Every office has them; whether large or small, everyone has to deal with noisy coworkers. So what do you do about it? The answer really is in what are you willing to do about it. Here are some practical tips for keeping your sanity and the office "peace", so that you won't become the office loser.

If you really want your noisy coworkers to tone down their noise levels, you need to figure out why and when they are noisy. Noisy coworkers are often clueless about their noise volume or noise habits that are obnoxious to those around them. Others may be more intentional in wanting to annoy or bother people with their noise.

The first personality type you must be concerned with is the kind who doesn't realize that his or her habits are disturbing. This individual frequently feels that the sounds in the office mask any noise they're making, so they think that no one can really tell if they're making a racket.

Take Mr. Sneezy, for instance. He's the guy that sits at the next desk sneezing repeatedly during the cold and flu season without ever covering his nose and mouth. Sure, it's extremely irritating, because you don't want to catch whatever it is he's got. Perhaps you could tell him how you feel or maybe you can be more subtle and hand him a tissue right before he sneezes each time. You could even pretend to sneeze and be sure he sees YOU covering YOUR face!

Another type of people are those trying always to be the center of attention. They can be hard to manage as they strive to be noticed, with hopes of moving up the ladder of success.

No ideal tactics exist for handling this sort of person; you will just have to try talking to them. If speaking to them directly does not fix the problem, you should complain to your supervisor. After all, even with you coworker's conduct, you still have to get your work done. Given how much productivity the company is losing because of this worker's conduct, you are unlikely to be the only one concerned about the problem.