7 ms·

My solution was to buy a pair of headphones with good sound isolation. The building could be burning down and I'd wouldn't give a shit.

iamdave 8y ago
New job has me sitting next to a 20U rack cabinet with my network "lab" humming away all day long in an office I share with one other person (plenty of space for the two of us). Support is right down the hall. I don't hear a thing except every now and then someone running the ice maker but it's well buffered by the three Dell blade servers lol. It's awesome.
- peterwwillis 8y ago
  Your setup may not be very noisy, but if it were at 88 dB, I would consider earplug headphones to reduce the risk of NIHL or tinnitus.
  - iamdave 8y ago
    I still wear headphones (because much like coffee, I gotta get my morning sports talk radio fix), but the tinnitus is already raging thanks to a past job that involved blowing things up in a distant part of the world. Measured, it's right around ~60dB.
beat 8y ago
I find it difficult to work while wearing headphones. Music is very distracting. I just spent two and a half years working from home, where I could leave the tv on in the background. That was awesome. A little motion out of the corner of my eye, some noise, but nothing structured in a way I cared about. Loud reality shows about mechanical stuff were my noise-companion. I could just ignore them. Music is full of structure. I love it far too much to work with it. On the positive side, the "open office" I'm in now has some restaurant-style booths set up with glass doors. They're lifesavers.
- jwr 8y ago
  Yes, music is more distracting than people think. Its effects can be subtle: it engages your creative brain, so you end up working like crazy, only to notice afterwards that the work was not needed at all (there was a better solution, but your creative abilities were busy processing music). Don't listen to music while doing creative work. Use noise, like sounds of the sea (I use an app called "Naturespace" for high-quality audio).
  - beat 8y ago
    I'm a musician, so I find most music to be almost ridiculously interesting. Leads me to thinking about the music rather than the work I should be doing. And I find headphones to be physically uncomfortable very quickly.
    - abledon 8y ago
      Haha same! Any melody at all totally refocuses me into the song, how the fingering and chords would be played on a guitar , what riffs they are reusing and Which audio effect pedals are being used for the music (mostly rock / indie / pop )
      - vibrolax 8y ago
        Double same! Doesn't matter whether I like the music or not: it must be dissected layer by layer. Some of my non-musician friends wonder why I never have "background" music on at home.
        beat 8y ago
        I'm more likely to pick up a guitar and play something myself than to put someone else's recordings on at home.
    - wildrhythms 8y ago
      I also cannot simply "listen to music in the background" while I'm doing something else. I almost immediately start focusing on the rhythms and chords instead of whatever I'm supposed to be working on! I studied music all through K-12 so maybe that has something to do with it going by some of the other comments here.
jimmy1 8y ago
Here I feel the need to share what I feel like is my ultimate setup: put in earplugs first, then cover with sound deadening/isolating headphones, finally play white noise. I don't hear shit. Added bonus: put your chair and feet on a mat with vibration deadening material such as sorbothane, so you don't even feel people walk by. Next I am planning on experimenting putting up a tri-fold poster board to block out visual distractions, too.
- s73v3r_ 8y ago
  It seems absolutely ridiculous that we have been forced to such lengths just to get some quiet working space.
  - jimmy1 8y ago
    It absolutely is, but I am a firm believer in not worrying about things I cannot change, and focusing on things I can change, I guess. If I think about how absurd it is, I just get mad and can't focus.
    - driverdan 8y ago
      You can change it by finding a workplace that respects you.
      - jimmy1 8y ago
        My workplace, as I am sure almost all workplaces, does a lot of things that are inefficient, but it's not a matter of respect to me. They respect me by paying me a good wage, giving me opportunities to learn new things and solve interesting challenges, and grow my career (promotions + wages). Call me crazy If my workplace decides they want continue to pay a developer salary and have it be at 20% efficiency, then that's on them to figure it out as long as it isn't effecting my outcomes. At the end of the day, I am there for the exchange of my time for their money. If my workspace begins to interfere with that, then I'll start looking for a new place.
- 8y ago
loco5niner 8y ago
Careful with that. I ended up with tinnitus (ringing in the ears).
AdmiralAsshat 8y ago
I tried this, but unfortunately it doesn't work if your coworkers don't respect your desire to be uninterrupted. I've told everyone around me, "When I put on my headphones I'm in focus mode, please leave me alone." But people still shout across desks to get my attention or tap me on the shoulder, which means I have to take off my headphones to figure out what they want.
s73v3r_ 8y ago
This always comes up as a solution, but what about those of us that hate wearing headphones?
deathanatos 8y ago
I think most of us are aware that this solution exists. This just shouldn't even be a problem that requires solving. It also doesn't solve having an actual conversation with someone else, which can be hard when you're competing with Sales-bro Bryan.

iamdave 8y ago

New job has me sitting next to a 20U rack cabinet with my network "lab" humming away all day long in an office I share with one other person (plenty of space for the two of us). Support is right down the hall. I don't hear a thing except every now and then someone running the ice maker but it's well buffered by the three Dell blade servers lol. It's awesome.

peterwwillis 8y ago
Your setup may not be very noisy, but if it were at 88 dB, I would consider earplug headphones to reduce the risk of NIHL or tinnitus.
- iamdave 8y ago
  I still wear headphones (because much like coffee, I gotta get my morning sports talk radio fix), but the tinnitus is already raging thanks to a past job that involved blowing things up in a distant part of the world. Measured, it's right around ~60dB.

beat 8y ago

I find it difficult to work while wearing headphones. Music is very distracting. I just spent two and a half years working from home, where I could leave the tv on in the background. That was awesome. A little motion out of the corner of my eye, some noise, but nothing structured in a way I cared about. Loud reality shows about mechanical stuff were my noise-companion. I could just ignore them. Music is full of structure. I love it far too much to work with it. On the positive side, the "open office" I'm in now has some restaurant-style booths set up with glass doors. They're lifesavers.

jwr 8y ago
Yes, music is more distracting than people think. Its effects can be subtle: it engages your creative brain, so you end up working like crazy, only to notice afterwards that the work was not needed at all (there was a better solution, but your creative abilities were busy processing music). Don't listen to music while doing creative work. Use noise, like sounds of the sea (I use an app called "Naturespace" for high-quality audio).
- beat 8y ago
  I'm a musician, so I find most music to be almost ridiculously interesting. Leads me to thinking about the music rather than the work I should be doing. And I find headphones to be physically uncomfortable very quickly.
  - abledon 8y ago
    Haha same! Any melody at all totally refocuses me into the song, how the fingering and chords would be played on a guitar , what riffs they are reusing and Which audio effect pedals are being used for the music (mostly rock / indie / pop )
    - vibrolax 8y ago
      Double same! Doesn't matter whether I like the music or not: it must be dissected layer by layer. Some of my non-musician friends wonder why I never have "background" music on at home.
      - beat 8y ago
        I'm more likely to pick up a guitar and play something myself than to put someone else's recordings on at home.
  - wildrhythms 8y ago
    I also cannot simply "listen to music in the background" while I'm doing something else. I almost immediately start focusing on the rhythms and chords instead of whatever I'm supposed to be working on! I studied music all through K-12 so maybe that has something to do with it going by some of the other comments here.

jimmy1 8y ago

Here I feel the need to share what I feel like is my ultimate setup: put in earplugs first, then cover with sound deadening/isolating headphones, finally play white noise. I don't hear shit. Added bonus: put your chair and feet on a mat with vibration deadening material such as sorbothane, so you don't even feel people walk by. Next I am planning on experimenting putting up a tri-fold poster board to block out visual distractions, too.

s73v3r_ 8y ago
It seems absolutely ridiculous that we have been forced to such lengths just to get some quiet working space.
- jimmy1 8y ago
  It absolutely is, but I am a firm believer in not worrying about things I cannot change, and focusing on things I can change, I guess. If I think about how absurd it is, I just get mad and can't focus.
  - driverdan 8y ago
    You can change it by finding a workplace that respects you.
    - jimmy1 8y ago
      My workplace, as I am sure almost all workplaces, does a lot of things that are inefficient, but it's not a matter of respect to me. They respect me by paying me a good wage, giving me opportunities to learn new things and solve interesting challenges, and grow my career (promotions + wages). Call me crazy If my workplace decides they want continue to pay a developer salary and have it be at 20% efficiency, then that's on them to figure it out as long as it isn't effecting my outcomes. At the end of the day, I am there for the exchange of my time for their money. If my workspace begins to interfere with that, then I'll start looking for a new place.
8y ago

loco5niner 8y ago

Careful with that. I ended up with tinnitus (ringing in the ears).

AdmiralAsshat 8y ago

I tried this, but unfortunately it doesn't work if your coworkers don't respect your desire to be uninterrupted. I've told everyone around me, "When I put on my headphones I'm in focus mode, please leave me alone." But people still shout across desks to get my attention or tap me on the shoulder, which means I have to take off my headphones to figure out what they want.

s73v3r_ 8y ago

This always comes up as a solution, but what about those of us that hate wearing headphones?

deathanatos 8y ago

I think most of us are aware that this solution exists. This just shouldn't even be a problem that requires solving. It also doesn't solve having an actual conversation with someone else, which can be hard when you're competing with Sales-bro Bryan.