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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

#231

Post by mark-r »

jsinai wrote: post #208
dwringer wrote: post #165

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.

I had to retire my mechanical keyboard at home, because it was driving my wife crazy in our shared home office.

Re: Office noise bothers some people more than others

#232

Post by 734129837261 »

silveroriole wrote: post #163
DoofusOfDeath wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I wanted to murder her. No joke. If I could get away with it, I would have. The anger was physical and deep. Rage and disgust was the feeling, and I felt personally attacked. It felt like a "fight or flee" instinct, where I'd prefer to fight. Just in case you're not using hyperbole, you might consider some visits with a good counselor. I think most people can learn techniques to avoid getting so angry, and the unha…

Does counselling work for misophonia? It really does feel like an involuntary fight-or-flight mechanism rather than just “anger”. Would be interested to hear if anyone’s had success with it, cause boy does it ruin family dinners when you have to either leave the room or sit there with your fork in a death grip trying not to kill everyone.

It has also not been researched very much. That said, I've suffered brain damage for which I'm medicated because I didn't have any brakes on my emotions anymore. That helped bringing me back to normal levels of dealing with emotions, and it also reduced the levels of anger I felt dealing with misophonia triggers.

Medicine used: Depakine (valproic acid).

Re: Office noise bothers some people more than others

#233

Post by dreamling »

fyfy18 wrote: post #160
chadash wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I find I can focus pretty well in a noisy coffee shop, but if I'm in an office and someone on the desk next to me starts having a conversation, I lose all focus.

I think generally it's easy to know you won't be needed by other patrons in a coffee shop, or that their chatter won't require you to weigh in or judge, so your brain just keeps an ear out for normal danger noises.

At work, headphones off, my brain is subconsciously trying to keep me informed about the noise around me in the workplace, so that I can respond if needed (generally I'm not) not helpful, brain. :P

Re: Office noise bothers some people more than others

#235

Post by OnlyLys »

joegahona wrote: post #136
navs wrote: 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 am finding No. 1 and No. 3 to be absolutely true in my new job (open office). Loved my Bose QC headphones when I was using them occasionally at a coffeshop or on short flights, but for 6-8 hours? I'm finding that I'm leaving work with a headache now. It's making me consider the Airpods Pro since they're not vice-like but do include noise-canceling.

Aside from the headaches that wearing over-ear headphones for long can give, they also leave a semi permanent dent in my hair that I absolutely hate. I am so glad that companies are moving towards noise cancelling in-ears now.

Re: Office noise bothers some people more than others

#236

Post by 734129837261 »

tener wrote: post #95
734129837261 wrote: post #67

My biggest triggers are people who eat crunchy food with open mouths; people who slurp their drinks; people who are oblivious to their environment and sing loudly in open offices. Colleagues next to me eating hard carrots, chips, anything crunchy. Or Chinese expats who slurp their soup and coffee (normal in their culture; rude in mine)... it drove me crazy. The singing one drove me insane at my last job. An office la…

Genuinely puzzled the lady wasn't immediately silenced by others or management of this place. It must have been clear this is disruptive?

Most of us were hired consultants in the open office that we shared with her. Management and internal staff sat in private offices, mostly. The instructions from my employer were always to not disrupt the status quo. She was their employee, and it was not up to us to complain about it.

I complained to my employer, who did nothing about it because he thought it was funny.

Re: Office noise bothers some people more than others

#238

Post by post_break »

Part of me wishes I was deaf because of this. I hate all the noises, the loud coughs, the stomping, the people who think just because it's a conference call you have to yell. I have to wear my noise cancelling headphones at work and close my office door, which I know is a super luxury.

Re: Office noise bothers some people more than others

#239

Post by szatkus »

jackhack wrote: post #80

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…

I don't know which group suits me. When I'm concentrated I don't care about my surrounding.

Re: Office noise bothers some people more than others

#240

Post by hnick »

I'm definitely sensitive to noises and am a stereotypical introvert.

One thing they didn't mention that gets me is not related to noise. It's privacy. I have an extremely strong innate need for privacy and I'm not sure where that comes from. I never liked sharing personal details or preferences (like favourite bands), and the idea of someone watching me work just makes me uneasy.

It's not even a fear of being caught out avoiding work. I'll happily sit there and read HN in full sight. It's just off-putting and distracting and makes it hard to do real work so anything that takes my attention away will win.

My current workplace has low-walled shared cubicles which is at least better than the big no-barrier desks I see at startups. Barely.

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