3 ways to mute the world
An article about silence on demand.
I am not sure about you, but for me noise has always been an issue. Much of my work requires a decent amount of focus, but I get distracted very easily by people, TVs, dogs or my neighbour’s Spotify playlist. This issue peaked during my university time, where social life and coursework are fused together into “The Labs”. As a quick introduction, the computer lab at Imperial College London is one of the main social places. Here you find out the latest gossips, hear the newest interview questions and make long-lasting friendships. Occasionally you also get stuff done here, unless you are me and can’t really function properly in a noisy environment.
In my first year, I avoided the place and always worked from home, but that isolated me from the rest of the group for the entire period. I barely met any people from my course during the first year, all because of my inability to cope with noise. This all changed in my second year and this is an article about how I did it.
1. Invest in a proper pair of headphones
In my second year I was lucky enough to change my $20 no-name pair of headphones for a pair Bose QuietComfort 15, which I won at a coding competition. I would never have paid a 10x price increase for a pair of headphones as I could not justify the price. However, after using them, I believe they are worth every single penny. The value I get out of them way overshadows the price. The pair I own is no longer manufactured, but the newer and better version is the Bose QuietComfort 25.
The headphones have this neat feature called noise cancelling, which I didn’t really understand at the beginning. You turn them on and indeed you notice a bit more silence, but you can still hear everything around. I discovered that noise cancelling is more effective when something plays in the headphones. However, any rhythm may be distracting, especially at those deep focus tasks, so not very useful in my case.
Few months later I discovered white noise, which is basically background noise with no sudden changes in volume. Some examples are River Water, Tropical Rain, or hipster’s favourite: Starbucks Background Noise. Combine this with the noise cancelling headphones and you completely mute the world around you.
I would say that it takes a bit to get used to it. I would use the same white noise for a week to get used to it and figure out some results. My favourite is a 10 hour YouTube video which I can access from everywhere. Volume wise, I keep it as low as possible, while still making sure I cannot hear anything around me.
In the labs, this technique worked perfectly. I could focus on what I was doing and actually get things done. As a bonus, I was getting interrupted less often since headphones + typing apparently gives you this “busy” look. When I felt like taking a break, there was always someone to joke with and I got the best of both worlds.
On another note, every place I worked so far had an open plan. The concept is great, since it promotes communication and collaboration, but not all people work the same way. This has been discussed many times, but I just became oblivious of the issue with the headphone trick. Headphones on when I need to do deep work; remove them the rest of the time. I manage do deliver top results while still taking most of the advantages of open plan spaces.
2. Learn to use earplugs, and buy a really good pair
Another issue I found was sleeping. I am a heavy sleeper, can easily nap through an entire 14 hour train ride without any issue. However, my flatmates’ spontaneous midnight parties and my lovely Adelle-loving neighbour presented new challenges.
Stepping up my game: ear plugs. Some readers might now get skeptical: “Andrei, I tried ear plugs, they are useless”. Yes, poor quality ones are useless, just like my $20 headphones were useless.
After lots of research, I found the Hearods, which I really recommend. They are a little bit pricier than the rest, but they are magic. First time I tried them it was surreal, I have never experienced so much silence in my life. All I could feel was quietness and can’t really find my words to describe it. I tested them during my flatmates’ parties, neighbour’s songs and dance festivals. This product literally turned me from the grumpy flatmate to an amazing colleague. They also come with a case that make it very easy to take them on holiday and make sure no one ruins your silence.
Really important is to invest 5 minutes into learning how to apply them properly. Here is a video that explains it.
3. Change your environment
The points I made above are excellent when changing the environment is not an option. If you can do something about your lifestyle, here are some ideas.
- There is a bar in NYC that has sound proof isolation on the ceiling, just like you would see in a recording studio. It turns out that most of the noise you hear in a room is reflected from the ceiling. Less background noise mean people don’t need to talk even louder and allows everyone to have a better conversation in soft jazz music. If you are a bar owner, this is one way to step up your game. If you visit New York, I definitely recommend the place.
- If you live in an apartment building and you want your neighbours to be quiet on the hallway, all you need to do is dim the lights. People tend to whisper when the light in the hallway is dimmed for some reason.
- If you need some headspace, wake up at 4 am in the morning and go for a walk. The city is always dead at that time and a heavy unnatural silence surrounds you. It is really refreshing, just make sure you live in a safe area.
- Hills during night are my favourite. Get a blanket and go watch the stars. August is a particularly nice time if you are into meteor showers. The further away from the city, the less light pollution.
Conclusion:
I hope the tips I gave in this article help you be a better co-worker, better flat-mate and a better person all around. Please don’t be that neighbour who calls the police and ruins the party. Get yourself some proper gear.
Disclaimer:
- I was not paid to promote any of the products in this blog post. They are products I use and recommend
- Make sure you don’t go overboard. If you can’t hear the fire alarm anymore, you went too far.
Hey there, Andrei here. If you enjoyed the article and want to make sure you know about my next one, you can sign up with your email address above. I only send blog-related updates and have a zero-spam policy.
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