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I’m Thinking. Please. Be Quiet.

nytimes.com

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Re: I’m Thinking. Please. Be Quiet.

#21

Post by IvyMike »

So I can't find an online reference to this anywhere, but years ago I read a relevant anecdote about (I'm pretty sure) Isaac Asimov.

He used to go into the most noisy environments he could find to write; places like a noisy restaurant or cafe. He found that this forced him to focus in a way that a quiet environment did not. For example, in a quiet environment, you occasionally still hear sounds, but it's rare enough that you don't have to keep your focus actively engaged. So when the sounds inevitably do happen, they distract.

Note that I'm not suggesting that this would work for most people. I've tried it, and maybe it's worked for me once or twice. It's an interesting way to try to get of writer's block, if nothing else.

Re: I’m Thinking. Please. Be Quiet.

#22

Post by crazygringo »

hcarvalhoalves wrote: post #16
HCIdivision17 wrote: post #9

I'll bite. From my biased viewpoint, based on who complains most, people prefer the quiet more as they get older. Kids don't seem to care, middle aged prefer some separation, and my elders can be derailed by a greeting. I've always assumed it was the skill to tune out, but perhaps theirs are weightier thoughts. Personally, I need some mindless noise in the background, but nothing with any meaningful signal. The noise…

> I'll bite. From my biased viewpoint, based on who complains most, people prefer the quiet more as they get older. Kids don't seem to care, middle aged prefer some separation, and my elders can be derailed by a greeting. Or maybe, older people complain more about noise because they actually know what sane conditions are and how life was back when ADD wasn't a thing yet.

I was going to say something similar -- that it might not be because of age, but rather intelligence and self-awareness.

"Kids don't seem to care", but kids also often don't have the slightest idea of what's good for them. They might prefer to study with the TV on instead of in silence, but that doesn't mean their studying isn't worse because of it.

Re: I’m Thinking. Please. Be Quiet.

#23

Post by dwrtz »

SeanDav wrote: post #2

I see a lot of developers using earphones and listening to music while doing their stuff. As someone that prefers relative quiet I have always wondered if this makes them more, or less productive. This article would tend to indicate the latter but of course there is a big difference (generally) between music and noise.

A trick I use to really get in the zone is to blast a good song on repeat. I suspect the reason this works is that the repeating song blends with itself. You don't have the distinct transitions every 3-4 minutes, making it easy to lose track of time.

Re: I’m Thinking. Please. Be Quiet.

#24

Post by doorhammer »

It's an opinion piece, so it's sort of anecdotal and hazy by nature, I guess (ymmv). I'm not going to complain too viscerally about it.

The problem I have, though, is that the entire piece basically says "noise kills productivity" but the only linked research is saying that "exposure to aircraft noise increases morning saliva cortisol levels in women, which could be of relevance for noise-related cardiovascular effects." [0]

So I basically have an article saying "noise is bad for productivity and concentration" and a research article saying "loud noise at night might raise stress levels in women, even if it doesn't wake them up."

To me, the former is meaningless. I wouldn't even start to make an argument about it based on the provided material without bringing other sources to bat. It would just be anecdote v anecdote. However, I find the latter interesting, and makes me want to do a little more reading on that particular subject. I happen to be male, but the idea that extra noise might inherently increase levels of a stress hormone in the human body is just as interesting and important to me as whether or not I'm more or less productive in a quiet room.

tl;dr = The article content is fluffy, but the linked research is kind of interesting (albeit saying something almost totally unrelated)

[0] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2801169/#__ffn_s...

Re: I’m Thinking. Please. Be Quiet.

#25

Post by blhack »

IvyMike wrote: post #21

So I can't find an online reference to this anywhere, but years ago I read a relevant anecdote about (I'm pretty sure) Isaac Asimov. He used to go into the most noisy environments he could find to write; places like a noisy restaurant or cafe. He found that this forced him to focus in a way that a quiet environment did not. For example, in a quiet environment, you occasionally still hear sounds, but it's rare enough…

I code in bars for exactly this reason.

Re: I’m Thinking. Please. Be Quiet.

#26

Post by eropple »

jtreminio wrote: post #15

I tell every developer buddy I have that they should get a pair of Fuck Off Headphones [0]. They need to be big enough that people can't try to say, "Oh, I didn't see you had headphones on". I work from home now, and they work just as well for keeping my family at bay as they did for chatty coworkers when I had to be in an office. [0] http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Wireless-Gaming-Headset-Surro...

I used to go this route (before I too started a telecommute job), but I've found that Sennheiser's PMX series of running headphones do a great job of isolation without the ear-sweat that comes with the giant cans. They don't have the fuck-off effect, but you are not hearing anything around you and they're super lightweight with great sound.

Which, if you think about it, is probably kind of bad for runners, but I wear them only for code.

Re: I’m Thinking. Please. Be Quiet.

#27

Post by stephth »

Being sensitive to useless noise, I want to make love to this article.

But most people I know seem uncomfortable with silence, and sleep through any noise. There are exceptions, but that's what they are, exceptions (in my anecdotal experience). If the science mentioned in the article is right, does it mean most people I know are what: either out of touch with themselves, or trying to cope with the fear of the noise by burying it under a stream of constant sound?

Re: I’m Thinking. Please. Be Quiet.

#28

Post by paulhodge »

sirgawain33 wrote: post #7

Interesting, but plenty of examples of just the opposite. "Von Neumann ... received complaints for regularly playing extremely loud German marching music on his gramophone, which distracted those in neighbouring offices, including Einstein, from their work. Von Neumann did some of his best work blazingly fast in noisy, chaotic environments, and once admonished his wife for preparing a quiet study for him to work in.…

I'd believe that noise universally causes more stress, but that doesn't mean that more noise is always bad. An interesting thing about stress is that we're most productive with some stress; not too much or too little. (Sorry I don't have a citation for that). So it could be that Von Neumann used that noise to reach the sweet spot of stress.

Re: I’m Thinking. Please. Be Quiet.

#29

Post by nikatwork »

cup wrote: post #4
SeanDav wrote: post #2

I see a lot of developers using earphones and listening to music while doing their stuff. As someone that prefers relative quiet I have always wondered if this makes them more, or less productive. This article would tend to indicate the latter but of course there is a big difference (generally) between music and noise.

Have you tried grey/pink noise or any of those derivatives?

I find music too distracting, so I use ambient rain or wave noises - nothing with too much sonic contrast, no details to stand out and draw my attention.

The "focus at will" app is pretty good for minimally distracting music though.

Re: I’m Thinking. Please. Be Quiet.

#30

Post by elmuchoprez »

[deleted] wrote: post #10

[deleted]

There are poorly understood neurological disorders that can cause hypersensitivity to sound, which can present as being easily distracted by sound. See misophonia as an example (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misophonia).

I'm not saying everyone who yells at you for being loud suffers from this condition, but when you say, "Stop blaming externalities for your inability to concentrate," it smacks of telling the clinically depressed to just think happy thoughts and cheer the fuck up.

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