Comments on: The Silent Room

By: Dackerson

Dackerson — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 23:24:32 +0000

Does your wife get equal “silent” or “me” time? If not, I would make that a priority, as raising children can be far more stressful than a fulltime job, writing a blog or financial planning.

By: Marina @ Sufficient Thrust

Marina @ Sufficient Thrust — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 17:33:40 +0000

If you don’t have enough room for a quiet area in your home, maybe you’re using space for the wrong things. I wrote a post the other called “Why Furniture Is More Evil Than Google” and it seemed to resonate with many of my readers — why devote an entire living room to a couch and a TV when it could be your office? Why a formal dining area you use 2x/year when it could be an exercise room?

By: Sean

Sean — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 17:16:29 +0000

Earplugs are awesome. There’s something about how eerily quiet it makes everything that makes me even more productive than when listening to music. They’re also cheaper and more convenient.

By: Stephan F-

Stephan F- — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 16:47:43 +0000

I use the library as it is not too far away and is mostly silent already. I just found my noise canceling headphones again and they make a huge difference. Sennheiser pcx250s if you’re curious much less expensive then the Bose.

I use my Hipster to capture just about everything and note which context it goes in for later where I dump it into the correct document on the computer.

I listen to Enya a lot.

By: Michelle

Michelle — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 15:54:07 +0000

I find I actually work better with a little TV noise in the background. The key is that I cant have on something I would want to watch, it has to be there just to break the silence otherwise I will get distracted.

By: Trent

Trent — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 15:18:18 +0000

The “hipster PDA” is more of a “things to do” list, while the idea notebook is more chaotic and full of things to think about.

Right now, my laptop case is basically just a two pocket backpack. I’m in the market for a better one, though.

By: Brian

Brian — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 15:00:51 +0000

Trent, I’m curious–why do you use both a hipster PDA and an idea notebook? Why not one or the other?

By: Mariette

Mariette — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 04:34:53 +0000

Great post Trent! I agree with Carlos that staying motivated is key, something I often have difficulty with and which is why I sometimes don’t apply all of these wonderful concepts, even though I know how to use them. I’m better than I used to be though and that’s good to keep in mind, so long as the long-term progress is towards improvement and I continue to try, then we’re good. Who am I fooling, I’d be better off if I tried harder.

By: Eugene

Eugene — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 03:53:48 +0000

What laptop carrying case do you use?

By: Daisy

Daisy — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 02:48:36 +0000

This is great; thanks! I’m always overwhelmed but all the stuff I have to be doing at any given moment. Your ideas will be a big help.

By: E.C.

E.C. — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 02:17:29 +0000

I greatly enjoyed this post. I’ve discovered that wearing earplugs greatly improves my focus. My dad always wears them while reading and at times it bothered me that he felt the need to tune out our family for large portions of each day, but I’m beginning to understand the value of silence.

By: FinanceAndFat

FinanceAndFat — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 01:26:07 +0000

Very nice! This reminds me that I used to be very productive in coffee shops after work while finishing my degree. Somehow I fell out of that habit. Perhaps I can pick up the pace on my blog with a large latte in hand!

By: Oswegan

Oswegan — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 00:10:24 +0000

I really like this idea. Unfortunately for me we don’t really have an extra room in the house and so all of my writing takes place in my bedroom at night and I often disturb my wife when she is trying to sleep. I’ll have to think of a place to make my own or come up with some way to be more portable.

~Oswegan
http://oswegan.blogspot.com

By: Kyle Brooks

Kyle Brooks — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 21:39:02 +0000

Trent, question: without music, how do you get into the silent mindset? Your post is great!

By: Aaron Stroud

Aaron Stroud — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 21:27:16 +0000

Excellent strategy Trent. You’re really going to receive dividends over the years as your kids get older and rightfully receive more and more of your time!

Boy do I wish I could survive on fewer hours of sleep. Unfortunately my brain needs at least a solid 8 hours to recharge.

By: Lisa

Lisa — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 21:22:10 +0000

The biggest obstacle for many to overcome is avoiding immediately checking thesimpledollar each time the laptop is opened (or email, news, etc.)
I am a grad student and use the same Eno CD. It is not sleepy. I also have a little program on my mac called Noise that I use to drown out background noise.

By: chris

chris — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 21:14:53 +0000

I agree on using the right kind of music. Back in college I found that the perfect music to get my writing/coding done was the original blue man group CD (not the one with vocal, the all instrumental)

By: Carlos

Carlos — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 20:54:33 +0000

This is probably one of the most informative posts I’ve read on this site in terms of the specific issues I’m curious about. I too carry a notebook (Moleskine) and write at a coffee shop before work (so it’s a little creepy too). What I like best is that there is no secret “aha!” trick to getting all your work done, it’s just a matter of being efficient and staying motivated.

By: J.D.

J.D. — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 19:50:25 +0000

I love this concept, Trent. It incorporates a lot of things that I’ve learned over the past few years, but which I’ve failed to put into practice: meditation, a private space, getting things done, etc. This is actually something I’m striving to create for myself. I have the room. Now I just need to learn to use it. And get rid of interruptions. Weaning myself off e-mail would be a keen thing…

By: ongrowthtrack

ongrowthtrack — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 18:42:36 +0000

Thanks for so much detail on such a powerful technique.