Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Just Wear Headphones

mattblodgett.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

131–140 of 217 posts

Re: Just Wear Headphones

#131

Post by angersock »

vtlynch wrote: post #12

Interesting question: How many companies who use open offices style floorplans have executives who still have their own offices? Maybe this is just another permutation of the out of touch boss problem. Nothing makes it harder to understand the downfalls of an open office than not working in one yourself.

Yep, seconding this.

We just moved into a new space with a six-person desk (rather nice) in a big bullpen, with two executive offices off the side. One exec gets the corner office, but his door is always open and he's always poking his head out to talk to us. He (like us) has mostly glass walls, and feels like he's in a fishbowl. He used to share his office with an intern, though, and I can hang out in there when I want.

The other two execs (CEO, CFO) hole up in the other office, and close the door, and don't really talk, and basically are just aloof. They also covered up all their glass with random posters and things, presumably because they didn't want people looking at them through the glass. Hey, suits! Developers don't like being in an aquarium either! >:-|

sigh.

Re: Just Wear Headphones

#132

Post by protomyth »

AdamN wrote: post #2

I used to use construction 'headphones'. They do nothing but dampen outside noise - no music. It's a pretty good solution ... but a solution to a stupid problem because the right solution is more productive working conditions.

Wow, I did not think of that. I tried noise canceling headphones and they made me a bit dizzy, but the last time I used construction ear protection I was fine. Thanks, if I ever end up in a cube farm again, I'll have to try that.

I have an office now and temp is my main problem since I am right next to the server room.

Re: Just Wear Headphones

#133

Post by kmfrk »

Another seemingly imperceptible disruption is vibration, ie "physical noise". I had the bottom-of-the-totem-pole pleasure of having the (open) office space right by the restroom, kitchen, and coffee machine.

The major noises were not the main problem; the problem was the stress of people beelining for either of the three with the felicity of an elephant stampede.

Add to this office congestion the pleasure of a female stampede of high heels or male Italian shoes.

Which is not to say that a coffee machine can't shake the foundation of the building like a malcontent washing machine.

It's driven me up the fucking wall, and it is by far my biggest annoyance with an open office.

Keep this in mind, the next time you or someone else goes on about dress code - or taking things easy. Hell, give your employees the option of company-provided sneakers. Then you can still dictate style guidelines.

Either that or give people a goddamn vibration-dampened fastlane.

Re: Just Wear Headphones

#134

Post by Symbiote »

MetaCosm wrote: post #84
mondoshawan wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How about both? Taking BART into SF for an hour every day, then wearing headphones the entire workday because of the open floor plan. I do this now -- pretty worried about my hearing...

Focus on noise isolation. Using ER-4P ( https://www.etymotic.com/consumer/earphones/er4.html ) with triple-flange tips is about the best you can get. Better even than $1000+ customs (exception made for Noble silicon customs).

Is it healthy to wear these every day?

I have some Etymotic earplugs, which I use at nightclubs, gigs and concerts, but from the way they feel I don't think it would be good for my ears to use them daily.

Re: Just Wear Headphones

#136

Post by neverartful »

jeremiep wrote: post #124
josai wrote: post #57

A pair of Bose QC25's has been my most objectively productive purchase this last year. I highly recommend anyone in an open plan office to buy some, or something like them - they're expensive but worth every cent.

I find it odd that it's up to employees to fix the toxic work environment of the employers, especially when we need to cash out hundreds of dollars.

You're right. However, in most cases a lowly worker bee in an office environment doesn't really have too many options. Several years ago I was in a really bad office noise situation and I went out and bought Bose QC-15 headphones for $300. It was the best $300 I ever spent. I still have them and I still regularly use them in my home office. When they break, I plan to buy another pair.

Re: Just Wear Headphones

#137

Post by paines »

JoshTriplett wrote: post #52
dbcooper wrote: post #11

I've found Music for Programming's mixes to be pretty good. http://musicforprogramming.net/ Dream Chimney's mixes on soundcloud also. https://soundcloud.com/the-dream-chimney In general, something classical, ambient, or minimal techno fits the bill.

Music for Programming has some interesting stuff, but personally, I need to systematically avoid anything with lyrics to have a hope of being productive while listening.

Groove Salad / SomaFM or Digitally Imported / Chillout Channel.

Re: Just Wear Headphones

#138

Post by xorcist »

darylteo wrote: post #3

The "being watched" feeling is the big one for me. I don't mind wearing headphones because I love listening to music and I don't listen to it that loudly, but the sensation of feeling someone's eyes on you (to catch you on the split second you've refreshed reddit or facebook or something) is incredibly profound on the time it takes to zone into zen mode. Anecdotally funnily enough, the opposite seems to happen for me…

On a side note, I wonder how effective fb/reddit really is for taking pauses..? I would certainly have thoughts about it as an employer, but I know it's considered perfectly normal by most people. I don't mean I'm capable of hour-long stretches of work, far from it. I take lots of pauses, but flipping to a new browser tab doesn't do it for me.

Re: Just Wear Headphones

#139

Post by wwweston »

GBond wrote: post #47

I hope the open office trend dies soon. I've been to some swanky open offices with awesome perks but there are all designed to keep you in the office. I would not trade any of it for my current setup. I work from my home office and travel to a nearby coworking space to get an occasional dose of water-cooler level of human interaction.

The problem is that it meets managerial needs very well:

* awareness -- you can see who's there, what they're doing, and have kindof a feel of the tempo of the office

* "collaborative" -- managerial work is mostly meetings, it's easy to see conversation/crosstalk as productivity

* less furniture / divided space is probably cost efficient

Add that to the This Is How We Do Things Now(TM) cultural momentum (you don't want to be using cubes like those stale corporations of the 90s, do you?). Then throw in the idea that management doesn't necessarily want employees to be maximally productive; it's better if they're productive enough but pliable and fungible.

Open plan might well be with us for a while.

Re: Just Wear Headphones

#140

Post by cholantesh »

MetaCosm wrote: post #81

I HATE open offices, but man is this article full of absolute nonsense. I mean that in a very literal way -- it has lots of stuff that can not be made sense of because it lacks context or any actual meaning. > I stress to my patients and the parents of my patients that if you can’t hear anything going on around you when listening to headphones, the decibel level is too high. This is just stupid. It ignores type of he…

>There exists multiple categories of music WITHOUT WORDS!

Here are some examples of instrumental music:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cstRR3vvxIY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCEDfZgDPS8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ck2kAOtnXE

I really do not think you can make a generalization that lyrics are the source of distractive qualities in a musical piece.

Post reply on HN