Reed

Studying design means you inevitably end up spending a lot of time listening to music, podcasts, binaural beats, white noise and the rubbish that comes out of your mouth when you present your project. The former few require a speaker of some description in order to be heard and for me I primarily used headphones. That was until a solid nine hours of listening had my ears hurting from being clamped to my skull, while the humidity in my ear cavity had become to resemble that of a rainforest. Over the years, I developed strategies that allowed continued listening without having my ears reduced to pancakes.

By the time I started my last design assignment, I had myself an arsenal of listening devices that mixed up the pressure on my ears allowing me to enjoy to my favourite podcasts or ADHD Techno Focus- Full Concentration Spotify playlist for almost eight straight days; critical for curbing fatigue that encouraged me to push through to the end.

Over-ear headphones were what I wanted to be using the most frequently, but fatigued ear flaps forced my hand and made me reach for my in-ear earphones. My ear flaps thanked me, as did the top of my skull, released from the bondage of the headphones. And thus began the routine of rotating through my sound providers as I worked on assignments. No longer did I have to sit in silence as my ears became unstuck from the side of my head.

here’s what I have and how I use it:

Over-ear headphones- peak listening, maximum noise cancelling, best sound quality, sore spots occur around ears after many hours of listening

On-ear headphones- secondary to the over-ear, makes my actual ear sore after many hours

In-ear or just earphones- usually the worst quality (although I’m seriously impressed with my Jaybirds), light on the head

A small speaker- if you’re at home, or in a classroom by yourself, a speaker will allow you to walk in and out of your working environment, without having to “disconnect”. Also allows you to head bang.

Earplugs- I’ve only just started using Loop earplugs and they definitely have some potential as an alternative to active listening. Peace and quiet can be especially refreshing after a long session, either in a break away from the computer (napping, meditating, stretching) or whilst working. If you want to go and sit outside in the sun and don’t want to experience the nauseating sounds of humans not working on assignments, these can come in handy. Other things that cause noise annoyance can also be blocked- think lawnmowers, housemates, pets that you haven’t fed etc.

So there it is, protect those ears and keep yourself listening to whatever it is that helps you work 🙂