Guide · focus · 3 min read
Working in a noisy place without losing your mind — what works and what does not, if you are sceptical about all of this
You cannot always control the noise. You can control what your attention does with it, and what you put in your ears.
Start here
Here is what tends to work, in the order that helps most.
Scepticism is welcome. You do not have to believe anything for this to work.
If you only do one thing from this page, do the first point below. It is first because it removes the most friction for the least effort.
What helps
Speech is the hardest sound to ignore, because your brain processes it automatically. That is why an open office is worse than a building site.
Earplugs plus a low level of brown noise covers speech better than either one alone.
If you use music, choose something without words, or words in a language you do not speak.
What to do when it does not work
Sit with your back to the room if you can. Seeing movement is more distracting than hearing it.
Constant noise is easier to ignore than intermittent noise. A fan is easier than a door that keeps opening.
Give yourself permission to be unproductive during the loudest parts, and do the work that needs less attention then.
Questions people ask
Should I just ask people to be quieter?
Once, politely, yes. Repeatedly is a losing game. It is usually easier to change your setup than the culture.
Written for people who want the practical version. No accounts, no tracking, no newsletter wall.
If this is not the angle you need, try Using the commute as a boundary between work and home — where to start, if you are doing this instead of scrolling, Working in a noisy place without losing your mind — a realistic guide, when you have already had a long week or The five minutes after a difficult meeting — what actually works, when you have woken up too early.