Coping with noise

[The Warren]

We have issues with ear plugs also. We have small ear canals, and they are hard to get in and they fall out. We can use ear buds but we have to use the smallest fittings. Over the ear pieces like bluetooth headsets don't fit us well. We use the headphone type at work. A friend of ours spent a lot of money getting custom ear pieces made for her bluetooth headsets when she was doing a lot of work from home and had to be on calls. They were really expensive.

Noise canceling headphones work great even without music, but also not cheap, and it hurts our ears to have headphones on for a long time, but in terms of blocking out annoying noise, we get the best result from that. Luckily we are good at mentally blocking out most noise. So the instances where we feel the need to block it out are not frequent.

We really really hate ear plugs in bed, and it's not comfortable to fall asleep with headphones. THe next best thing we've discovered is playing environmental sounds like wind, rain, the ocean or using a white noise machine. We have an air filter in the bedroom to help with allergies, and it conveniently doubles as a noise masker.

At work, we will either put on headphones and play music or if it's really bad, we will get up and take a break away from our desk to relax. If it's really bad, we can just take our laptop and move to someplace quieter. Sometimes we like to go up to the cafeteria on off hours and sit next to the window. We have wifi all through the building so I am connected to our network no matter where I go. If the weather is really nice and the tables are still out (spring-fall - during the winter they turn the area into a skating rink), we can sit and work outside.

If we don't have headphone or music or something, we seek to leave the area ASAP when it is intolerable, which could mean moving tables or finding another cafe. We've had to do that at lunch sometimes when the cafeteria is very crowded or there is a loud table of people. If we're trapped, like if we are on the subway or something, we keep reminding ourselves it is temporary and try to distract ourselves with other things, our phone, texting to b*tch about the noise, breathing, techniques to calm us, that kind of thing.