I've looked after hundreds of businesses in my time of running my own small business. I've visited several hundred more during my entire working career. And one thing that intrigues me, even to this day, is how different office environments can be. More specifically, what they sound like.
Some are dead silent bordering on eery (usually design studios and architect practices), others are lively, loud, almost night clubby (usually "in trend" companies that are selling style and fashion) and others are more intellectual, debatey, if you will (these are usually the talk radio crowd).
And whenever I step into an environment that represents any of these to an extreme, it jolts me into experimenting the way I work and of course, what I listen to.
Now, I work mainly from home in a cosy office, with Edifier speakers too big for the space, Sony's excellent XM4 noise cancelling headphones (I'm not sold on the XM5's just yet), a set of Galaxy Buds, and a pair of Apple's AirPods Pro. I love music (90's hip hop all the way, you know that!) and I love podcasts (too many to single them out).
But I choose to work in silence.
At least, that's my default work soundtrack of choice. So, when it comes time to change it up a little, this is what I listen to and how I rate them.
- Music - That I dig (90's hip hop, R&B, etc) - 6/10. This is so distracting for me. Especially when a jam I haven't heard for a while comes on. Not only is it a case "stop what you're doing" and just listen, I spend the rest of the time trying to re-live those golden years by listening to more of the same. Great / perfect for hyping up mood, but a disaster for productivity.
- Music - As background noise / filler (classical, lo-fi beats, etc) - 7/10. This isn't so bad. I like beats and I don't mind classical. However, I find myself syncing my thinking (hey that rhymes!) to the beats or the flow of the music. So if the lo-fi is so slow that's it's basically stopped, I find my productivity waning too! I prefer higher beats per minute if I need to listen to something.
- Podcasts / Talk back Radio / YouTube - 5/10. This is the absolute worst for me. I listen to podcasts to be entertained, to learn, to laugh and trying to listen and be engaged with audio AND trying to do work, is just a thing I've never mastered. On the odd occasion I find myself typing out words that I've thought of when listening to a podcast. For some people, this works, for me, it doesn't, and I don't think it ever will.
- Silence (ear plugs) - 8/10. This is a bit of a dark horse. I accidentally bought earplugs from Amazon thinking they were earbuds (this could be a sign of my penny pinching) and instead of returning them, I tried them. They work as advertised and they block out A LOT of noise. Think wearing noise-cancelling headphones, but not listening to any audio. You do get that slight feeling of disorientation (as many get with noise cancelling) but it's cheap and effective. The downside of this though, is that they rely on "sealing" within your ear. So you do get a fair bit of ear fatigue with them being shoved in tight to stop the noise and to stop them falling out. They do work, but I've not done it for a while for this reason.
- Binaural Beats - 9/10. This has always been my go-to. Binaural beats paired with my AirPods with an app I've been using forever. Without getting into the minutia of it all, here is a Health Line article that can explain it much better than I can. In short, these work for me and has done so for many years. If you've not heard of them (pun) or have, but haven't tried, I highly suggest you give them a try. I still prefer silence, but this is close 2nd when I need it. Why don't I listen to them always? I guess it comes down to losing its effectiveness over time and taking breaks from listening to them, means it always works for me, whenever I need it the most.
