Maybe it's because I've been working "alone" in the quiet for so long, but I can not force myself to not stop and listen when other people are talking. I can, however not switch windows/tabs over to the chat client until I'm ready.
Have you figured out "eye headphones" to remove the visual noise as well?
Re:The Open-Office Trap
by stefan_kendall3 on Wednesday December 03, 2014 @06:20PM
(#8696993)
If you find something let me know. I literally want blinders to complement my QC-25s. It's the only way to get things done.
Check out the "Laptop Compubody Sock" by Becky Stern. http://www.instructables.com/id/Laptop-Compubody-Sock/
Re:The Open-Office Trap
by frostmatthew on Wednesday December 03, 2014 @09:42PM
(#8697604)
> If you don't want interruptions, you put headphones on. It works well.
It works well for some people. While you may be able to code perfectly well with music blasting in your ears (loud enough to drown out nearby conversations) that is not the case for everyone.
I wear headphones at work but the volume (at which I can actually concentrate on my work) is only sufficient to drown out/filter random background noises (typing/mouse-clicks, HVAC, people walking by, etc) - if there are people having a conversation a few feet away my productivity plummets.
I cannot use headphones to counter noise and distraction. If I use music, I pay attention to the music. White noise I feel like I'm in a science fiction movie. And regardless of how comfortable a particular headphone may be, something on my head is itself a distraction.
Headphones may be at best a distraction mitigation, but what they really are is evidence that your environment is crap.
For me the two are very similar. I work in an open plan office and enjoy being able to talk to my co-workers - often someone will pull their chair up to someone else's to pair program for a while, or just discuss the issue they're having.
If you don't want interruptions, you put headphones on. It works well.