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three words: noise-cancelling headphones
it's mostly quiet where i work, but there are times when conversations can get loud. but, the earbuds take care of things nicely.
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What would you recommend with regards to noise cancelling headphones?
“That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.”
― Christopher Hitchens
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it's really hard to say. i had good luck with Shure for many many years. but their current models just don't fit my ears correctly (and actually hurt). so now i'm using some from Klipsh, which feel better but don't sound quite as good as the Shures (though they were 1/2 the price).
i try not to spend more than $100 on a pair.
buy some and try them. you can usually return them if they suck.
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They are pricey, but I got the Bose QC15s last year and highly recommend them. You realize they work as soon as you flip the switch. The only problem with them is that I don't always hear my deskphone or cell phone ring with music playing. I suppose you could use them only for the noise cancelling feature without music.
"Go forth into the source" - Neal Morse
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I would recommend trying the $0.50 foam ear plugs as a first purchase. And they are comfortable enough for me to wear all day. I get a headache wearing any kind of a headset for more than a few hours.
Analog cancellation (i.e. foam plugs, headset cups or ear buds) work instantaneously. The foam attenuates the higher frequency sounds as well as active headsets & probably get 50% of the low frequency sounds compared to an active headset.
Active headsets work great on repetitive wave forms, the lower the frequency the better. But they don't do that well with random noise like people talking. It needs to "listen" to the sound wave and then calculate a cancellation wave, which does not work if the wave form has changed in the mean time.
Before you say "your" active headset works on the random noise, re-read the above - it is the analog ear bud or cup that is killing most of the random noise.
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Headphones work for some distractions. However, lots of traffic and people with loud voices aren't fixed by headphones, unfortunately. 
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there's always annoyed coughing and anonymous nasty notes !
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Noise distraction is relative.
i grew up in a family with 9 children; I learned to be alone in a room full of people. It doesn't bother me to have others making noise around me.
Also, I lived next to an airbase where jets were scrambled all times of the day and night over our house. We learned to ignore it.
So, in that light, do you like your job enough to learn to ignore the noise or are you going to change positions?
Tim
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Tim Carmichael wrote: So, in that light, do you like your job enough to learn to ignore the noise or are you going to change positions?
Normal people do not ignore sound, due to evolution. People ignoring the sound of a lion (or the fire alarm) are less prone to survive and reproduce.
..I live in a cold and wet place. Turn your heating down and learn to code at the same temperature as your fridge. Some type o' problem, same solution.
Bastard Programmer from Hell 
If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^]
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'Normal people'? Who died and made you god?
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12 noise pollutants children here! 
Most years there were babies demanding attention. I actually put some babies to sleep by playing some fast-paced game music from Crystal Towers 2, which really perturbed me. Wouldn't fast-paced wake you up? 
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At my company they are very conscious of how distracting a noisy environment is. They strive to maintain an atmosphere conducive to concentration. I was even once frowned upon for taking a stroll down a passage that I could have avoided 
But I must admit that I can get a lot more done (without as many mistakes) in a quiet environment. Either that or get to have a nice long uninterrupted sleep 
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FredWi wrote: How am I supposed to concentrate on work when the employer seems to discourage it by the environment?
You did talk to your manager about this, right?
FredWi wrote: Are there employers out there that actually encourage productivity?
They all do, it's just that not all of them do it correctly.
FredWi wrote: Maybe I live in the wrong part of the US?
Or maybe you’re in the wrong line of work. You could try contracting from home or look for smaller companies. Sure they may not pay as well but I'd rather maintain my sanity and get paid less than be stressed and hate my job to get a higher salary.
Sure, you're always going to have the incessant yappers, insensitive boors but they are like dog bombs on the lawn, sometimes you step in it but you learn to look for and avoid the bombs. I wear headphones sometimes, I've also learned to deal with the nuisance when it happens. If it gets bad I take a break and walk away for a few minutes.
It was broke, so I fixed it.
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S Houghtelin wrote: look for smaller companies
There's no guarantee that a small company will provide a quiet work environment...sadly.
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Smaller companies sometimes will let you work from home if you can show that they will save money by letting you do so. Also managers are generally more accessable than at the large cube farms.
Not all small companies are ideal work places, I've been there. I've also worked at the multi-nationals as well, "We're sorry, manager X is not available as they are overseas right now..." and the "...our policy does not allow for insert request here. Now get on with your work"
The company I'm at now is a privately held compaany of about 200 employees. It doen't pay the best but the environment and my job satisfaction far outweigh the 4-5 grand extra I could make.
It was broke, so I fixed it.
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S Houghtelin wrote: Are there employers out there that actually encourage productivity?
S Houghtelin wrote: They all do, it's just that not all of them do it correctly.
No, they all DEMAND productivity. Encouraging you to be productive is an entirely different thing.
If your neighbours don't listen to The Ramones, turn it up real loud so they can.
“We didn't have a positive song until we wrote 'Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue!'” ― Dee Dee Ramone
"The Democrats want my guns and the Republicans want my porno mags and I ain't giving up either" - Joey Ramone
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I think you need to find ways to remove the distraction.
For me I either turn my hearing aid off or put headphones on and listen to music on a low volume.
Every day, thousands of innocent plants are killed by vegetarians.
Help end the violence EAT BACON
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We are moving from offices to a noisy mess. Because of collaberation being cheap and needing more space.
CPallini wrote: You cannot argue with agile people so just take the extreme approach and shoot him.
:Smile:
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We recently moved our office into a co-working space with a advertising company, which isn't the most 'developer friendly' environment but it could be worse.
Using closed headphones, work well and if that's not enough you can try active noise cancelling; but that's not ideal if you have to take phone calls (but then again, if you have to take a lot of calls you can't achieve deep concentration anyway).
Dealing with noisy environments is not really the main problem; if you're in a mixed work environment it can be difficult to explain to other people why 'you' need headphones. Depends on the company culture.
.
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It's been a long time since I worked as a developer, but I've seen both noisy and quiet environments, even working for a single company. At General Dynamics, for instance, I spent a few years working in a trailer with semi-private cubicles for us. The a shift in priorities moved us to the factory floor, where we worked 20' from CNC mills and lathes, and we had to wipe machine tool oil off our CRT screens in the morning. Overall, I think the trailer was more productive, but not because it was quieter. Some of those machine tool operators had magnificent mammary protuberances and a proclivity for flirting with the highly paid professionals in suits. Some would find that distracting... 
Will Rogers never met me.
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Open office style at the moment here. Noise I can handle, but the one thing I absolutely cannot stand is when people hold long conversations right behind you as you work.
modified 5-Dec-13 14:09pm.
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You'd never last in my field...
Try reprogramming a PLC on the drill floor of a floating oil rig while you have an OIM and company man breathing down your neck about rig downtime, with welding going on 3 feet from you. Or try going out in the desert to service a solar power station with temperatures at 100+ in blinding light.
Noise is a welcome background for me, I always know it could be worse 
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I went for an interview at a supposedly prestigious stock thingy kind of company in New York. The salary range indicated was impressively high and I had passed the telephone interviews with ease, apparently making them so excited to get me in such that the agent said the face to face interview was just a formality. All good so far, except for it being in downtown NY.
I won't mention which company it was but one of the recent mayors of NY had the same name and it has it's own cable TV channel.
I arrived there at a new, sparkly glass and steel, modern looking building that they said was "purpose built". It was very open and airy, full of escalators, looking more like a shopping mall than an office complex. There were TV screens of all sizes all over the place showing stock info, trend graphs and the latest news, etc. It was full of people going somewhere; hustle & bustle as New Yorkers think only they know how.
I was shown into a conference room for the interview - nothing but solid glass walls all around and very expensive designer office chairs. I was to meet with some techie/manager type, get a tour of the developer's area and then meet with the big bosses for the "sign-off" interview. The techie thing went very well although when I asked how the environment was for programmers he was reluctant to talk about it and said I will see on the tour. Then the tour...
Apparently programmers need to work in brightly lit, noisy, glass-walled rooms full of large TVs showing stock prices and news, etc. mounted high around the walls. The desks were arranged in long rows side by side (no gaps), each row facing another similar row with the backs of the screen almost touching behind each desk was another desk just two chair widths away facing the other way except for those lucky enough to be up against the glass walls where there was a walkway all around. Each developer, analyst, project manager, whatever, got a desk space 4 feet wide and 2 feet deep with just enough space for a keyboard & mouse, two 20" screens and a telephone. Outside windows were frosted, so no distracting views of the city. There must have been at least 40 people in this one office, all heads down; it reminded me of a scene from the movie 1984 but with more chrome, glass and flashing colours. Everyone looked miserable and didn't make eye contact. I didn't say a word but looked at the techie who just shrugged and looked at the floor mumbling something about it's the same space as "the traders" get.
I don't remember the "sign-off" interview as it was a blur but apparently they sent me an offer while I was heading back to the agent's NY office for a post action report. I told the agent to ask for 50% more money (over and above the already very high salary offer) and the agent took me seriously. She returned about 15 minutes later saying that they increased their offer by 33%! Whew!
I turned it down. The agent said they get that a lot.
- I would love to change the world, but they won’t give me the source code.
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Wow. I would have turned that down as well, unless the alternative was selling hotdogs at the stand outside the building. 
Rejecting the offer by asking for 50% more was pretty awesome. 
Soren Madsen
"When you don't know what you're doing it's best to do it quickly" - Jase #DuckDynasty
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Even more awesome was that they increased their offer by 33% before I rejected it!
- I would love to change the world, but they won’t give me the source code.
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