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As a self-diagnosed misophonic, working in an open office has always been a struggle. A great pair of noise-canceling earbuds is an absolute must (the Bose QC20

As a self-diagnosed misophonic, working in an open office has always been a struggle. A great pair of noise-canceling earbuds is an absolute must (the Bose QC20 are fantastic). I wonder if misophonia is correlated with awareness. I'm maddeningly hyperaware of my surroundings, and have difficulty getting into "the zone" if there's too much auditory and visual stimuli. For example, if someone is talking in the same room, it's almost impossible for me not to follow what that person is saying; I can't tune it out unless there's something else that drowns it out. (Radios are incredibly annoying for the same reason. I can't sleep if I can hear people talking in another room; even music with vocals have the same effect.) Being hyperaware has its benefits, of course, but it's mostly a curse.

gukov 10y ago
I'm also hyperaware (I call it hypersensitive). It's a good thing if you're a bodyguard, but otherwise it's absolutely a curse. Noise cancelling headphones are a must. Also, music can be too distracting. I recommend white noise. YouTube has plenty 10 hour long videos with pure white noise.
- appleflaxen 10y ago
  10 hours!? Can't someone "wrap" a 10-second clip and let you play it in a loop? It's white noise, for pete's sake.
- memco 10y ago
  Don't forget brown or pink noise for a more soothing sound (IMO). Until a few weeks ago, I never knew there were other colors of noise. Since discovering them, I have found them to be preferable for my ears over white noise.
  - cname 10y ago
    I also recommend brown noise. It's much nicer than white noise. I use the `play` command that's part of `sox` for this.
grahamburger 10y ago
I see this recommendation often (using noise-cancelling headphones in an open-office) but I'm confused by it. The headphones will actively remove (a little bit of) white noise from your environment (air conditioners, server fans, etc) which in practice actually makes 'signal' type noises more audible. I've noticed, for example, that I can hear the flight attendants on the intercom much better with my noise cancelling headphones on than without because the noise from the engine is partially cancelled. I can see how heavy over-the-ear headphones would help in that they will dampen all noise, especially if you add in some white noise on top of that.
- iak8god 10y ago
  > I see this recommendation often (using noise-cancelling headphones in an open-office) but I'm confused by it. Me too, and I hope someone will chime in and mention a variety of noise canceling headphones that block out voices. I'm in an open office space for the first time in a while, and finding it extremely stressful and distracting to hear other people talking constantly when I'm trying to focus.
  - saurik 10y ago
    Instead of using noise cancelling headphones, put in a set of foam ear plugs and then add a pair of headphones over your ears playing static.
    - iak8god 10y ago
      Unfortunately, that ends up not being very comfortable for long stretches.
      - saurik 10y ago
        So, I actually agree with you, but I am going to guess for opposite reasons (which is why I put forward the idea anyway): you probably mean the foam plugs are uncomfortable, but I actually sleep every night with foam plugs and actually kind of enjoy wearing them, but absolutely despise having standard over-ear headphones on my head/ears.
zoom6628 10y ago
I didnt even know this is what my problem was until reading this article! My daughter is still angry about me going apeshit a few times when she was a child and rattling her spoon against her teeth when eating. And people eating loudly disgusts to the point of starting to go ballistic (and that happens a lot considering i live in China!). My best solution is to leave the environment. Second best is loud music thru headphones. And yes I have the same problem of tuning in to all the conversations around me including those in other languages! Its a curse. Loud music thru headphones is again the only solution.
deleted 10y ago
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DaveSapien 10y ago
Yip, count me in this category as well. Its a blessing being in countries where I dont speak the language!! Getting into "the zone" is a real problem (shure se315's) when I spend most of my working life working surrounded by people. Its very comforting reading these comments, knowing I'm not alone, none of my friends suffer from this. So yes, thankyou to you all and there are others that know what you're going through.

gukov 10y ago

I'm also hyperaware (I call it hypersensitive). It's a good thing if you're a bodyguard, but otherwise it's absolutely a curse. Noise cancelling headphones are a must. Also, music can be too distracting. I recommend white noise. YouTube has plenty 10 hour long videos with pure white noise.

appleflaxen 10y ago
10 hours!? Can't someone "wrap" a 10-second clip and let you play it in a loop? It's white noise, for pete's sake.
memco 10y ago
Don't forget brown or pink noise for a more soothing sound (IMO). Until a few weeks ago, I never knew there were other colors of noise. Since discovering them, I have found them to be preferable for my ears over white noise.
- cname 10y ago
  I also recommend brown noise. It's much nicer than white noise. I use the `play` command that's part of `sox` for this.

grahamburger 10y ago

I see this recommendation often (using noise-cancelling headphones in an open-office) but I'm confused by it. The headphones will actively remove (a little bit of) white noise from your environment (air conditioners, server fans, etc) which in practice actually makes 'signal' type noises more audible. I've noticed, for example, that I can hear the flight attendants on the intercom much better with my noise cancelling headphones on than without because the noise from the engine is partially cancelled. I can see how heavy over-the-ear headphones would help in that they will dampen all noise, especially if you add in some white noise on top of that.

iak8god 10y ago
> I see this recommendation often (using noise-cancelling headphones in an open-office) but I'm confused by it. Me too, and I hope someone will chime in and mention a variety of noise canceling headphones that block out voices. I'm in an open office space for the first time in a while, and finding it extremely stressful and distracting to hear other people talking constantly when I'm trying to focus.
- saurik 10y ago
  Instead of using noise cancelling headphones, put in a set of foam ear plugs and then add a pair of headphones over your ears playing static.
  - iak8god 10y ago
    Unfortunately, that ends up not being very comfortable for long stretches.
    - saurik 10y ago
      So, I actually agree with you, but I am going to guess for opposite reasons (which is why I put forward the idea anyway): you probably mean the foam plugs are uncomfortable, but I actually sleep every night with foam plugs and actually kind of enjoy wearing them, but absolutely despise having standard over-ear headphones on my head/ears.

zoom6628 10y ago

I didnt even know this is what my problem was until reading this article! My daughter is still angry about me going apeshit a few times when she was a child and rattling her spoon against her teeth when eating. And people eating loudly disgusts to the point of starting to go ballistic (and that happens a lot considering i live in China!). My best solution is to leave the environment. Second best is loud music thru headphones. And yes I have the same problem of tuning in to all the conversations around me including those in other languages! Its a curse. Loud music thru headphones is again the only solution.

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

DaveSapien 10y ago

Yip, count me in this category as well. Its a blessing being in countries where I dont speak the language!! Getting into "the zone" is a real problem (shure se315's) when I spend most of my working life working surrounded by people. Its very comforting reading these comments, knowing I'm not alone, none of my friends suffer from this. So yes, thankyou to you all and there are others that know what you're going through.