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

Office noise bothers some people more than others

bbc.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

141–150 of 509 posts

Re: Office noise bothers some people more than others

#141

Post by Krasnol »

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…

I was sitting with a guy who was talking to his CAD drawings.

It was pure madness. Especially because in between he'd talk to me. As if he expected me to listen to him all the time!

The day I moved into my own office and could close the door was the happiest day I had in my whole working life.

Re: Office noise bothers some people more than others

#142

Post by organsnyder »

nkrisc wrote: post #3

Constant coughing and throat clearing drive me up the wall . I despise working around most smokers as many of them have this unconscious, horrid smoker's cough that they do a few times a minute on average, it seems (I haven't actually counted). But any constant throat clearing sets me off and I usually have to leave or I can't focus on anything. The type of throat clearing I'm talking about is when someone really jus…

I'm often one of those people. Not a smoker, but a bunch of allergies as well as asthma. Allergy shots and inhalers have made a big difference, but some days can still be pretty bad.

Re: Office noise bothers some people more than others

#144

Post by navs »

pkaye wrote: post #137
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…

> The meeting rooms cost a few hundred and need to be pre-booked. Is this one of those "we work" type of environments where everything is rented piece meal?

Yes, just not we-work. The only thing that’s free is the instant coffee and milk.

Re: Office noise bothers some people more than others

#145

Post by JoshTriplett »

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…

Some people work in both modes; they need quiet for concentration but communication for collaboration.

One solution for this is to have many easily accessible conference rooms, including one-person rooms for calls, with sufficient soundproofing that you can't hear such calls from the nearest cube outside them.

Re: Office noise bothers some people more than others

#147

Post by navs »

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.

Considering buying the airpods for that same reason. I have a pair of WF-1000xm3’s, the earbud equivalent of Sony’s Bose QC competitor. But they’re bulky and it causes me pain wearing them for longer than an hour. Tried multiple ear tips and even bought some comply foam tips for additional noise isolation and comfort.

Re: Office noise bothers some people more than others

#148

Post by _bxg1 »

For me it's all about how "noisy" the noise is. The less discernible signal the better, because anomalies are what my mind latches on to. I can work without a problem in a big open coffee shop with constant, low-level hum of conversation, but if I'm in a room with exactly one other person who's clacking a keyboard, or talking on the phone, or occasionally munches on some chips, I can't so much as hear myself think.

Re: Office noise bothers some people more than others

#149

Post by jackhack »

lowercased wrote: post #129
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.

countercounterpoint: he was choosing to sit in front of the television.

I think this is it -- he had control. Once others are free to intrude into your space, injecting distraction, all is lost.

Re: Office noise bothers some people more than others

#150

Post by wdb »

I have worked on a floor in the break out area next to customer service agents (30-40) which were on the phone the whole day long. That can be really distractive. I was always happy I could work from home on Friday's. But a consultant's life I guess
Post reply on HN