
I’m Thinking. Please. Be Quiet. - clbrook
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/25/opinion/sunday/im-thinking-please-be-quiet.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20130825&
======
pg
It's so true. I can do routine work with noise, but not the kind that requires
insight.

The sad thing is that noise is yet another example of the phenomenon of "the
tragedy of the commons." Which means things tend to get noisier and noisier.
In fact, what has surprised me most about living in Palo Alto is how noisy it
is. You'd think living in the suburbs would at least be quiet. It is on
weekends. But the problem with this suburb is that people are too rich: they
all have their gardens maintained by gardening services, who use among other
things gas-powered leaf blowers and hedge trimmers.

The leaf blowers in particular are unbelievably loud. You can hear a gas-
powered leaf blower 3 blocks away. Which means during the day you can almost
always hear one. (The city of Palo Alto has outlawed gas powered leaf blowers,
but the gardening services all pretend not to know.)

~~~
jacquesm
I have a little farm-house at the end of a dead end street.

No traffic, nearest neighbor 100 meters and he's doesn't own a leafblower.
Clear view of the fields in three directions for the next 5 miles or so,
20,000 sq ft lot.

It's been up for sale for 2 years, if you're interested ;)

[http://www.funda.nl/koop/oudezijl/huis-4510315-oudezijl-1/fo...](http://www.funda.nl/koop/oudezijl/huis-4510315-oudezijl-1/fotos/)

Ideal spot for quiet hacking and that new YC EU headquarters!

~~~
arethuza
If anyone is looking for houses in quiet locations I can recommend mountain
bothies in Scotland - these are open houses (they are completely free to use)
in some _amazing_ locations:

[http://www.mountainbothies.org.uk/](http://www.mountainbothies.org.uk/)

Power and internet access are slightly problematical but to read and think
they are great.

~~~
gruseom
Remarkable! Thank you. And that site is very well written:

 _If all this sounds rather rough, you are beginning to get the picture. Your
comforts have to be carried in._

------
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...](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2801169/#__ffn_sectitle)

~~~
superuser2
"Noise is bad for concentration" isn't exactly an extraordinary claim. What
makes you skeptical?

~~~
auggierose
Because it is not scientific to accept something because it sounds plausible.

For example, I can work without problems at quite a high level of noise if it
is regular, like traffic noise.

~~~
precisioncoder
I can also work with regular noise that's why I drown out voices with Russian
or Japanese heavy metal, or electronic music. If I'm working on heavy
concentration work I always have earbuds in.

------
iyulaev
IIRC Peopleware pointed out a study where they compared two groups of
programmers, those working in a quiet environment and those working with
music. Given identical assignments, both groups completed it in roughly the
same (median) amount of time. However, the assignment was such that there was
a "shortcut", i.e. if you thought hard enough about the requirements a much
easier solution was possible. Only the programmers in the quiet group got this
shortcut. Thought this was interesting.

~~~
throwww00
How was it a shortcut if both groups completed it at the same time?

~~~
kps
It was a bit more than a shortcut.

    
    
        The Cornell experiment, however, contained a hidden wild card. The
        specification required that an output data stream be formed through
        a series of manipulations on numbers in the input data stream. For
        example, participants had to shift each number two digits to the
        left and then divide by one hundred and so on, perhaps completing
        a dozen operations in total. Although the specification never said
        it, the net effect of all the operations was that each output number
        was necessarily equal to its input number. Some people realized
        this and others did not. Of those who figured it out, the overwhelming
        majority came from the quiet room.

~~~
osekkat
This experiment sounds interesting. Do you have a link to the source?

------
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.

~~~
anaphor
There has been some research done into why this is (I'm citing a personality
course I took), and it could be because some people's brains have a lack of
stimulation, and others are overstimulated. The people lacking stimulation
find it easier to think in noisy environments because they're full of stimuli.
This might also explain some of the traits of introverted/extroverted people.

~~~
koolkao
interesting! that seems to be consistent with my experience. I can never work
at my quiet office where just sitting down bores me to tears and puts me to
sleep in less than an hour. working at a cafe on the other hand I can go on
for hours.

Do you have more info on the introvert/extrovert link?

~~~
anaphor
I found this link which is basically what the prof said:
[http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/mind/articles/persona...](http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/mind/articles/personalityandindividuality/lemons.shtml)
and an actual study:
[http://psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=search.displayRecord&UID...](http://psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=search.displayRecord&UID=1965-02004-001)

Of course you should keep in mind potential confounding factors, but it's
certainly interesting as an explanation. I'm not sure if there've been any
studies where they took fMRIs while doing the lemon juice test, which would
probably be a bit better.

------
HCIdivision17
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 keeps me slightly alert and keeps the bored parts
of my mind busy (like reading ingredient labels in the bathroom). The rest of
my mind can then concentrate. When I was a kid, I was a walking hazard if I
let my mind wander too much, and have walked straight into walls (I'm assuming
sight to be an even higher bandwidth signal than hearing, but perhaps it lacks
the same interrupts?)

While complete silence is certainly soothing, it won't spin my mind up either.
There's strong utility in getting zeroed out in silence, and I bet it pays
off, but I have few opportunities for that (work in a plant, ride a
motorcycle, and apartment is near train tracks). But the rumble of the Harley
and wind is soothing too; that's where I think or decompress usually.

I find airports nearly impossible to sleep in (two terrible childhood
overnight stays). But a train is lovely. One had a detached mumbling voice,
the other a lulling rumbling with random clacks like rain.

Perhaps there's some way to run a controlled experiment to figure out if it's
the quality of the noise that does it?

~~~
hcarvalhoalves
> 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.

~~~
crazygringo
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.

~~~
HCIdivision17
My thought (ha!) is that as one ages, there's just more context to swap into
to think about something. Kids can flit about because everything around them
doesn't overwhelm with context, whereas the elderly have experienced enough
that any context switch carries a burdensome overhead. (That's what I meant by
weighty thoughts.)

I don't think intelligence has too much to do with it, except perhaps in
overall speed in coping / filtering. (But here I'm just arguing about the
number of teeth in a horse; the empiricist in me would like to be able to
spend a few weeks with an academic article subscription to just survey the
experiments that have been done. I bet there are lots!)

------
jtreminio
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...](http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Wireless-Gaming-Headset-
Surround/dp/B003VANOFY)

~~~
eropple
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.

------
msluyter
I'm extremely sensitive to sound, and I've been hoping that the the powers
that be will eventually come to the realization that open seating plans are
highly suboptimal ([http://www.infoq.com/news/2011/08/open-office-
layout](http://www.infoq.com/news/2011/08/open-office-layout), for example).

I've used a decibel meter on occasion and have observed that my current office
sometimes averages 75-80 db. Which, were I in a coffee shop, I could tolerate
for some reason[1] much better than at the office.

In any event, I'm now highly dependent on noise canceling headphones (these I
highly recommend:
[http://www.bose.com/controller?url=/shop_online/headphones/n...](http://www.bose.com/controller?url=/shop_online/headphones/noise_cancelling_headphones/quietcomfort_3/index.jsp))

[1] My guesses are a) local conversations at work capture my attention in ways
that anonymous ones at a coffee shop don't, b) coffee shops play music and
tend to have other noise that create a generalized din that actually works a
bit like white noise.

~~~
garysweaver
> I'm now highly dependent on noise canceling headphones

When you wear them are you listening to music, white/pink noise, etc. or just
have them on with nothing playing?

What kinds of noises do they cancel best, and what do they have the most
trouble cancelling?

~~~
ayushgta
+1 on the noise canceling headphones. They're best at canceling ambient
noises. Human voices around you do tend to somewhat leak in. Thats suppressed
too if you put some music on. The other advantage is that you tend to hear
music on much lowers volumes since a lot of the background noise is cut out.

------
lars512
The flip side of noise, distraction and interruption is people. I still find
it hard to get this part of my working life just right.

On the one hand, to do really thoughtful work does require quiet and
isolation, something that's difficult to get in open-plan spaces. On the other
hand, avoiding garden paths and finding better ideas also requires the kind of
impromptu chatting that happens with others around. Plus, company is nice.

I feel like my ideal would be an office with two sections, the "library" and
the "coffee shop". The library part is dead quiet, by design and by
convention, somewhere always available when you need to focus. When your work
is more mundane, you need a break or you feel like company, you can emerge and
work around others in the more traditional open plan environment (i.e. the
coffee shop).

It doesn't seem that many workplaces are able to provide both environments
well. Most favour just the latter.

------
stevenrace
I have a problem with spoken words, not 'noise'.

I'm quickly removed from 'The Zone' when my brain starts to unconsciously
process speech. Indistinct chatter, environmental noise, loud instrumental
music, etc aren't bothersome. In fact my best sessions occur in bars, on
public transit, or outside.

~~~
waqf
me too. I can also be fast asleep and I'll wake right up if people speak to
me.

------
sirgawain33
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. He never
used it, preferring the couple's living room with its TV playing loudly."

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_von_Neumann](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_von_Neumann)

~~~
paulhodge
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.

------
zaroth
Loneliness is killing us, and now noise? What fragile creatures we are, how
unfit and utterly unprepared for this world!

While Schopenhauer makes a great anecdote, I think the reality is some people
think better with silence, and others think better with background noise. I
think recorded music in particular has ushered in an age where productive
thinking can even be enhanced through "noise" rather than diminished.

"Every time a siren shrieks on the street, our conscious minds might ignore
it, but other brain regions behave as if that siren were a predator barreling
straight for us. Given how many sirens city dwellers are subject to over the
course of an average day, and the attention-fracturing tension induced by loud
sounds of every sort, it’s easy to see how sensitivity to noise, once an early
warning system for approaching threats, has become a threat in itself."

I see this come up over and over in these types of articles, on adrenal
response to stimulus, like noise or driving or even conflict in the workplace.
I think this is an extremely primitive way of thinking about the human brain.
Yes, hearing evolved to be sensitive due to natural selection. Over-reacting
to non-threatening stimulus? Hardly. The brain is not static. We are, in fact,
highly adaptable to our environment. And I don't see any evidence suggesting a
modern din is snuffing out our intellect.

------
GigabyteCoin
>...people who are not philosophers lose whatever ideas their brains can carry
in consequence of brutish jolts of sound.

This makes me wonder if the brutish jolts of sound being emitted from the many
casinos throughout the world are accomplishing the same task (and emptying
people's wallets more easily?)

"I think I should be goi.. > _BINGK!_ < ...go win my money back!"

I can't agree with this article more, however. I should probably read it again
so I can better explain myself when asking that somebody not address me while
I'm working.

I sometimes listen to white noise in my headphones if surrounded by incessant
noise.

~~~
kalleboo
I'm convinced the noise in casinos is intentional. I remember reading all the
repeating pattern carpeting, garish lighting etc serves the same purpose:
confusing and disorienting people in casinos in order to get them to make less
rational decisions.

edit: link [http://www.wired.com/rawfile/2010/09/ugly-vegas-
carpets/?pid...](http://www.wired.com/rawfile/2010/09/ugly-vegas-
carpets/?pid=188)

------
staunch
Relevant (and recent) tweet from John Carmack: "I wonder how much of the
annoying sound of leaf blowers is fundamental to the high velocity
airstream,and how much could be engineered away."
[https://twitter.com/ID_AA_Carmack/status/369487626035675136](https://twitter.com/ID_AA_Carmack/status/369487626035675136)

------
aculver
If you're the sort of person who thrives in a quiet atmosphere or is really
sensitive to sound, I can't recommend Bose QC-15 noise canceling headphones
enough. They've totally transformed my life and I still lament for the days of
productivity I lost while living in ignorance of their existence.

Even when I'm not listening to music, they take the edge off of the all the
sound and noise around me so that even conversations happening within earshot
aren't distracting, even though I could tune in and understand what people are
saying if I wanted to. It's pretty amazing.

------
jasonkester
It'd be interesting to plot Distraction vs. Noise Level, because while it's
clear that Zero Noise maps nicely to Zero Distraction, I've noticed that Near
Constant Noise also maps to Zero Distraction.

I used to live on Plaza del Castillo in Pamplona, backing on to one of the
main bar streets in town. Friday and Saturday nights were pretty loud, even
after closing time, with random whooping groups wandering past at intervals
until nearly daylight. We had a windowless room in the center of the apartment
we'd dubbed "The Bombshelter" to sleep in on nights like this.

But during San Fermin, things would kick up a few orders of magnitude. The
party would crank up on a Sunday and go non-stop for 8 solid days. There were
no more random groups to be identified, just a constant insane roar. I recall
seeing three marching bands collide in the midst of a swarm of thousands of
people directly under our bedroom balcony, at 3 in the morning on a Wednesday.
They were playing but you couldn't really hear them from 20 feet up from all
the other noise.

You'd think that week would be impossible, but it wasn't. Quite the opposite.
I slept like a baby (even on the nights when I hadn't spent any time down
among those crowds yelling and spilling wine). The noise was constant and
even. No spikes could penetrate it, so the mind could relax and sleep soundly.
It was actually kind of nice.

I notice the same thing on planes, and in loud, crowded coffee shops. There
are lots of people talking, but little risk of anybody talking to _me_ , so
it's all just background noise. No spikes, so my brain can filter it out. I've
done some of my best work in those places.

Strange.

------
calhoun137
I personally find that I am much more distracted by people who are trying to
get my attention than I am by background noise. This article reminds of an
anecdote about Poincare that can be found on page 533 of the excellent book
"Men of Mathematics"[1]

"...when a distinguished mathematician had come all the way from Finland to
Paris to confer with Poincare on scientific matters, Poincare did not leave
his study to greet his called when the maid notified him, but continued to
pace back and forth - as was his custom when mathematizing - for three solid
hours. All this time the diffident caller sat quietly in the adjoining room,
barred from the master only by flimsy portieres. At last the drapes parted and
Poincare's buffalo head was thrust for an instant into the room. "Vois me
derangez beaucoup" (You are disturbing me greatly) the head exploded, and
disappeared. The caller departed without an interview..."

[1][http://books.google.com/books?id=BLFL3coT5i4C&q=533#v=snippe...](http://books.google.com/books?id=BLFL3coT5i4C&q=533#v=snippet&q=533&f=false)

------
joeyh
This is massively important to me, and it's why I live and am extremely
productive in the middle of nowhere.

Also, since moving from an environment with constant noise pollution, my high
blood pressure has gone down to the point that the only reason I'm taking the
medication anymore is it would make my MD sibling very unhappy if I went off
them. I suspect that chopping wood and carrying water also helped with that,
but when I learned of the noise to BP link, it was an aha moment.

Anyway, I'm curious about how different countries seem to have different set
levels for acceptable noise. In Honduras, noone seemed to think anything of
trucks driving around with loudspeakers blaring various messages. That seems
slightly less acceptable in America, but there is still enormous tolerance for
more subtle noise pollution here. Are there other countries that are less
tolerant?

------
SeanDav
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.

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

~~~
nikatwork
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.

------
adamzerner
1) Sound isn't necessarily distracting. Sometimes it could be helpful.
Focus@Will ([https://www.focusatwill.com/science/science-
primer/](https://www.focusatwill.com/science/science-primer/)) is based on
this.

2) You can usually find quiet if you want to rather easily.

3) If you're going to argue that society (or parts of society) should be more
quiet, you have to be specific about what parts, and about why restricting
sound outweighs the costs. The costs of restricting sound weren't addressed at
all.

~~~
venutip
< 2) You can usually find quiet if you want to rather easily.

What are you basing this on, exactly? About half the people on this thread a)
have been reduced to wearing sound-canceling or over-the-ear headphones; b)
work in open office setups where there is no quiet to be had; or both.

That might be _your_ experience, but it certainly isn't the experience of the
people on this thread; of the author of the original post; or of most people I
know.

~~~
adamzerner
I meant that you can find quiet _when you have the choice of where you want to
be_. If you're in an office that's noisy, obviously you can't really leave and
work somewhere else. But even in a noisy office... you could just use
earplugs. Because it's so easy to find or create quiet, it doesn't really seem
worth it to restrict noise.

------
VLM
If "paleo" concepts apply to food, why not thinking?

Its very interesting that we've existed as thinking animals for a lot longer
than "office jobs" have existed.

From an evolutionary perspective, our best thinking was almost certainly done
in near perfect silence or at most calm animal noises. Hmm, we're tracking
that yummy large mammal and I'm hungry, whats the next move? So I hear my
neighbor chipping away quietly as I think up the best way to whack this rock
to make it a better arrowhead. How do I cut this tree down so it doesn't land
on my head? So I'm staring at these wheat seeds, thinking about what would
happen if I buried them in the dirt and came back later. So looking at the
position of the sun / moon / stars, is this the time to plant the wheat seeds?

I don't see an evolutionary example of hard successful thinking in an
intentionally noisy distracting environment. In fact if its noisy its because
the lion is roaring at us trying to eat us, so deep thinking is probably not
advised compared to fight or flight. I guess fight or flight style coding
exists at places swirling the drain. Finish this report or we're all on the
unemployment line next week. Um, OK, crank up the death metal on the speakers
and see ya in twelve hours with a finished product ...

From an evolutionary standpoint we should be able to do our best, deepest
thinking/coding on a bench at the zoo by the "food" animals, or perhaps
sitting in a cow pasture. In (rare) good weather, I've had decent results with
a laptop sitting in a covered (dark-ish) park rain shelter.

~~~
dllthomas
I'm not sure your examples of our most demanding thinking are accurate.
Mightn't those historically have been social? In which case voices might very
well have been part of the environment.

~~~
VLM
No, silence is vital for hunting. Also if a possible mate or friend is talking
to you, its not exactly helpful to be daydreaming about growing seeds or moon
phases. If you're doing hard manual labor while visualizing a simpler way to
do it, you're probably breathing too hard to talk.

I will give you credit that sometimes ancient humans probably had to think
pretty hard while talking. Planning a hunt. Trying to organize sleeping
arrangements. Primitive military operation planning beyond the level of a
crude bar fight (so they basically stole one of our proto-cows, can we take
them and how?)

(I should edit this to remove the second paragraph, upon contemplation, that's
not thinking while talking, thats concentrating hard on listening to the other
person in order to plan how to manipulate them, which is at cross purposes to
writing great code or daydreaming as the original topic... We've had strong
evolutionary pressure to think very hard about verbal language we hear, which
isn't going to help much when I'm trying to debug something while some sports
water cooler conversation is going on)

~~~
dllthomas
I didn't mean that the hunts were social, but that hunts might not present as
large a cognitive challenge as social dynamics. Otherwise, I basically agree,
I think - it does seem likely that the drain on attention would outweigh
whatever other benefits - I'm just saying it's not clear that we'd get an
extra cognitive boost from silence just because it's silence for evolutionary
reasons.

------
smutticus
I see lots of strategies for dealing with noise, so here is one of mine. I got
a pair of one of those industrial ear protectors, the kind that carpenters or
construction workers wear. Then I use simple in-ear buds and listen to ambient
music or jazz. Anything without vocals.

I use this setup pretty much anywhere I am around annoying sounds and it's
pricelessly quiet. I've tried numerous noise cancellation BS headphones and
none of them can come close. On airplanes it's like entering a warm cocoon of
sound that allows me to forget I'm there. I can listen to an airplane movie
soundtrack at the lowest possible volume and hear nothing else. The only
problem is when the captain pipes up and blasts me away with some stupid
announcement. So I keep my hand near the socket to remove the plug and when I
hear the click of the captain's mike I immediately unplug.

Forget about these overpriced over engineered noise cancellation whatever
devices. My low tech solution is way better for concentration and it costs
only around $50-$70. I've actually had people ask me what kind of noise
cancellation headphones I'm using when wearing my ear-muffs. I even had a guy
in a datacenter ask me if they were USB enabled ;)

------
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?

------
cr4zy
I wear earplugs.
[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0033YLEGO?ie=UTF8&ref_=pd_...](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0033YLEGO?ie=UTF8&ref_=pd_sbs_sg_2)

At work they're just enough for me to be able to concentrate while still
allowing people to get my attention without raising their voice. At which time
I take them out and repeat what I heard of their question.

~~~
ashayh
I got an ear infection since I used them often (3-4 times a week st nights).
The ears also dry out. My doc said I should use them rarely, but YMMV.

------
nkurz
They have their issues, but quality ear plugs can be a decent substitute for a
quiet working (or sleeping) environment. The key is to find a variety that is
comfortable and works well for your ears. I started by ordering a variety pack
of 35 different types:
[http://www.earplugstore.com/unfoamtrialp1.html](http://www.earplugstore.com/unfoamtrialp1.html)

From these I ordered a large box of the two that I liked best:

3M E-A-Rsoft FX: [http://www.amazon.com/3M-E-A-Rsoft-Uncorded-
Conservation-312...](http://www.amazon.com/3M-E-A-Rsoft-Uncorded-
Conservation-312-1261/dp/B008MCUGAC)

Howard Leight Max Lite: [http://www.amazon.com/Howard-Leight-LPF-1-Uncorded-
Earplugs/...](http://www.amazon.com/Howard-Leight-LPF-1-Uncorded-
Earplugs/dp/B000RMFGGY)

The (green) MaxLite are the most comfortable I found and quite effective, and
the (yellow) SoftFX are quite comfortable and extremely good at blocking
noise. I mostly use the MaxLite for sleeping, and the SoftFX when I want
something in the daytime. Since each pair can be reused at least a half-dozen
times before they become too soft and start losing their effectiveness, I
should be set for another 5 years or so.

If you've tried ear plugs before and felt that they weren't effective enough,
it's possible that you weren't wearing them correctly. They need to be
inserted quite deeply into the ear canal, and need to be rolled tightly before
insertion to make this possible. And then there is the slightly-embarrassing-
but-essential "pinna pull":
[http://www.e-a-r.com/pdf/hearingcons/tipstools.pdf](http://www.e-a-r.com/pdf/hearingcons/tipstools.pdf)

------
jmspring
I can just speak from experience comparing different open offices and working
at home. The primary office I work at is all open, however the acoustics are
horrible and the place is extremely noisy. Days I am in the office are mostly
relegated to meetings with other team members and a marginal amount of coding.
Putting in headphones and working at a desk on days we are supposed to be
mingling, working with one another, etc is no better than working at home.
That said, two other regional offices which I have spent time in that were
also open, while not meeting with direct team members, I was more productive
without headphones -- things were generally quiet.

When I work at home, I am actually more productive coding than I am in the
office due to having more control over both noise and distractions.

I can't speak to research, I just know I prefer environments that are either
quiet or the noise is specifically relevant to myself and colleagues over
hearing the ramblings of disparate teams in the background.

------
jmtame
This used to be a problem when I started working at a company in 2009. Lots of
office noises and conversations going on, I couldn't focus. Pretty sure I have
an oversensitivity to noise too, as mentioned in this article.

The solution for me was buying a (not cheap) pair of Bose QC15 noise-canceling
headphones. One of the best decisions I've ever made.

~~~
tzs
That worked? I had to deal with conversations happening near my office a while
back, and looked into noise-canceling headphones, but the reviews and articles
I read claimed that they didn't do a good job on voice. They were designed for
the kind of continuous noise you get from things like airplane engines, not
for sporadic things.

~~~
slug
I use QC-15 Bose headphones daily. You have to be listening to music (or your
favorite white/pink/etc noise) while wearing them to be effective blocking
voices nearby, don't believe anyone that tells you otherwise.

The paradoxical effect is that since they are effective blocking low frequency
noises, the voices kind of stand up if not listening to anything.

I started by making one of these many years ago:
[http://www.instructables.com/id/Jackhammer-
Headphones/](http://www.instructables.com/id/Jackhammer-Headphones/)

for $20 I think it's a good investment and worth a try. I made two of these,
one to have at home, other at work and even took them on airplane traveling.

~~~
swah
Do you use them with glasses? I switched to IEM's because of that (HF5 here)

------
bachback
Ah, Schopenhauer. Schopenhauer - Über Lärm und Geräusch
[http://de.wikisource.org/wiki/Ueber_Lerm_und_Ger%C3%A4usch](http://de.wikisource.org/wiki/Ueber_Lerm_und_Ger%C3%A4usch)

Interestingly enough his main ideas were influenced by Hinduism, but there was
little known about Buddhism around 1818 in Europe. He later acknowledged that
his philosophy was essentially buddhistic:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Schopenhauer#Buddhism](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Schopenhauer#Buddhism)

John Cage ventured into this arena in a different way. He is famous for his
silent piece 4'33\. John Cage on silence and sounds:
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcHnL7aS64Y](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcHnL7aS64Y)

------
benmorris
I coded from essentially an open warehouse for several years with shop noise,
sewing machines, various noise generating machines, packing tape noise and
people. Talking on the phone was difficult, let alone CODING. I honestly feel
like I might have some noise sensitivity complex from working in that
environment for so long. Tried not to complain, but my noise cancelling
headphones were the only thing that allowed me to be productive. I eventually
got an office and that helped considerably. I don't work for that company
anymore.

I work from home now and it is the opposite spectrum, I get total piece and
quiet, I love it. I can't say enough about a good pair of over the ear noise
cancelling headphones though if you find yourself sensitive to noise.

~~~
gyepi
Many years ago, I had cubicle next to phone order takers while writing
software for the company. Prior to that I had worked from home for several
years so it was a difficult adjustment for me. After repeatedly asking for an
office and being rebuffed, I offered to quit instead and got an office the
next day. I think my productivity shot through the roof then. I left as soon
as I finished the software; the environment was simply not condusive to
thinking.

------
vacri
_Every time a siren shrieks on the street, our conscious minds might ignore
it, but other brain regions behave as if that siren were a predator barreling
straight for us._

It's worth mentioning that a siren is specifically meant to pull your
attention. It's not really the same as a constant background susurrus.

I work in the heart of a city, and there's a constant babble of traffic and
pedestrians a few floors below. That's fine and can be tuned out - the noise
that's distracting me from concentration is random loud office noise. Noise
that can't be filtered out as 'background'.

------
leoh
Noise is a big deal for some people. It's one of the reasons why I dropped out
of Columbia a few years ago. Not something I regret, but I can't help but
wonder if quiet, still places are a cornerstone of the most innovative
societies. A cornerstone of successful lives. Not quiet all the time. Not
faccistic silence. Gentle, comfortable, quiet places to come to for a few
hours a day to help cultivate peace in the mind. For if we see everything
through a filter, as many of us claim, I think noise, disturbance disrupts the
milieu our through which our senses travel.

------
jonnathanson
All the more reason why the "standard layout" of cubicle farms in modern
offices really, really sucks for people whose jobs involve continuous,
unmolested concentration. Sure, there are benefits to being in close proximity
and to collaborating. But sometimes people just need to focus.

While it's not exactly cost effective or feasible to give every programmer,
designer, writer, etc., a private office, it _should_ be a priority to have
designated quiet spaces. Something as simple as a conference room that you
turn into a quiet zone, almost like a small library.

------
Anechoic
On a related topic: If you're in the Denver area this week, feel free to drop
in on a Free Public Workshop on Noise in Communities and Natural areas:
[http://www.naturalquietworkshop2013.org/](http://www.naturalquietworkshop2013.org/)
which is being held in conjuction with Noise-Con (an annual conference for
noise control engineers). The workshop is mostly geared toward noise in public
parks, but it covers a lot of the same concerns in the NYT piece.

------
speeder
I wonder if that is what drives some typical programmer behavior, like coding
at night (less noise), or super-star freelancers moving to rural cities.

Currently (office for me and the CEO in a busy area of a 30million people
metro region) I am nowhere productive as I was when I lived in a rural area
and coded at night. (but I am more productive than when I worked into a open
layout office with 40 programmers...)

------
strictfp
While quiet time is good for concentration, it totally discourages
collaboration. I end up over-analyzing things and procrastinate due to the
fear of breaking the silence and collaborating. In my eyes team productivity
actually drops in quiet environments. And all lone wolfs head off in their own
direction. In short, a recipe for disaster.

------
interpol_p
I really like background noise when I work, as long as it's nothing that I can
focus on.

Just the wind blowing, birds making noises outside, or the clinking and
chatter at a cafe. I find that I work about 50% faster in those environments.

When there's dead silence or music I am much slower and more easily
distracted. Also far less creative for some reason.

------
616c
It is funny because when I was studying a language in college, one professor
came into one of my freshmen year courses, and administered a test without
noise, and then varying levels of background noise. This obvious experiment
led me to believe, given my annoyance and inability to focus, that this must
hold true.

------
6ren
Two words: white noise.

My favourite is the linux SoX (Sound eXchange). _sudo apt-get install sox_
with this command (which varies the sound, rain-like):

    
    
      play -t sl -r48000 -c2 - synth -1 pinknoise tremolo .1 40 <  /dev/zero

------
krmmalik
At my parents house where I lived for around 15 years, next door the lady was
a professional breeder of dogs. 5 Dogs at any one time at our house. They bark
all day and all night. It used to drive me insane.

------
kaidajekri
I tend to think better with low level background noise. Or I'll do a
completely different task whilst my brain is chewing on something in the
background. I find total silence distracting.

------
chrismealy
A lot of those cool deconstructed offices with high ceilings and exposed
ductwork are about 80-85 dB. That's about as loud as a bus going by.

------
JoshTv
Some people can write with noises but I cannot stand it! I keep on reading the
sentence, over and over again.

------
bachback
thanks hackernews for deleting my post. I linked to the original source in the
article and the post gets delted - what the...?

------
avalaunch
My takeaway from the article is that you can get just about snything to the
top of hacker news on Sunday night.

------
whiddershins
I don't understand how this can be accurate. Have you ever heard nature? It
tends to be quite loud.

------
tehwalrus
headphones. white noise.

------
amerika_blog
Wasn't Schopenhauer the one who noted an inverse relationship between noise
tolerance and intelligence?

