Weyn et al., 2026). In the same study, people reporting feeling more overstimulated when they were around others and when they faced unpleasant sounds or sights. That describes most open offices.
Brains differ in how they filter incoming sound and light. Some people can tune out a nearby conversation without trying. Others, like me, seem to take in every word. A study of working adults found that people who were more sensitive to sensory input reported more stress and more burnout symptoms. So did people who tend to miss sensory cues. These links held even for people without autism or ADHD (van den Boogert et al., 2022).
The social side was harder for me than the noise. When I left my desk to find quiet or skipped small talk, some coworkers saw me as distant. I felt pressure to hide how much the office affected me, and keeping up that act left me drained by the end of the day. Many neurodivergent people, including those with autism or ADHD, face even bigger hurdles at work. One large study found they were about twice as likely as neurotypical people to be in insecure jobs (Branicki et al., 2024).
How I Took Back My Focus and Calm
Once I understood why the office wore me down, I started testing small changes. None of them fixed everything on its own. Together, they turned my workday from something I dreaded into something I could handle.
Find a Quiet Place for Focused Work
The biggest change was moving my focused work away from busy areas. I started using empty conference rooms, quiet corners, and phone booths for tasks that needed my full attention. I saved my open desk for email and quick chats with coworkers.
Research supports this kind of split. In a study of university students, quiet cubicles ranked as the most helpful study space. In addition, 92% of neurodivergent students supported having spaces designed to limit sensory input (Canal et al., 2026). An office is not a campus library, but the idea carries over. Having somewhere calm to go makes deep work much easier.
Take Control of Your Lighting
Harsh overhead lights were my second big problem. The constant glare gave me headaches and tired eyes, and it made the noise feel even worse.
I turned down my monitor brightness and added a desk lamp with a warm bulb. At one job, I asked the facilities team to remove a bulb right above my desk. The request felt awkward, but the difference was worth it. A review of workplace changes for neurodivergent workers found that fixes for sound and light were among the most common. These changes were linked to better job performance, better health, and staying in a job longer (Weber et al., 2024).
Block Out Sudden Noise
Sudden sounds throw me off more than anything else. A burst of laughter or a phone ringing two desks away can wipe out my train of thought in a second. Steady background noise bothers me far less than noise I can’t predict.
Noise-canceling headphones became my most useful tool. I can put them on the moment the room gets loud. When I don’t want to wear them, I play white noise or instrumental music at a low volume. Both give my brain one steady sound to follow instead of a dozen random ones. If you wear headphones often, a quick note to your team helps. Letting people know you’re focusing, not ignoring them, prevents hurt feelings.
Schedule Short Sensory Breaks
I used to push through until I was completely overwhelmed. Now I take short breaks before that happens. I step away from my screen, close my eyes for a minute, take a short walk, or try grounding techniques like slow belly breathing.
Research backs up this habit. A review of 22 studies found that breaks of 10 minutes or less boosted energy and reduced fatigue (Albulescu et al., 2022). Timing matters, too. Fatigue makes overstimulation worse, and overstimulation tends to peak in the afternoon and early evening (Weyn et al., 2026). I now plan at least one break after lunch, when my focus usually starts to slip.
Ask Your Manager About Flexible Work
When personal tools weren’t enough, I talked to my manager. I didn’t frame it as a favor. I explained that I do my best work at home, where I control the noise and light, and asked for two remote days a week.
Data can help you make the case. In a large trial at a tech company, employees who worked from home two days a week were one-third less likely to quit than those who came in every day. Their performance reviews and promotions were no different (Bloom et al., 2024). Flexible work may matter even more for neurodivergent employees. Research links it to better job outcomes for this group (Branicki et al., 2024).
Choosing Where to Start
Each strategy targets a different part of the problem. If you’re not sure where to begin, match the strategy to what bothers you most.
| Strategy | Best For | Effort |
|---|---|---|
| A quiet place to work | Constant chatter and visual distractions | Low |
| Better lighting | Glare, headaches, and eye strain | Low |
| Noise-canceling headphones | Sudden or unpredictable sounds | Low (one-time cost) |
| Short sensory breaks | Afternoon fatigue and building stress | Low |
| Flexible or hybrid work | Overload the office setup cannot fix | Medium (needs approval) |
Your Needs at Work Are Valid
Needing quiet, softer light, or time away from the crowd doesn’t make you difficult. It means your brain handles the world in its own way. The right setup lets you bring your best thinking to work instead of spending all your energy just getting through the day.
Pick one change to try tomorrow. Book a quiet room for your hardest task, bring headphones, or block 10 minutes after lunch for a break. If stress keeps building even after these changes, learning how to calm down can help you reset. Everyday habits that improve your mental health naturally, like good sleep and regular movement, also make overload easier to manage. And if it starts to affect your health or your job, a licensed therapist can help you build a plan that fits your needs.
Sources
- Albulescu, P., Macsinga, I., Rusu, A., Sulea, C., Bodnaru, A., & Tulbure, B. T. (2022). “Give me a break!” A systematic review and meta-analysis on the efficacy of micro-breaks for increasing well-being and performance. PLOS ONE, 17(8), Article e0272460. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0272460
- Bloom, N., Han, R., & Liang, J. (2024). Hybrid working from home improves retention without damaging performance. Nature, 630(8018), 920–925. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07500-2
- Branicki, L. J., Brammer, S., Brosnan, M., Lazaro, A. G., Lattanzio, S., & Newnes, L. (2024). Factors shaping the employment outcomes of neurodivergent and neurotypical people: Exploring the role of flexible and homeworking practices. Human Resource Management, 63(6), 1001–1023. https://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.22243
- Canal, M. M., Yeserdir, N. Y., Hynds, E., & Pocock, T. (2026). Designing sensory-inclusive study spaces: Comparing environmental preferences and barriers for neurodivergent and neurotypical university students. Frontiers in Education, 11, Article 1813799. https://doi.org/10.3389/fedu.2026.1813799
- van den Boogert, F., Spaan, P., Sizoo, B., Bouman, Y. H. A., Hoogendijk, W. J. G., & Roza, S. J. (2022). Sensory processing, perceived stress, and burnout symptoms in a working population during the COVID-19 crisis. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(4), Article 2043. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19042043
- Weber, C., Krieger, B., Häne, E., Yarker, J., & McDowall, A. (2024). Physical workplace adjustments to support neurodivergent workers: A systematic review. Applied Psychology, 73(3), 910–962. https://doi.org/10.1111/apps.12431
- Weyn, S., Greven, C. U., Schmidt, S. J., & Gillebert, C. R. (2026). Sensory processing sensitivity and overstimulation in daily life: An experience sampling method study. Scientific Reports, 16, Article 2015. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-31629-3
Eleanor Hecks is a business writer who is particular passionate about helping people navigate physical and mental health challenges in the workplace. She currently serves as Editor-in-Chief at online publication Designerly.
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