I am typing this blog while listening to a sea, wind, and rain soundscape titled Irish Coast on myNoise.net.
Yes, I am listening to artificial noise to block the real noise around me. Stephane Pigeon, who runs myNoise.net, spends countless hours creating different soundscapes that ironically are used as sound blockers. According to his website — and, I suspect, backed by research — soundscapes are better than classic white noise.
External noise gets to me - I grow angry and frustrated at the lack of basic office norms and social etiquette that lead to a noisy office. Maybe I am the bad apple because no one else seems to mind. This makes me wonder how many of my co-workers have truly experienced flow because they’ve normalized constant interruption. Eventually, I settle on what I can control: my immediate environment.
This problem is definitely larger than just me. The sheer number of white noise generators and playlists online suggests I’m not alone. For the moment, I am immensely grateful to Stephane for giving me a chance to carve out some focus, even if it means I am fighting noise with noise.
Stephane recording sounds in Ireland
Photo Credit - https://mynoise.net/SamplingSessions/2014_Ireland.php