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March 13, 2007
Productivity Delta Plus
Over the past two weeks I've seen a marked increase in my output here at work. This improvement is a direct result of combining previous efforts to cut out extraneous, distracting, noise. I tried headphones, even expensive noise-canceling headphones in the past. Turning them up loud enough to drown out background noise like copiers, phones, and office conversations results in an almost instantaneous headache. Besides, the music becomes so oppressive as to cut into my concentration. I've tried earplugs. They only mute background sounds and make conversations unintelligible. But the combination, of over-ear headphones with earplugs in place finally removes almost all the distracting office noise around me.
Why not move my work area away from the main hallway, adjacent to the bathrooms, copy room, and microwave? Too easy. Also, for some reason my supervisor thinks that putting a programmer into the center of a noisy environment, filled with people walking by on their way to and from meetings, is a good way to ummmm, do something. I don't know what he thinks. When I ask him to explain why I'm stuck in such a noisy locale he changes the subject or gives evasive unsatisfactory answers. So I'm stuck here.
The important thing is - I've got a combination of tools that works to cut out almost all distraction causing noises, without having to take an ice pick to my eardrum. :-)
Posted by ashusta at March 13, 2007 09:02 AM