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Why noise is necessary for our brains to perform at a high-level

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Re: Why noise is necessary for our brains to perform at a high-level

#131

Post by tarsinge »

munificent wrote: post #16

I've worked in private offices, cubicles, open plan offices, coffeeshops, libraries, and now many many hours in home both when other family members are around and when they aren't. I spend a lot of time thinking about sound and focus. The conclusion I came to is that humans have a few emotional needs in order to reach deep focus: 1. We need to not be distracted and we need to feel certainty that we will not be distra…

Your theory is interesting but what about the studies that link noise to stress and health issues?[0] Maybe background noises of voices have a different effect?

[0] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5898791/

Re: Why noise is necessary for our brains to perform at a high-level

#132

Post by codeduck »

randlet wrote: post #118
codeduck wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Was about to say, it's very easy to establish boundaries if you have someone enforcing them for you

The boundary that the OP needs to enforce is actually with the caregiver more than the children (although even young children are capable of learning and respecting boundaries). The caregiver needs to buy into the fact that it's beneficial for the bread winner of the family to have uninterrupted work periods. When I read your statement it feels like you're saying you think the OP is just throwing proclamations over t…

The op made the rather disingenuous statement that people who could not be productive working from home were clearly just not doing it right, without considering that his anecdotal situation is the exception rather than the norm for many parents in this day and age.

Re: Why noise is necessary for our brains to perform at a high-level

#133

Post by codeduck »

the_af wrote: post #121
randlet wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The boundary that the OP needs to enforce is actually with the caregiver more than the children (although even young children are capable of learning and respecting boundaries). The caregiver needs to buy into the fact that it's beneficial for the bread winner of the family to have uninterrupted work periods. When I read your statement it feels like you're saying you think the OP is just throwing proclamations over t…

Both parents are caregivers in a marriage, there's no single caregiver. What happens if both work during regular office hours (as in my marriage)? If you have very young kids, it's impossible to have a distraction free work environment at home unless you find someone to take care of the kids and enforce the no distractions rule. People often assume, somewhat unfairly, that this person should be the mother. But what i…

I have found WFH to be enjoyable and rewarding, but this is despite both of us being in high stress careers and due to reasons somewhat unrelated to work (no commuting, more time around the family, etc).

We have both simply adapted and now do our concentration-related tasks when our child is asleep.

Re: Why noise is necessary for our brains to perform at a high-level

#134

Post by noja »

nyc111 wrote: post #42

I think, we should not call a conversation we hear "noise", it disturbs our focus but it's not noise. Noise has no pattern and no meaning. But the most disturbing sound is the sound that repeats in fixed intervals. I believe repeating sounds in high volume is even used as a form of torture. So airplane noise is torture because it's loud and it repeats.

> So airplane noise is torture because it's loud and it repeats.

Airplane noise when a plane flies above you? or airplane noise inside the plane?

I find airplane noise within a plane great - it blocks out all the other noise.

Re: Why noise is necessary for our brains to perform at a high-level

#135

Post by tapan_jk »

oldie wrote: post #82
neom wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I almost can't work without the radio on. I can buy the comment that said we want people near us to work. I like working at home with the radio on, no one will bug me, but maybe it feels like people are around?

I'm a software engineer. I choose music or silence tactically. If I need to power myself through a task, I use music to do it. If I'm trying to solve a difficult problem or master a complex body of unfamiliar code, I need silence. Before WFH become the norm in early 2020, there were days when I made no progress at all until everyone else had gone home. The precious hour between 5pm and 6pm -- when the cleaners came a…

> I dread losing it if Management decides to pull us all back into the office when the pandemic is over.

One thing this pandemic will be remembered for is how it permanently changed the way desk jobs are done. If "Management" decides to pull you back into office, there are many more "Managements" who are waiting to hire you by giving you the option to remain remote.

Re: Why noise is necessary for our brains to perform at a high-level

#136

Post by the_af »

codeduck wrote: post #133
the_af wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Both parents are caregivers in a marriage, there's no single caregiver. What happens if both work during regular office hours (as in my marriage)? If you have very young kids, it's impossible to have a distraction free work environment at home unless you find someone to take care of the kids and enforce the no distractions rule. People often assume, somewhat unfairly, that this person should be the mother. But what i…

I have found WFH to be enjoyable and rewarding, but this is despite both of us being in high stress careers and due to reasons somewhat unrelated to work (no commuting, more time around the family, etc). We have both simply adapted and now do our concentration-related tasks when our child is asleep.

> now do our concentration-related tasks when our child is asleep

My child sleeps maybe 1 hour in the afternoon and then during the night. Do you mean you can only concentrate then? What about coworkers who, quite reasonably, expect you to work with them and collaborate with projects during their work hours? What about meetings? What about emergencies in production, which never choose the most comfortable time to happen?

> no commuting

Agreed, this is the best of WFH, hands down.

Re: Why noise is necessary for our brains to perform at a high-level

#137

Post by gunfighthacksaw »

throwaway743 wrote: post #84
munificent wrote: post #16

I've worked in private offices, cubicles, open plan offices, coffeeshops, libraries, and now many many hours in home both when other family members are around and when they aren't. I spend a lot of time thinking about sound and focus. The conclusion I came to is that humans have a few emotional needs in order to reach deep focus: 1. We need to not be distracted and we need to feel certainty that we will not be distra…

Personally, having people around, hearing speech (and involuntarily passively processing that speech), on top of environmental noises, is utterly distracting and hinders any kind of productivity. While I'm working, preferably alone, ear buds are in and a long instrumental track is played on loop, so that noise is drowned out, don't get distracted by having to select another song, and there's no need for my brain to p…

Yea at work there was talk of installing an ambient noise machine in the new office because the “silence was too stifling”.

I have no idea what that meant then, nor do I now. I found the new larger space with ~5 people scattered around absolutely heavenly to work in.

Re: Why noise is necessary for our brains to perform at a high-level

#138

Post by randlet »

the_af wrote: post #121
randlet wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The boundary that the OP needs to enforce is actually with the caregiver more than the children (although even young children are capable of learning and respecting boundaries). The caregiver needs to buy into the fact that it's beneficial for the bread winner of the family to have uninterrupted work periods. When I read your statement it feels like you're saying you think the OP is just throwing proclamations over t…

Both parents are caregivers in a marriage, there's no single caregiver. What happens if both work during regular office hours (as in my marriage)? If you have very young kids, it's impossible to have a distraction free work environment at home unless you find someone to take care of the kids and enforce the no distractions rule. People often assume, somewhat unfairly, that this person should be the mother. But what i…

"What happens if both work during regular office hours (as in my marriage)?"

OP specifically mentioned this is not the scenario we are discussing.

"If you have very young kids, it's impossible to have a distraction free work environment at home unless you find someone to take care of the kids and enforce the no distractions rule."

Again, neither OP or I are arguing against this.

"Both parents are caregivers in a marriage, there's no single caregiver."

Again, this feels like an uncharitable reading of my statement. Of course there are two caregivers but often there is one person in charge of the kids, hence my caregiver (singular) statement. Which partner it is, is irrelevant.

"People often assume, somewhat unfairly, that this person should be the mother."

How is this relevant to this post?

Re: Why noise is necessary for our brains to perform at a high-level

#139

Post by randlet »

quartesixte wrote: post #125
randlet wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure why, but this feels like an accusatory response and uncharitable take on their statement. Establishing boundaries like "don't interrupt the person who's working" needs to be a discussion that happens between the whole family. Of course, the caregiver will be responsible for the physical enforcement but the caregiver should understand that it is in the long-term best interest of the whole family that the…

The problem isn’t that by the age of 4 most kids don’t understand boundaries (they totally can and do). It’s that as a parent it’s hard not to just have some part of your brain constantly scanning for any sign of your 4 year old trying to get themselves hurt or break something (as 4 year olds naturally do). In other words, the boundary crossing is done by the adult and is really hard to turn off if you have any inter…

I don't really understand this POV. If you have a trusted partner looking after your child, then the situation should be (at worst) no different than if your child was away at school or daycare right?

Re: Why noise is necessary for our brains to perform at a high-level

#140

Post by randlet »

randlet wrote: post #138
the_af wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Both parents are caregivers in a marriage, there's no single caregiver. What happens if both work during regular office hours (as in my marriage)? If you have very young kids, it's impossible to have a distraction free work environment at home unless you find someone to take care of the kids and enforce the no distractions rule. People often assume, somewhat unfairly, that this person should be the mother. But what i…

"What happens if both work during regular office hours (as in my marriage)?" OP specifically mentioned this is not the scenario we are discussing. "If you have very young kids, it's impossible to have a distraction free work environment at home unless you find someone to take care of the kids and enforce the no distractions rule." Again, neither OP or I are arguing against this. "Both parents are caregivers in a marr…

"b- someone in the couple is a stay at home parent (usually the mother) who watches the children. "

Also, these comments about "mother" are irksome to me since it feels like you're accusing me (or OP) of implying something I'm not. Not that it really matters but my wife and I (a father) work full time and during the pandemic I was the caregiver during normal business hours while my wife retained a normal working hours schedule.

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