Quiet Works: Making Silence the Secret Ingredient of the Workday

We live—and work—in a world of nonstop noise. Most of us believe that it’s normal and we must accept the unfair terms and conditions. We don’t. It's time to reimagine how we work and make silence the secret ingredient.

From the time we wake up, our workday starts. We’re on the smartphone, texting and emailing, scrolling news feeds, jumping on video conference calls. It’s a 24/7 hamster wheel. Work culture—at the office, hybrid, or remote—is defined by too much information and constant collaboration. There’s no time and place for thinking alone.

In Quiet Works, Joe McCormack proposes a simple, practical, and useful way to work more strategically, and intentionally. You will learn to:

• Make appointments for quiet, not run from or cancel them
• Set boundaries to alert others not to disturb or distract you
• Balance time spent alone in quiet, with time together collaborating
• Design workspaces that are conducive to quiet
• Use tools and practices that are realistic and rewarding

The noise of constant distractions, interruptions, and digital devices doesn’t need to defeat us. We can set the conditions for ourselves, colleagues, and organizations to slow down periodically while everything is speeding up. Quiet Works will help you become a stronger professional who is empowered and energized to work in a better, smarter, and more productive way in today’s competitive, noisy environment.