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Do Headphones Help Or Hurt Productivity?
Hugh Pickens writes "Derek Thompson writes that there is an excellent chance you are wearing, or within arm's reach of, a pair of headphones or earbuds. To visit a modern office place is to walk into a room with a dozen songs playing simultaneously but to hear none of them. In survey after survey, office workers report with confidence that music makes us happier, better at concentrating, and more productive. But science says we're full of it, writes Thompson. 'Listening to music hurts our ability to recall other stimuli, and any pop song — loud or soft — reduces overall performance for both extroverts and introverts.' So if headphones are so bad for productivity, why do so many people at work have headphones? The answer is that personal music creates a shield both for listeners and for those walking around usm says Thompson. 'I am here, but I am separate. In a wreck of people and activity, two plastic pieces connected by a wire create an aura of privacy.' We assume that people wearing them are busy or oblivious, so now people wear them to appear busy or oblivious — even without music. Wearing soundless headphones is now a common solution to productivity blocks. 'If music evolved as a social glue for the species — as a way to make groups and keep them together — headphones allow music to be enjoyed friendlessly — as a way to savor our privacy, in heightened solitude,' concludes Thompson. 'In a crowded world, real estate is the ultimate scarce resource, and a headphone is a small invisible fence around our minds — making space, creating separation, helping us listen to ourselves.'"
Unfortunately I work in an open concept office, so it's either headphones or listen to everything else around me, which is infinitely worse.
Ever notice how the people who decide on an open concept office usually have a door to theirs?
Best cure for an open office plan is a white noise generator. The first time I heard one in an office I was amazed at how quite it was.
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No kidding, the author is full of loaded language. Why not just "headphones" instead of "two plastic pieces connected by a wire"? I think he's pretty clearly got something personal against headphones in the first place.
The place where my father worked had a good solution: everyone was in a rotation for music of the week. You brought your CDs and they played on a multi-disk capable boom box (or ghetto blaster) in the corner of the office for that week. No one brought anything too annoying or weird because everyone else could get revenge on their own week.
I wear headphones (and usually listen to music when I'm wearing them) to quiet the conversations and noisy distractions, including the ever-present white noise generator, which is designed to drown out the conversations and noisy distractions caused by our open floor plan (no cubicle walls, to facilitate communication), but is so loud that conversations are difficult unless you speak loudly.
my, your, his/her/its, our, your, their
I'm, you're, he's/she's/it's, we're, you're, they're
Especially if the music is 'nonsense'. I listen to Technobase.fm all day long. It's one constant song spun by some DJs in Germany. There are no breaks and songs just flow one to the another. When the DJ does come on he's speaking German so tune him out and since they're matching beats there is almost always a constant beat that I use to type to.
I am not kidding, I am working from a basement because it's silent, and rarely have music on; read: maybe a few times in 2-3 months(!). It's good to read that I am actually right on this: music distracts. And if it doesn't it's because I am not hearing it; in which case it's just "audio-wallpaper".
FWIW, no I am not living with my mum. I am married, and we have 2 children.
Perl Programmer for hire
I wear headphones with nothing playing, usually. People leave me to my work.
That's exactly why I wear headphone sometimes at work, it's because of the background noise from PEOPLE. They distract the shit outta me.
That dude across the hallway talking loudly to some indian programmer over a bad connection? Quite distracting...
The three people discussing the latest fad? Also quite distracting...
The loud whine of the AC, yet again.. distracting.
The music is there to cover worse distractions.