Tuning out distractions is hard. Television and the web distract us easily. I find it’s easy to turn off the television but I work on a computer most of the day, so I find myself visiting social media websites often without thinking about it.
Last week I went on neighborhood walks with my mother and Andrew, her five-year-old daycare charge. The walks reminded me how much noise technology has brought into my life.
Pink Noise
I think some noise is useful and important. Music, especially most classical music, relaxes me and helps me focus. I monitor news each day so I remain an informed citizen of my city, state, the United States, and our planet as a whole. And social networks help me be a better friend, professional, and business owner.
Walking around my neighborhood reminded me that various media, especially news media, brings me harmful noise. After all, if I don’t like a classical music piece I can switch to a different station website or open YouTube and listen to a favorite piece I saved on my profile.
Blue Noise
I find that harmful noise comes in the form of anxiety that might come from physical harm or death. For example, recent stories in the news media about domestic terrorism and countries coordinating their military plans to act against the U.S. keep the anxiety level up. When media companies keep anxiety up, more people watch and companies can get more money from advertisers.
The web brought connectivity in the form of online discussion and commentary. Though connectivity is good, too many people feel that the relative anonymity provided by a computer screen justifies the choice to be negative. (Sometimes I wonder if I should have investigated that issue for my master’s thesis in communication.)
Getting Closer to Gray Noise
I can make positive choices, so I limit my TV time and I selected the information I receive on social networks. I’ll talk about the latter in my next post.
I also go outside more when my body (and the weather) allows. I not only take walks but I sit in the backyard to watch the daycare kids play — and play with them when I’m up to it. Life rewarded me by reminding me about what my current life is about.
I live in a quiet neighborhood, but at times I hear cars going by and kids playing. My neighbors live their lives quietly and get things done. My neighbor’s tomatoes are growing well and he gave some to my mother recently. Cars and trucks drive up and down Highway 49 transporting people, goods, and services. Exercise fortifies my muscles. The views of flowers, plants, historic buildings, and hills help me de-stress and recharge.
How do you reduce the noise in your life?
Working as a temp in Fresno’s Pepsi factory taught me about ear plugs. This allowed a little more sleep out of sync with the rest of my family. Or mowing the lawn, attending a rock concert or flying in an airplane without incurring hearing loss. With new literal and metaphorical personal sound space challenges, I have innovated and come to some of the same and some different coping strategies. I try to find the highest rated ear plugs. A noise reduction rating (NRR) of 33 db seems to be saying that it keeps out 99.9%+ of noise out since 1 Bel = 10 decibels is like the Richter Scale, = a 90% reduction so 30 decibels reduction if true would be 99.9% of noise. That’s not true for two main reasons. Human hearing can hear from about 0 to 85 decibels without hearing damage at the top end so our perception of a 10 decibel drop is about half the loudness as opposed to about 90%. http://www.sengpielaudio.com/calculator-loudness.htm The second reason is that NRR ratings are rarely accurate because of poor fit, bone conduction, or less-than-perfect usage so a second method of reduction may be useful such as earplugs and headphones or a white noise generator. https://www.coopersafety.com/earplugs-noise-reduction
At a metaphorical level, jogging in the park or listening to classical for pink noise, limiting social media, limiting TV (or wearing a blindfold with the ear plugs to sleep through it), a quiet room or a secluded garden with a nice view, a room with comforting pictures, immersing oneself in a book or a solitaire game to center oneself can all have a role in reducing “noise” in addition to noise. Control of noise itself can be a destresser even if it is only partially effective, like during vacuum cleaning.
Hi, Sam. Earplugs are a lifesaver for me. This is especially helpful with daycare kids in the house and my mother raises her voice at them at times throughout the day. 33 NRR foam earplugs work pretty well for me, and my hyperacusis lets me know that 33 NRR is better than 32. The problem is that my ears get sore if I have to wear them for too long so I have to leave them out for a few hours, but thankfully I can do that when the kids are gone and I usually can’t hear what my mother has on TV in the living room from my home office, but her hearing continues to be a problem and over the past year I’ve noticed the TV volume continues to go up. I’m thinking of buying her (or suggesting my sister buy her) some TV headphones so I can get some peace and quiet at night.
Thanks,
Eric