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Office noise bothers some people more than others

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Re: Office noise bothers some people more than others

#202
post #197
post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m a fan of Etymotic Ety Plugs. Etymotic in general makes pretty solid kit.

They make really great IEMs as well. I've got my ER2XRs on right now. They sound great and when music isn't playing they basically act as earplugs. They are a great option for people who have issues with ANC.

Agreed. I’m on my third pair of one model or other. I really like how quiet I can play music and not hear anything else.

Re: Office noise bothers some people more than others

#203
post #7

People put with noise far more than they have to. Here are a few of my experiences: - moved into an office where a very noisy dot-matrix printer printed out every opening and closing of a door in the building. Nobody ever looked at the printouts. I unplugged it and put it in a dumpster. Nobody ever complained. - working for an oil company, my boss was sitting next to a big HP plotter that was horribly noisy - he wore…

My biggest hurdle—aside from undocumented code—at my new company, is fucking mouth noises from coworkers and the sound of crumpling snack bags in an open office. It's to the extent where I have to leave the area and regain composure before mentioning it. If I can't find a way to manage, I'll leave, but I'm not in the financial position to have that luxury yet. What will probably happen, is I'll work up to a slow comp…

I have the exact same trouble with mouth noises. I couldn't explain the extreme irrational anger I felt when a co-worker was chewing on something while others hardly even noticed. It used to be very unsettling before I came know that it was a known condition with an official name[1]. While knowing that hasn't cured it, if I encounter someone making these noises, to avoid outbursts, I am now quick to put on headphones and play white noise[2] and mentally telling myself that it's me, not them.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misophonia

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzjWIxXBs_s

Re: Office noise bothers some people more than others

#204
post #135

I currently work for a startup and all three of us are hotdesking. We're constantly moved to new spaces in the hotdesking space because a new company is leaving/moving in. I've sat beside recruiters, property managers and salespeople. There's no "quiet" room. The meeting rooms cost a few hundred and need to be pre-booked. My home environment isn't a quiet refuge either. Beside a busy street, more flatmates than their…

I have a 1.5hr commute each morning and night which adds a lot onto my day but I also living in a quiet village and work in central London. Being able to take refuge in the village on evenings and weekends makes the noise in London bearable.

There is also the additional side effect that I have a reasonably large house for the same price that I would have paid for a small room in London.

Re: Office noise bothers some people more than others

#205

I have misophonia, I get extreme anger in the office if someone starts chomping with their mouths open out of nowhere. Also the two older dudes near me always have their phones dinging, like when any notification comes to their phone, im close to insanity about it

> always have their phones dinging, like when any notification comes to their phone, im close to insanity about it

I don’t mind office noise, but this drives me nuts. Their phone is on their person, turn on vibrate already.

Re: Office noise bothers some people more than others

#207

The only time noise really bothers me is when I am trying to debug something that seems like it should be really simple but nonetheless keeps not doing what I expect it to. Once it goes over a couple hours I start to turn into a madman, and there has to be quiet. On the other hand if I'm debugging something that should be problematic I don't notice the noise much, for any normal programming task as long as you don't…

From observations of myself, I think this behaviour is compelled by a childlike grasping at control of some trivial external aspect of my experience to make up for my inability to control the bug I'm working on, for example.

Re: Office noise bothers some people more than others

#208

I've never particularly minded general office noises of the kind that can be cancelled out easily, but what gets me is when coworkers start to become stressed and physically vent this in a way that makes noise - particularly when I can hear a mouse click getting louder and more violent, echoing off every surface in the office. Somehow my brain interprets this as an attack (evoking a fight-or-flight response that othe…

> particularly when I hear a mouse click getting louder and more violent.

What really gets to me is loud and furious typing. Otherwise most office noise doesn’t bother me. But that’s mostly because I’m surrounded by colleagues who I get along with.

Re: Office noise bothers some people more than others

#209

There are two mutually exclusive groups of people: "Concentrators(1)" and "Communicators(2)". Concentrators must have conditions that allow one to form and hold complex ideas, and act upon them. This is almost always some degree of a quiet environment, without visual or auditory distractions. the opposite of the ideal conditions of Communicators. Communicators must interact with others to do their job. (1) Typical of…

Counterpoint: John von Neumann, arguably one of the greatest mathematicians of all time, claimed to do some of his best work in front of the TV. In my personal experience, I know plenty of engineers who don't mind noise. I think it's a personal thing more than anything and it's hard to generalize.

Attention control with distracting external stimuli is associated to higher intelligence.

Re: Office noise bothers some people more than others

#210
post #135

I currently work for a startup and all three of us are hotdesking. We're constantly moved to new spaces in the hotdesking space because a new company is leaving/moving in. I've sat beside recruiters, property managers and salespeople. There's no "quiet" room. The meeting rooms cost a few hundred and need to be pre-booked. My home environment isn't a quiet refuge either. Beside a busy street, more flatmates than their…

I feel you. I recently changed jobs from an office environment at max capacity and open to the extreme, to one at 1/3 capacity and a lot of nooks and crannies designed for those who need a little space. It's amazing how much less fatiguing the latter environment is.
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