Silence is Golden
Someone sent me a link to officesnapshots -- a web site that collects photographs of offices in Silicon Valley.
As I scanned through the offices I was appalled. The prevailing theme in Silicon Valley start-ups is to cram developers into shared open environments where privacy, space, and quiet are nonexistent.
It has been well documented for a long time that proximity kills productivity, at least when it comes to deep thinking professions. I learned early on in my career that I was most productive (in the "zone") when everyone had already gone home.
Quest for Solitude
I know first hand how noise, phone calls, interruptions, and intrusions by coworkers can damage productivity.
A few of the things I have tried:
- Foam ear plugs don't work. They are great for muffling explosions and gunshots, but let through the higher frequencies and they are uncomfortable.
- Sony MDR-NC10. These noise canceling in-ear earphones worked well. I purchased a pair in an airport shop during a business trip. However, I found them uncomfortable for long periods of time. My ears would hurt after a few hours.
- Koss headphones. I've tried a few "over the ear" types. All had horrible passive noise cancellation.
- Shure E2c Sound Isolating Earphones.
The Shure E2C earphones were highly recommended. I plunked down over $100 on these (now they are selling around $60). After reading the marketing materials, I thought these would block out most of the sounds around me. They didn't. I tried each of the sleeves (soft, ultra-soft, and foam) to no avail.
Last week I purchased a set of Bose QuietComfort 2 Acoustic Noise Cancelling Headphones at the Bose Store in the Mall of America. I was simply fed up with a never ending stream of yammering, sneezing, giggling coworkers that intruded on my attempted productivity.
So far they are the best headphones that I have every owned. I am now wearing them several hours at a time during the day.
The only downside are the consumables. The headphones are powered by a single AAA battery. After the battery runs out, the headphones simply do not work anymore. A battery lasts about 20 hours. In my unscientific usage, a rechargeable AAA battery seem to last me about two days of heavy usage.
Having the ability to tune out the rest of the world and focus on my tasks is priceless. This might be the cheapest productivity boosting gadget that I have ever purchased.
