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They're all going this way. I've had to started adding 'well, I can' t do the work here' in front of every 'when can you have this done' response.

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It has gotten to the point where I'm seriously considering just working from home every day, even though that's strictly not allowed.

Open-plan offices are absolutely maddening, I get pulled out of my thoughts constantly, and there's no effective way to shut it out. Earplugs aren't enough, and with headphones I would have to play music so loudly it would be annoying my colleagues, just in order to cut out the constant noise. We have so-called "focus rooms", but 1) there are far too few of them, and 2) they're supposed to only be used for short phone meetings and such.

I raise this with my manager every time we have a "pit talk", as they're now called. But there is seemingly nothing he can do.

You shouldn't have to strap something to your face just to get work done. That's for animals. What about your seatmate who eats hot lunch next to you? That's your problem; put in your noseplugs. People walking around constantly? Put on your horse blinders.

People walking by is my big thing. I hate people being in my peripheral vision when I am trying to work. That and feeling like people are behind me..it's much worse than the sound.

One of the mech engrs in a cube has a mirror on his wall that puzzled me until I spent a day in the cube farm. I will steal that idea when they relocate me from a private office to cube hell.

Ok, I'm puzzled. Why the mirror?

So people can't sneak up on you. It is subtile, but psychologically draining to have people constantly come up to you and interact with you from behind.

You might try earplugs and earmuffs at the same time. It's a pretty effective level of sound isolation.

Some people, like me, can only wear headphones or earplugs for a short period of time - like 2 hours - before they develop ear infections.

Furthermore, administrative controls (headphones) for what is actually a safety and health problem (excess noise) are the solution of last resort from a health and safety perspective. A good health and safety person would advise structural mitigation, not forcing everyone to put on personal protective equipment (headphones.)

When open plan offices can regularly burst up to 95 dB (yes, I took in a meter and measured the last one I was in) and are often 65 dB when they are "quiet", noise is absolutely a health and safety issue. Constant noise, even if not immediately damaging to hearing, can cause increased stress and other physiological issues.

Well said, thank you.

I have considered this, but it's going to be very uncomfortable for a full workday.

I've also tried earphones with music, but I can't work like that for long, I just start listening to the music instead. I need peace and quiet.

And of course there's the issue of visual noise as well.

Silicon ear plugs are amazing, I sleep with them in (insomnia), they kill sound better than foam, mould to fit so stay in and warm up to body temperature so you don't know they are even there.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bio-Ears-Silicone-EarPlugs-Protecti...

I split one in two and use them that way, I've gotten to work with them in before without noticing, maybe worth a shot.

Seems like these are only good for a few uses with each set before disposal?

Yeah, and they're rather expensive for disposable items.

I bought a box of 100 pairs of Bilsom 303 plugs a couple of years ago, for motorcycling. The whole box was $40.

I split one into two, I get 2-3 nights before changing them which means 12-18 nights better sleep, for an insomniac I’d pay 10 times that tbh.

Careful with this. I have tinnitus (arguably from 8 hours/day of headphone use), and when I doubled up as you described, my tinnitus became unbearable because it was the only thing I could hear and my brain "latched" on to it. I'm still trying to train my brain to stop listening...

The better 'earmuffs' out there should be enough w/o plugs. The passive model that I have (3M Peltor Optime 105, $21) cut sound by 30 dB. Nearly dead silence.

I wish. I have a whole collection of them (ok, maybe just 6 or 7 of them). They certainly help, but for me they are not near dead silence.

Use noise cancelling headphones. They shut out the world with a bit of quiet music. I love my qc35. Doesn't fix the primary issue, but makes it more bearable.

They're not bad, but are relatively poor against sounds similar to human speech, which includes coughing, sniffing, throat clearing etc. My colleagues who have a large extractor fan just outside their window have reported that noise-cancelling headphones offer an improvement, though.

Yep, active noise cancellation is great for repeating sounds, but horrible for voices.

> noise cancelling headphones

They are very ineffective against voices! Passive insulating headphones are much better.

My Plantronics Backbeat Pro are pretty good at both. I can block all external noise with the volume turned down so low some people can't even hear the music when they put them on.

afaik qc35 does both

Assuming "qc35" == "Bose QuietComfort 35", it also eavesdrops on the metadata of everything you listen to and sends it to Bose (and segment.io).

https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Bose-headphones-have-bee...

Thanks for the link. This sort of thing is becoming a total pain; it seems that there's almost no gadget I might use that's not reporting my habits to someone.

After the scandal, they added an opt-out setting (but on the privacy policy page, where the nominal user will not think to look for it).

Tried those. Actually made the voices stand out more since everything else was more quiet :-(

One problem is they don't cancel out the terrible odors you have to breath when you're packed in next to people who don't bath and eat at their desks.

I think the awful smells I can't escape are worse than the noise at this point.

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