Interruptions in general when someone is in the zone sucks. The important thing people need to stop pretending is that aural distractions (headphones/music/etc) promote higher levels of focus than having the discipline to work in silence. Nobody, regardless of their argument can produce their best work when doing two things at the same time.
Often times I put on headphones at the office and play nothing just to avoid being distracted. Playing music while solving problems might lead to satisfactory results, but will never yield your best work when your brain is half distracted processing music.
Ideally listen to white noise (or Brownian noise for a more pleasant frequency range) or music with no singing that you either know very well or is at least consistent. Unless you have noise cancelling headphones then silence isn't enough to drown out the open plan noise. Only working from home allows the luxury of silence.
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Interruptions in general when someone is in the zone sucks. The important thing people need to stop pretending is that aural distractions (headphones/music/etc) promote higher levels of focus than having the discipline to work in silence. Nobody, regardless of their argument can produce their best work when doing two things at the same time.
Often times I put on headphones at the office and play nothing just to avoid being distracted. Playing music while solving problems might lead to satisfactory results, but will never yield your best work when your brain is half distracted processing music.
Ideally listen to white noise (or Brownian noise for a more pleasant frequency range) or music with no singing that you either know very well or is at least consistent. Unless you have noise cancelling headphones then silence isn't enough to drown out the open plan noise. Only working from home allows the luxury of silence.