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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

#341

Post by brailsafe »

i2shar wrote: post #203
brailsafe wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My biggest hurdle—aside from undocumented code—at my new company, is fucking mouth noises from coworkers and the sound of crumpling snack bags in an open office. It's to the extent where I have to leave the area and regain composure before mentioning it. If I can't find a way to manage, I'll leave, but I'm not in the financial position to have that luxury yet. What will probably happen, is I'll work up to a slow comp…

I have the exact same trouble with mouth noises. I couldn't explain the extreme irrational anger I felt when a co-worker was chewing on something while others hardly even noticed. It used to be very unsettling before I came know that it was a known condition with an official name[1]. While knowing that hasn't cured it, if I encounter someone making these noises, to avoid outbursts, I am now quick to put on headphones…

I've definitely come across this and learned a bit about it. These links should be at least somewhat helpful for anyone in this thread who's unaware theirs a name. It's really distressing and I've come to realize that my dad and brother feel the same. In my case, I also have ADHD—or at least have been prescribed medication for it at 27—so being taken out of any zone I'd managed to get myself in is really unfortunate. Good luck with your solution! I've found headphones helpful, but at some point constant white noise gets tiresome and music loses its appeal.

Re: Office noise bothers some people more than others

#342

Post by BurningFrog »

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…

DISCLAIMER: I'm not saying this to be a jerk. This is not uncommon.

There is a fair chance that your core annoyance is something else.

That is, if you somehow got a perfectly sounds proofed workroom of your own, you would after a while realize that you're still irritable, find it difficult to concentrate etc.

Often, we don't want to face our real problems and assign discomfort to some external thing we have no power over. "If only X was gone, I'd be happy". But when X disappears little changes.

Re: Office noise bothers some people more than others

#343

Post by brailsafe »

x2f10 wrote: post #306
mffnbs wrote: post #293

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep, I become outwardly violent when I hear specific sounds. I have to physically leave the area to regain composure.

I had to do this recently when a co-worker was eating from a glass bowl and kept slamming the metal spoon around in it. I don't know if I was upset at the sound or the sheer inconsiderateness, but I had to get up and take a walk.

A few days ago, my adjacent coworker started cracking and eating eggs in whatever form they can be cracked and eaten as a solid. I was repulsed for obvious reasons, and angry because of the sound. It seems like a comedy

Re: Office noise bothers some people more than others

#344

Post by brailsafe »

kedean wrote: post #138
brailsafe wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My biggest hurdle—aside from undocumented code—at my new company, is fucking mouth noises from coworkers and the sound of crumpling snack bags in an open office. It's to the extent where I have to leave the area and regain composure before mentioning it. If I can't find a way to manage, I'll leave, but I'm not in the financial position to have that luxury yet. What will probably happen, is I'll work up to a slow comp…

I've noticed this particular kind of issue is helped significantly by white noise generators. The last office I worked in (i'm now remote) had a white noise generator built in that cancelled out a lot of those sounds like chip bags and chewing that are super jarring in a vacuum. I didn't even realize it was there until the day it broke down for a few hours and we ended up with a sudden eerie silence. Suddenly I was b…

Thanks for the suggestion. I hadn't thought about a physical ambient noise generator. Typically I'll try and use Coffeetivity and music, but it gets tiresome.

Re: Office noise bothers some people more than others

#345

Post by stock_toaster »

ken wrote: post #337
zeta0134 wrote: post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know this isn't a great solution, but could you try a lightweight pair of headphones, and some relaxing music? Not particularly heavy music mind, but just something you can leave in the background. Maybe a movie soundtrack. I use videogame OSTs but that's not everyone's cup of tea. This would maybe make the headphone issue more bearable (lightweight - much less uncomfortable for long periods), and the goal isn't to…

I’ve never understood how some people believe that the problem of too much noise could be solved by adding more noise. There’s too much light in my eyes, and dark glasses are uncomfortable. Well, have you tried shining another light at your face? Maybe a different color of light would help.

ha. This comment really brightened my day (pun intended).

Thank you for that.

Re: Office noise bothers some people more than others

#346

Post by brailsafe »

DoofusOfDeath wrote: post #96
brailsafe wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My biggest hurdle—aside from undocumented code—at my new company, is fucking mouth noises from coworkers and the sound of crumpling snack bags in an open office. It's to the extent where I have to leave the area and regain composure before mentioning it. If I can't find a way to manage, I'll leave, but I'm not in the financial position to have that luxury yet. What will probably happen, is I'll work up to a slow comp…

Your situation is so absurd that I'm immediately reminded of the film "Joe vs. the Volcano". I think everyone here wishes you the best of luck.

Thank you kind stranger. Haven't heard of it but maybe I'll give it a watch. The synopsis sounds about right

Re: Office noise bothers some people more than others

#347

Post by brailsafe »

1shooner wrote: post #162
DoofusOfDeath wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your situation is so absurd that I'm immediately reminded of the film "Joe vs. the Volcano". I think everyone here wishes you the best of luck.

I know he can get the job, but can he _do_ the job?

It can be a real struggle

Re: Office noise bothers some people more than others

#348

Post by brailsafe »

lowercased wrote: post #99
tempguy9999 wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow, you're even more noise sensitive that me. Suggestion: noise cancelling headphones. Good ones are really effective.

They do - bose qc20 have changed my life for the better. I did work short term in an open office where someone suggested it was "rude" of me to wear earphones. Same person chewed with their mouth open while eating crunchy food at their desk all day, within earshot. But.... I'm rude somehow.

That is absolutely bananas

Re: Office noise bothers some people more than others

#349

Post by ARandomerDude »

m463 wrote: post #273
ARandomerDude wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I buy 33 dB ear plugs in bulk for this reason. I keep some in my briefcase and a backup stash in my glovebox. Game changer.

I get the 3M EAR classic superfit 33s in boxes of 250. Makes a huge difference in my life.

Thanks for the suggestion! I'll have to check them out. I use the Howard Leight MAX-1 and they're very comfortable.

Re: Office noise bothers some people more than others

#350

Post by waterhouse »

ken wrote: post #337
zeta0134 wrote: post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know this isn't a great solution, but could you try a lightweight pair of headphones, and some relaxing music? Not particularly heavy music mind, but just something you can leave in the background. Maybe a movie soundtrack. I use videogame OSTs but that's not everyone's cup of tea. This would maybe make the headphone issue more bearable (lightweight - much less uncomfortable for long periods), and the goal isn't to…

I’ve never understood how some people believe that the problem of too much noise could be solved by adding more noise. There’s too much light in my eyes, and dark glasses are uncomfortable. Well, have you tried shining another light at your face? Maybe a different color of light would help.

Your comment seems a bit tongue in cheek and you probably know, but anyway... Theoretically, the brain can get used to certain kinds of regular noise and filter it out, and then, if the disruption is a small sound that occurs irregularly... if you add constant white noise that's louder than the sound, then the sound should get quite literally lost in the noise.

There is an analogy to light that actually applies. Imagine a small green LED in your field of vision that flashes now and then. Might be distracting. But now imagine the room is 100x brighter than that small green LED. You might be unable to perceive the LED anymore. (However, if the problem is, as you state, that there is "too much light", then, yeah, adding more light wouldn't help unless you could somehow create destructive interference.)

Whether all this actually works for a specific person is a different matter. I personally hate listening to white noise, so that wouldn't help me. Perhaps other kinds of noise could work.

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