Coding in music
March 12, 2008
Do you usually listen to music at work?
Do you often look like a raving monk, sitting still in front of your screen(s), fingers dancing on your keyboard, a huge pair of stereo headphones crowning your head and totally cut off from the rest of the world?
Yes. Interesting. Do you happen to be sitting in an open landscape?
I do. And I listen to music while coding at work. But the interesting fact is that I am not actually listening to the music, only using it as a way to screen myself off from the surrounding noise. If you too happen to use headphones at work, ask yourself why and odds are that you will reach the same reason.
But listening to music is a rather unsatisfying way to fix the ambient noise issue. A few hours of coding with music on and my brain turns to jelly and I produce crap. Music affects my creativity. I can't get those magnificent flashes of total insight that only occur when I am in relative silence and deep concentration. The higher the surrounding noise level, the higher I turn up the volume and the faster my braincells get burned out. On my way home after a day of writing code and raving, I usually feel like a brain washed living dead, my sight is blurred and my thoughts have dissolved into slimy blobs.
Stopping the music doesn't help since it only makes me more aware of what's happening around me. And in the kind of open landscape office I am sitting in, there is always something going on in a cubicle nearby. Something usually not related to my particular area of interest of the moment.
I have tried hear plugs. But the efficient ones are also somewhat painful to wear for longer periods of time. I end up with aching ears. So I choose to listen to music instead, knowing that it will limit my productivity.
I also tried sound proof headsets, the kind construction workers use. But they are damn heavy. And I end up with a neck ache.
So what can I do?
Remember, music is not the real problem here. The real problem is having a working environment that shows no respect to the fact that brain workers need quiet working conditions.
The problem in the short term is your office structure. In the long term, it is your corporate culture.
Office structure can be changed. You can always start lobbying for a project room and dig your way out of cubicle land. There are good arguments in favor of project rooms that even an employer sold to open landscapes can appreciate.
But your success in the long term depends on your employer's corporate culture. Unfortunately, getting a room is likely to be much easier than trying to change your local corporate culture.
Do you often look like a raving monk, sitting still in front of your screen(s), fingers dancing on your keyboard, a huge pair of stereo headphones crowning your head and totally cut off from the rest of the world?
Yes. Interesting. Do you happen to be sitting in an open landscape?
I do. And I listen to music while coding at work. But the interesting fact is that I am not actually listening to the music, only using it as a way to screen myself off from the surrounding noise. If you too happen to use headphones at work, ask yourself why and odds are that you will reach the same reason.
But listening to music is a rather unsatisfying way to fix the ambient noise issue. A few hours of coding with music on and my brain turns to jelly and I produce crap. Music affects my creativity. I can't get those magnificent flashes of total insight that only occur when I am in relative silence and deep concentration. The higher the surrounding noise level, the higher I turn up the volume and the faster my braincells get burned out. On my way home after a day of writing code and raving, I usually feel like a brain washed living dead, my sight is blurred and my thoughts have dissolved into slimy blobs.
Stopping the music doesn't help since it only makes me more aware of what's happening around me. And in the kind of open landscape office I am sitting in, there is always something going on in a cubicle nearby. Something usually not related to my particular area of interest of the moment.
I have tried hear plugs. But the efficient ones are also somewhat painful to wear for longer periods of time. I end up with aching ears. So I choose to listen to music instead, knowing that it will limit my productivity.
I also tried sound proof headsets, the kind construction workers use. But they are damn heavy. And I end up with a neck ache.
So what can I do?
Remember, music is not the real problem here. The real problem is having a working environment that shows no respect to the fact that brain workers need quiet working conditions.
The problem in the short term is your office structure. In the long term, it is your corporate culture.
Office structure can be changed. You can always start lobbying for a project room and dig your way out of cubicle land. There are good arguments in favor of project rooms that even an employer sold to open landscapes can appreciate.
But your success in the long term depends on your employer's corporate culture. Unfortunately, getting a room is likely to be much easier than trying to change your local corporate culture.
