White Noise

[emily_in_nc]

When I am working in our lab at work (debugging software problems), I can deal with conversations in the periphery, but let someone turn on music or a video on a computer a couple of aisles away, and I simply cannot concentrate AT ALL. Debugging software just takes all my brainpower, and I find myself getting very irritable if there are video or even music noises (classical music might be okay, but music with lyrics is no good). However, at home, if I am just hanging out on the computer as I am now, reading forums, writing emails, online shopping or research, the TV is often on (as now, DH is watching football), and it doesn't bother me a bit. It's all a matter of how much mental concentration I need to do. Above a certain threshold, TV/music is a definite distraction.

I also think that as I have gotten older, that threshold/tolerance has decreased. I used to be able to do homework/study with the radio on, no problem, but as I've gotten older, I need quiet to be at my best mentally.

Emily