Quiet UK

Author: kchristian1

  • Sound or Noise? What are you hearing?

    Sound or Noise? What are you hearing?

    I’d like you to imagine a scenario. You’re sat at home, on your sofa, you’ve just finished work and you want to wind down. What do you do? My first thought would be a cold glass of alcohol-free beer. My second would be, ‘how about some music.’ So, if you’re like me you turn on your wireless speaker, connect your phone and depending on the kind of day you’ve had the music coming out could be anything from opera to country western, heavy metal to the songs of Disney (just me?). You listen and you relax. This is sound.

    Now I’d like you to imagine another scenario. This time you are standing up on a commuter train (standing, of course because there are never any seats by the time the train gets to your stop). A person opposite you is listening to the music they like. It’s probably something to relax them during their equally miserable commute. It’s probably music that you would normally enjoy in any other circumstance. But, today, right now, the tinny, ptz ptz ptz and muffled lyrics are driving you to distraction. You feel you heart race, your fists clench and you start thinking homicidal thoughts (again, just me?). You don’t want to listen, you can’t relax. This is noise.

    Noise or sound?

    So, what’s the difference between the two scenarios? Technically, there is no difference between sound and noise – they are both caused by vibrating air particles that generate pressure waves and are detected by the ear before being translated by the brain into something that you hear. But from a hearing point of view the difference is highly subjective. Sound is something we hear. Noise is something we don’t want to hear.

    The difference between a sound we want to hear and one we don’t is listener intent. More than likely, a sound that we have had some agency in creating or agreeing to listen to is preferable to one that is being created by or forced upon us by someone else.

    For example, my husband loves classic music and likes to play it in the car. In contrast all I hear is the scritchy, scratchy violins and once I detect them, that is all I can focus on. If I’m in the car, the stereo is getting turned off. The sound is the same but translated very differently by our brains.

    There are several factors that may change a sound to a noise:

    • the volume – it doesn’t have to be loud, sometimes a quiet sound can be more annoying.
    • the characteristics – for example, the frequency
    • the duration – a dog barking once or twice is probably ok, but what if it barks for several hours?
    • the time of the noise – again the dog barking during the day might be ok, but at 3am?

    And these are all subjective. One person’s noise is another person’s relaxing soundscape.

    But how does this help people who have sensitive hearing, who find there is more noise in their life than sound? For me, thinking about the difference between sound and noise has helped a bit (definite work in progress based on my reaction to my neighbour mowing his lawn today!). I don’t live in a world of silence; I create sounds that might escape into other people’s worlds and give them a bit of a tic. I’m sure not everyone appreciates my lively renditions of Let it Go or Total Eclipse of the Heart.

    Some tips to reduce noise in your life

    If the noise is coming from in your home, try explaining how it impacts you to the person making it – my husband now only plays his guitar and piano when I’m out of the house.

    Can you change your commute? Not a simple solution for everyone but sometimes changing your train or bus to the one before or after your usual one can make a massive difference to the amount of people and therefore noise. Or could you walk part of your commute – stress busting in itself and saves you money!

    I would say use the quiet carriage but from experience those are a greater source of noise and stress than the buffet car!

    Noise cancelling headphones are an option. My mum swears by her’s but I feel claustrophobic in them. I recomend you try out a friend’s pair before shelling out for some – they are not cheap.

    At the moment I’m exploring how I can learn to live with some noise and also how to find the quiet that some days my head craves so much it hurts. As I try things out I’ll share the results with you (good and bad). The above tips are just a couple of things that I’ve found to help – and they won’t always help or they aren’t always possible but they are something to try and see if they work for you.

    Feel free to share your experiences of noise and how you have coped or what you have changed to improve your sound experience of the world.

  • Travelling in peace, or the search for a silent minibar

    Travelling in peace, or the search for a silent minibar

    So, hands up, who can’t wait to book their next holiday?

    I love to travel and I really love hotels. I don’t understand people who say, “it’s just a place to sleep.” Ok, sure, if it’s an overnight stop on the way to your destination then a motorway motel will probably be ok.

    But if I’m spending more than a night there then I need comfort, quiet and at the very least a rain shower. The key word there is quiet. A hotel can be the fanciest place, in the hippest new destination but if they have noisy lifts or a humming minibar, then I’m out of there.

    Tips for finding a quiet hotel room

    • Look at TripAdvisor. Honestly, I take many of the reviews with a pinch of salt – one person’s too-hard bed is another person’s best sleep ever. But one thing that stands out is the complaints about noise. From paper thin walls to slamming doors to the bane of my life, the humming minibar, you can guarantee that someone will have mentioned it.
    • Ask if the hotel has a quiet zone – some of the bigger chains have been introducing these.
    • Or if they don’t have on ask for a quiet room. And this is where being extra polite can help. Even when booking online I become the nicest person in the world (I’m quite nice anyway, but I really dial it up a notch) putting lots of pleases and thank yous in the comment/ request box.
    • Ask for a high floor – although do check if the hotel has a rooftop pool or bar – if so, you might be better off with a room on a middle level. High floors aren’t a guarantee of quiet but especially in cities they can put a few more metres between you and people and traffic on the street.
    • Ask for a room that is away from reception. You might have a bit of a hike with your luggage but a room further away from reception should mean less footfall going past your door. Corner rooms are quiet for the same reason – and less likely to have a lift nearby.
    • Big one – ask for a room away from the lift. Lifts are noisy – beeps and dings and creaking doors, and they are an area that attracts people; and depending on the speed of the lift can leave those people standing in the corridor, repeatedly pushing the button and loudly discussing what they want for breakfast.
    • Do you really need the stunning view? Especially if between you and it there is a four-lane highway or trams that run until 2am? If you prefer peace over mountains or sea, why not opt for rooms at the back or facing over the courtyard? Bonus – these rooms are normally cheaper.
    • After doing all this, make sure you get what you asked for. When checking in mention that you requested a high floor/ away from lift/ quiet room. Sometimes requests can be missed on booking and this gives the receptionist a chance to help you out and save you and them time.
    • And, finally, if you get to the room and it is noisy, ask to move. Hotels don’t want unhappy customers writing bad reviews so most will move you – and sometimes you even get an upgrade!

    Here is my standard request when booking a hotel room:

    Hi, please can I request a quiet room on a high floor and away from the lift. Many thanks for your help and I’m looking forward to staying with you.

    And remember if the room isn’t quiet or there are annoying noises, report it to the hotel first and give them a chance to rectify the issue.

    TripAdvisor and other review sites are great sources of information so please help your fellow quiet travellers and write a review – good or bad – to let them make the best choice. I’m going to commit to writing reviews that highlight noise (or lack of) in the title so you can spot them easily.

    I hope these tips help you when you book your next holiday. Happy travels!

  • Hearing therapy and what it’s taught me about tinnitus

    Hearing therapy and what it’s taught me about tinnitus

    Walking down a grey corridor in an unloved NHS community hospital, the curled edges of leaflets about coping with old age poking out of wire stands, I’m feeling a bit suspicious about how hearing therapy could help me. I enter a large room, peeling magnolia paint, tiny cell-like window, two chairs in the middle of the room. And there sat on one of the chairs my therapist. A vision of serenity with a genuine smile, she beckons me to the chair opposite hers.

    The last time I had therapy was with a slightly intense therapist, who stared too much and in one session had a giant bogey sticking out of his nose – I didn’t go back. That was for grief and anxiety. I really didn’t know what to expect from therapy for my ears!

    Tinnitus, from a medical point of view, really sucks. For a start it’s difficult (and subjective) to explain what you’re hearing – how loud is loud, what does the ringing sound like? Next, there’s little understanding of tinnitus and it’s causes, mainly because it’s not very sexy from a medical research funding point of view! You also can’t measure tinnitus – there’s no version of a thermometer or stethoscope that can give your doctor numbers to put on a chart or table. Despite this, there are things you can do to help manage your tinnitus. Such as hearing therapy…

    That first session I was asked a lot of questions – how, what, when, where my tinnitus affected me and set a couple of tasks – keep a diary of the sounds and think about what stress relieving activities I could incorporate into my life. I left feeling more positive, tinnitus still there, but I’d been able to ask the questions that had been worrying me: will it get worse, will it go away, will it spread to my other ear (I have unilateral tinnitus in my left ear). The therapist had answered the questions she could and been honest about the ones that she couldn’t. I trusted her and agreed to see her again the following month.

    Over the next year or so, I went back every few months. We discussed how I was getting on, celebrated breakthroughs such as a reduction in tinnitus perception, set objectives and agreed how much I should push myself. We also discussed sharing my needs with my family and friends – when my tinnitus is bad I get a throbbing pain in my ear, temporary reduction in hearing and inability to cope with more than one sound. After one session I went home and explained to my partner how he needed to say my name when talking to me to get my attention and that sometimes when driving I can’t cope with sound from the radio and also having a conversation. It’s little things, but they made a massive difference to how I coped with tinnitus and everyday stress. And the world was good for about a year.

    Then a few months ago I realised my tinnitus was back, really back, possibly worse than before. I didn’t panic, I knew it was stress-related – lockdown with noisy neighbours, cancelling the trip of a lifetime and keeping a husband with a heart condition safe had taken its toll. Thankfully, we’d left my therapy options open. One quick call and I had an appointment with my therapist – over the phone of course.

    My tinnitus hasn’t instantly got better, but the phone session gave me an opportunity to discuss what was going on in my world. I could rant about the noise from my neighbours and rather than feeling selfish, I was given support, told I wasn’t on my own in my (slightly/ very murderous) feelings about the people living opposite and given some new ideas to help calm the ringing in my ears. I even joined the National Trust afterwards so I could plan some quiet ‘me time’ at some of the local sites.

    What is hearing therapy?

    Hearing Therapy is a service which can provide information, counselling and practical assistance for people experiencing issues with hearing loss, central processing disorders, tinnitus and hyperacusis.

    The service uses the Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (TRT) approach which includes:

    • education
    • identifying triggers
    • implementing mindfulness-based stress reduction activities

    What has hearing therapy done for me?

    • Answered the worrying questions I had about my condition – or at least provided the information I needed to process my concerns
    • Helped me understand my condition
    • Helped me explore ways to reduce stress and manage my tinnitus
    • Helped to reduce my perception of my tinnitus – it’s always there, probably not going to go anywhere, but most of the time my brain ignores it
    • Showed me that the ‘me’ time I needed to help reduce stress is not selfish
    • Worked with my introvert personality to find the best coping methods and stress-reduction activities
    • Given me the words and concepts to discuss my condition with my partner, family and friends so they can better understand it and my needs.

    Hearing therapy is not a quick solution. You need to put in the time and effort to help yourself. Having an appointment in my diary meant that I had focus on the homework I’d been set – I’m someone who needs deadlines so this this was important for me.

    If you think hearing therapy could help you, please get in touch with your GP or medical provider. From my initial suspicions about any kind of therapy, I am now so grateful for the time I had talking through, addressing and learning to cope with my tinnitus.

    Find support

    More about tinnitus retraining therapy (TRT) from the British Tinnitus Association.

    If you need help or support with your tinnitus the British Tinnitus Association support line is available Mon-Fri 9-5 on 0800 018 0527. If you feel like you can’t cope and need help outside of these times the Samaritans are available 24/7 on 116 123.

    Here’s a link to the Bath and North East Somerset Community Health and Care Services hearing therapy service that I used. This is a free service. A quick look at other NHS trusts shows similar services, but please check with your GP. For non-UK countries please contact your local medical provider.

  • How to find quiet in an open plan office

    How to find quiet in an open plan office

    Buzz, bang, beep, cackle, holler, door screeching slowly closed. These are just some of the noises that welcome those of us that work in open plan offices. After several years of suffering in my own open-plan-noise-hell I’ve discovered there are plenty of things you can do to create quiet in even the most gossip-ridden, Tuesday-fire-alarm-testing, two-hour-speaker-phone-meeting office environment.

    Several years ago, I started working in my first open plan office. I wasn’t a big fan, but we had big windows looking out on to trees and green fields and large desks where we could create our own space. Then the company decided to fit more and more people into the same tiny area. Suddenly we went from two people on a desk to three, then four. I went from having several feet between me and my colleague to practically sitting on each other’s laps. It didn’t help that the intern who sat next to me had no concept of personal space, or indeed a volume button.

    As the noise went up, my stress levels went up and my productivity went down. Open plan offices done properly can improve collaboration, personal connections and create opportunities for people from different departments to mix and perhaps come up with the next big idea. However, they can still be loud and distracting and the background noise can reduce cognitive ability leading to reduced productivity.

    In my case they can also induce a slight murderous rage when the man-spreading senior manager next to me used to take hour long calls at his desk and clearly had no concept of how phones worked or he wouldn’t have been shouting down the receiver.

    But don’t worry there are plenty of ways to reduce the amount of noise in these notorious sound generating environments?

    What can you do to reduce noise levels in open plan offices?

    A lot of the noise in your office is probably out of your control, but here are a few things that can help create some quiet space for you:

    • Wear standard or noise cancelling earphones. This way you can listen to the sounds you want to. Just make sure they’re not turned up too loud, so you don’t contribute to the problem.
    • Lead by example
      • turn off unnecessary (all in my opinion) notifications on digital devices
      • have conversations away from other people’s desks
      • don’t talk over desks – it’s tempting if you have desk dividers to pop your head over and have a quick catch up with a colleague, but you won’t be the only people hearing the conversation.
    • Explore your office – find the quiet spaces that others haven’t discovered. I found so many ‘secret’ cubbyholes where I could find space and quiet when I needed it. Tip: the canteen outside of peak times can be an unlikely haven.
    • Don’t let things get really bad. Talk to your manager. A simple desk move might solve the problem. Don’t let things build up and bubble over. Address them before they have a negative impact on your health and mental wellbeing. Your manager might not even realise there is a problem. Go to them with some solutions and see how you can solve the problem together.
    • A personal one. At Christmas don’t bring in a musical clock that every hour places a tinny, high-pitched ‘version’ of Jingle Bells. You know who are, Lou!

    Office managers these ones are for you:

    • Create quiet spaces where people can focus on their work away from distractions.
    • Conversely you could create a noisy area – somewhere for huddles, lunch breaks, team training sessions to take place – just make sure it’s not next to the quiet space.
    • Assign quiet times – perhaps post lunch when everyone is in a bit of a lull anyway.
    • Introduce a visual key system so people can show if they are willing to be interrupted. We placed coloured cards on the top of our screens – green for yes, I’m free and happy to speak and red for I’m focussing on a task and do not want to be interrupted. Or there’s the earbud code – one in for happy to be spoken to, two in for leave me alone.
    • Encourage staff to work from home. Yes, I know many companies are encouraging/ forcing workers back to our offices but one or two days a week at home can make a massive difference to the quality of life and productivity of an employee who prefers it quiet.
    • No speakerphone conversations in the office – hearing one voice is bad enough!
    • And leading on from this – no video calls at desks. Encourage everyone to treat video calls as a meeting and go to a designated meeting space.
    • Move noise generating equipment away from desks and quiet areas. It might be a noisy machine, or it could be people congregating and chatting at the printer.
    • Finally, listen to colleagues who say they are struggling with noise. Work together to see how things can change. They might not be the only ones who are having a bad time. Simple changes can make a world of difference to their health and mental wellbeing and your business productivity.

    There are also myriad ways of reducing the sound by, for example, changing the layout, adding acoustic panels and planting living walls. These maybe suitable for your business or not but a quick google brings up loads of options in varying price ranges.

    I’d love to know how other people cope with open plan offices – from both a personal and business perspective. Keeping everyone happy is not easy but as we spend so much of our time at work, we need to learn compassion and respect for our colleagues. I don’t want to silence the loud voices, but equally they shouldn’t be the only voices heard.

  • Why listening to birds is good for your health

    Why listening to birds is good for your health

    “Shag me, shag me, shag me.”

    After weeks of hearing a Great Tit scream this from the tree outside my bedroom, I was ready to sign him up to bird Tinder. OK, so I’m not a bird whisperer, and he might have been saying “Oi lazy, the feeder’s empty.” But it was that time of year when the birds all get a bit frisky and their calls a bit louder, and this poor fellow really did seem to be missing out on all the action.

    Despite this slightly jarring addition to the soundscape of my garden, I love to sit and listen to the different birds coming and going, chatting and scrapping, or in the case of the most ubiquitous of songbirds, the blackbird, announcing the start and end of the day. Each bird has a different story to tell and if you listen closely you can even tell the rain is coming because the sparrows start to cheep and chirrup louder and more frantically — I like to think they are doing a public service by telling me to get my washing in.

    In a study by researchers from the University of Surrey, birdsong was shown to be associated with perceived stress recovery and attention restoration, although not all birds were equal in their ability to calm. Wood pigeons and even chickens were associated with stress reduction, while “spooky” owls and the chattering and raucous magpies were seen as stressors.

    I’m not sure I agree with the latter as I love the magpies that come to my garden (including a playful family of five last year) and often have rambling conversations with them as they scoop up the leftover hedgehog biscuits. They are super intelligent (they drop the hard biscuits in water to soften them before eating) and I feel they appreciate the effort I make to create a bird-safe garden environment. But I can see how the calls they make could be disruptive to others.

    Quite often the sound of a bird is the only thing to give away their presence, especially in urban areas where they might not be as obvious. The song of the robin can be heard long before you spy him hiding on the upper branches of a tree. Sitting and looking out of my office window there is a row of trees between me and the next lot of houses, and it is a haven for regular and just passing avian friends. In the summer when all the leaves are out, the songs and calls are all there is to identify who is lurking in amongst the green.

    Naturally good for you

    The cackling anguish that is a spooked blackbird is easy to recognise, others I have yet to learn, but a new sound is sure to catch my ear, and draw me away from my work for a few minutes of immersion in nature.

    The University of Surrey study showed that birdsong was the preferred natural sound (over water and other animal sounds) and that it could provide a distraction or alternative focus from stressors.

    But, unfortunately, this wonderful, free and natural stress reliever may not be around for future generations as the number of songbirds is in decline thanks to modern farming and building practices that destroy their natural environments.

    Save our songbirds

    We must act now to stop further destruction of these environments before we lose their songs forever. One way to help is to support local bird charities such as the RSPB in the UK or the American Bird Conservancy in the US. Another is to be aware of the sounds around you, learn which feathered friend is visiting your garden, office building or park. The more you listen the more you will be aware of any changes and be able to act.

    And remember, if the birds are singing, then nature has a smile on her face, and so will you.

  • What does tinnitus sound like?

    What does tinnitus sound like?

    EEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeEEEeeeeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. Annoying right? Welcome to the world of my tinnitus.

    But surely all tinnitus is the same? A ringing sound in the ears. Yes, I thought the same when I was first diagnosed — I assumed that I heard what everyone with tinnitus heard.

    Hang on a minute, what is tinnitus?

    Tinnitus is a sound that is perceived in the ear or the head that has no external source. But the sound is very real to the person with tinnitus. The word tinnitus comes from the Latin for ringing.

    Some people have a fleeting experience with tinnitus, for others, it is a lifelong companion. I’ve had tinnitus since 2016.

    Hearing sounds that no one else can, sounds interesting!

    Tinnitus is not a disease or illness. It is not a mental health condition. Tinnitus has a range of triggers including ear infection, exposure to loud noise, stress and changes to your health and wellbeing. Mine was caused by persistent, high levels of stress throughout 2016 (it was such a crappy year!).

    There has also been a lot of media about COVID-19 and tinnitus. This is something I may revisit once more research has been done. But it’s important to note that tinnitus can appear and peak at times of stress (mine had a spectacular increase during the first few months of lockdown).

    Unfortunately, despite 30% of people experiencing tinnitus at some point in their lives, it is underfunded when it comes to research.

    So what do you hear?

    I hear the annoying list of EEEEEs above — fairly monotone, with the ‘sound’ level increasing during increased levels of stress and anxiety. In fact, my tinnitus often lets me know I’m stressed before I realise I need to put on Headspace. In that way, it can be quite useful, in comparison to when it’s keeping me awake at 3am, seemingly just for the fun of it.

    But you may hear something very different. I recently attended a tinnitus support group where one of the participants had only been diagnosed a couple of months before. Her tinnitus was a whooshing sound that she felt was taking over her head and her life. She was visibly distraught and wanted to know when it would stop. Unfortunately, the answer to that is impossible to know, other than for most people, tinnitus — or your perception of it can improve over time. Her description of her tinnitus was so different to mine — but I recognised in her the stress I’d felt when first diagnosed.

    Tinnitus sounds can include ringing, buzzing, humming, whooshing, hearing your heartbeat (pulsatile tinnitus) or even music (musical tinnitus). A family member hears an undulating humming sound — there seems to be no reason behind the type of sound you hear.

    You may have noticed that I’ve used the word ‘sound’ rather than ‘noise’ when talking about what I perceive. Noise is described as a sound that is unwanted (to me this includes Jazz, leafblowers and that annoying beep my washing machine makes when it’s finished its cycle). And yes, tinnitus isn’t the easiest thing to live with. But I find using ‘sound’ to describe it takes away the need to fight against it.

    I can’t promise you’ll make friends with your tinnitus but anything you can do to encourage acceptance will go a long way to reducing its impact on your life.

    Find support

    If you are hearing or start to hear sounds in your ears or head please speak to your doctor or healthcare professional. Very rarely tinnitus can be a sign of something that will need further investigation. They may also be able to refer you to a hearing therapist (I recommend giving this a go — my therapist has been wonderfully supportive and doesn’t take any shit from me about not doing the exercises).

    You can also get in touch with the British Tinnitus Association or American Tinnitus Association — both of whom have excellent support networks.

  • Notifications and alarms – why it’s time to silence your digital world

    Notifications and alarms – why it’s time to silence your digital world

    Back in the late 1980s, my Nan bought a Grandfather clock for my Grandad. And my grandad was delighted. He set it up and we all waited patiently for the next hour to arrive. Ding-dong-ding-dong it went. We all clapped enthusiastically. Fast-forward a couple of days and the once novel chimes were driving us to distraction. Another couple of days and the bells were silenced, only to be allowed to ring once a year on New Year’s Eve. We didn’t need to be alerted to every passing hour of our lives.

    More recently, at a family event, I found a rather more modern technology was driving me to distraction. Ding went my Nan’s iPad. Boing went my mother’s phone. Yet another phone announced ‘your son is texting you’ to the whole room. It took a lot of willpower, and a desire to remain on the Christmas present list, not to grab their devices and lob them out the window. And these digital noise offenders weren’t my younger cousins or their kids, these were the boomers and early-born Gen Xers. They seem to have missed the memo on the effects of app notifications and allowing your digital devices to infiltrate every waking moment.

    And I wouldn’t mind if they got up and answered the alert. Nope, my Nan’s iPad continued to ‘ding’ away in the corner, each ‘ding’ seemingly getting louder each time it was ignored. She’d acknowledge each ‘ding’ by stopping the conversation, saying ‘oh that’s an email’ before going back to whatever she was talking about.

    Just turn them off

    Just to clarify — turn off your notifications, not your grandparents.

    I used to be an early adopter of various devices but then I got bored with the faff of setting them up, not to mention the cost. My Samsung phone is eight years old and the phone company have given up sending me updates on the latest phone that I ‘really must have’. And in the eight years I’ve had the phone the only sound it has ever made is ‘ring’. I will admit that at one point in the early 00s my Nokia used to beep out the theme tune to Fraggle Rock, but I have learned my lesson.

    The first thing I do whenever something digital comes in the house is turn off all the beeps, dings, bleeps etc. With the exception of my sodding attention-seeking washing machine which I can’t silence — AEG I’m looking at you.

    And it’s worth the ten minutes of my life it takes to do this — I know it’s a foreign concept to some but I believe if something is really that urgent the person will call me.

    Pay attention

    Those little dings, bings and bleeps do nothing but seek and divert our attention. Some studies suggest that app notifications are to blame for our lack of concentration. Others say that they are a symptom of a society that expects us to be contactable (by work or family and friends) at all times which has a knock on effect on our health and wellbeing. Whichever it is, turning off your notifications solves both problems.

    A study by Deloitte showed that the average American household has 25 connected devices — that’s a lot of things that go beep. And according to RescueTime we pick up our phones an average of 58 times a day — often in response to a notification. And once you’re on your phone you may as well check the news or the latest TikTok trend. Now, what was I doing again?

    Plus, if like me, you’re someone with hyperacusis (noise sensitivity) the sounds can create anxiety and a reduction in general wellbeing. Add in misophonia (a decreased tolerance to specific sounds) and I’ll be the person sitting next to you on the train plotting increasingly vindictive ways to kill you while your phone beeps away, letting you know there’s a photo of your cousin’s kid playing football on WhatsApp. Think about those around you — an app notification that makes a sound is not only notifying you.

    I’m focussing on the sounds devices make here because I write about sound and hearing health. But it doesn’t have to be sound — a red dot or flashing light can be equally distracting — if a little less annoying to those around you.

    I’m not dissing tech and social media. After I’ve pressed publish on this story I’ll head over to Bluesky to share it. But as much as I’d like you to read this story, it will never be that important that your device has to alert you to its presence.

  • What is noise pollution and what can you do about it?

    What is noise pollution and what can you do about it?

    Stop for a minute. Turn off the TV. Take off your headphones. What do you hear? If you hear nothing but natural sounds — birds, water, bees buzzing, then you’re either very lucky or your brain is doing its utmost not to hear the everyday noise of the human-made world.

    And our brains are very good at this. Walk into a room with a smelly dog and you’ll probably wrinkle your nose at first, but give it a while and nose blindness will kick in. The same happens with sounds and noise. But even if we can’t ‘hear’ them they are still having an effect on our bodies and our wellbeing. A WHO study showed that one million healthy years of life are lost every year due to traffic noise in western Europe alone. One million healthy years of life!

    And guess who is more likely to live in areas with higher levels of noise pollution? Yep, people with lower socioeconomic status and other disadvantaged groups.

    What is noise pollution?

    We hear a lot about air pollution, with good reason. Interestingly many of the things that cause air pollution also cause noise pollution — cars, planes, factories — they do a real number on the environment around them.

    Excessive noise seriously harms human health and interferes with people’s daily activities at school, at work, at home and during leisure time. It can disturb sleep, cause cardiovascular and psychophysiological effects, reduce performance and provoke annoyance responses and changes in social behaviour. World Health Organization (WHO)

    Last week the UK and Europe literally burned in a record-breaking heatwave. As per the advice I kept my windows and curtains shut during the day to keep out the worst of the heat. In the late evening, when it finally cooled a bit, I opened the windows and was greeted by the sound of lawnmowers. Who the f*ck is mowing their lawn when it was still 30+ degrees. Why the f*ck would you mow what is essentially now straw due to the climate crisis-induced heatwave. This action was unnecessary and showed a distinct lack of consideration for their neighbours. I shut the windows and swore and sweated a lot.

    Noise pollution is harming the environment. Noise pollution is harming human health. It can lead to hearing loss and tinnitus. It creates stress in the body leading to cardiovascular disease. It reduces children’s ability to learn. It affects sleep patterns — a big one for me, and trust me the world doesn’t need me getting less sleep.

    Noise pollution needs to be a political issue. It needs to be a priority in every political party manifesto. Environmental groups need to talk about it more. Reducing or changing the things that make noise will have a positive impact on the climate crisis.

    But what can I do about it?

    First of all, listen. Listen for the good sounds, the birds singing, the arrival of bees in spring. Not only are these sounds good for your wellbeing, they also need someone listening out for them so that if they are impacted by human behaviour someone notices and does something about it.

    Other practical things you can do include:

    • Stop flying — that’s it. We all know we need to stop doing that shit.
    • Ditch the car if you are able — walk, cycle, wheel or use (quiet) public transport instead. And no, electric cars aren’t silent. The engines might not roar like a diesel or petrol engine, but the noise they create when travelling on the road is just the same.
    • Campaign for low-traffic neighbourhoods and lower speed limits in your area. Remember 20 is plenty where people live.
    • Dig up your lawn and replace it with herbs and pollinator-friendly plants = no more lawn mower or strimmer. I did this and the increase in bees, birds and butterflies has been amazing. Plus we saved £150 on replacing our broken lawnmower.*
    • Talk to your local council or government — make them understand that this is an important issue. Ask them to consider noise pollution whenever they approve a new housing estate or road. Perhaps instead of a new road, they could improve the walking and cycling infrastructure?

    These suggestions link closely to noises that I feel impact my life. You might have other noises that you feel are more urgent to rid your environment of. One person I follow on Twitter would love to see the end of leaf blowers. Why not buy a rake and broom instead — that way you also get a workout.

    It’s time to get noisy about noise.

    *Lawns are carbon sinks. If you dig up your lawn replace it with other plants and trees. Don’t pave over it or replace with other forms of hard landscaping.

  • Simple solutions for a quieter life

    Simple solutions for a quieter life

    Back in the day when I used to commute to work the simple task of getting the train used to raise my stress levels to breaking point. Five days a week I’d arrive at the station five minutes before my train, then wait an extra ten minutes because the train was always delayed. I’d then jostle with my fellow commuters trying to claim a spare foot of space as my own. The journey itself was 12 minutes, except on days when we had to stop because of branches, cows or swans on the track (yes, all three of those we’re given as reasons for delays). And by the time I reached work, I was a jittery mess of anxiety and hatred towards all humanity.

    Yes, the delays were frustrating, paying for a seat and not being able to get one was a tad irritating, but the thing that got to me most was the noise. From the minute the carriage doors clunked shut there was constant noise. The train manager making unintelligible announcements over the PA. The squeals, bangs and squeaks of under-invested in rolling stock. The new phenomena of people playing music or watching movies without headphones — it was bad enough having loud, tinny music leach from headphones, but this new antisocial habit is enough to make me shove their devices into some very dark holes. And who can forget the very important man (yes, always a man) who doesn’t understand how a phone works and shouts so loudly into the receiver that the whole carriage knows just how important it is that Steve gets the contract to Maggie by close of play.

    In the end, I started driving to work — yes, I know this is not the sustainable option, but honestly, I was so far past the end of my tether that I was liable to headbutt the next very important man I came across. My commute time went from 12 minutes to 45 minutes, but those 45 minutes were quiet. Before this, I was ready to quit my job but this little change allowed me to hang on until I was ready to go freelance.

    In an increasingly loud world, opportunities for quiet seem to be diminishing. From the minute we wake up to the beep beep beep of our alarms to the time we are lulled to sleep by the near-constant rumble of traffic and aeroplanes noise is always there. And it’s killing us.

    So how can you find the quiet space you need?

    Explore your local community

    Even in the busiest of city, you can find quiet nooks and crannies. Sometimes they are obvious places like large, tree-filled parks but there are also plenty of hidden spaces waiting to be discovered. One of my favourite places is churches. I’m not religious but the enforced quiet of a religious building can be a blessing. But you need to avoid the fancy ones, the ones that tourist flock to.

    For example, Liverpool has two cathedrals. The first, and oldest is the appropriately named Liverpool Cathedral. An imposing building full of stained glass, stone carvings and tourists. The other, Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral, is a modern building with a derogatory nickname due to its, shall we say, distinctive architecture. And because of this fewer people visit making it a much calmer space. This building is a wonderful space to escape the rumble of traffic and bustle of the nearby shopping centre. (If you’re not religious please be aware of the religious practices in the building and act appropriately).

    Turn everything off

    Nice and simple this one. Take off your headphones. Turn off the TV, phone and tablet. If you are constantly listening to your devices you won’t know when there is quiet around you.

    Yes, they block out unwanted noise, but you are just substituting one noise for another. Turn them off and listen. Let your ears lead you towards the quiet they crave.

    Change your schedule

    A few years ago I worked in an open-plan office. Well, that was its own special kind of hell. No Phil, making hour-long calls on speakerphone is not sodding appropriate. Other than building your own fort out of reams of printer paper and broken A4 binders there’s not a lot you can do to change the physical space. But what if you changed when you are in the space?

    My old company allowed flexi-time — as long as we were in the building for the core hours we could start as early as 7am and finish as late as 8pm. I was an early bird and would arrive outside the office at 6.59am and leave just as the clock struck 3pm. This worked because the rest of my team were night owls who would rock up sometime between 9.30 and 10.00. Leaving me with up to three delightful hours of quiet every day.

    Depending on your company this might take a bit of negotiating, but it’s worth a try — even half an hour of quiet a day could make a difference.

    Avoid traffic

    Venice and Amsterdam are major European tourist sites, filled with people, cafes and restaurants. But they are both missing one thing — cars. Thanks to their unique landscape and, in the case of Amsterdam, their attitude towards cars, they are filled with the hubbub of people, but they lack the roar of motorised transport.

    Some towns and cities are finding ways to reduce our reliance on cars but others are still stuck in a car is King mindset. This gives you another reason to explore your neighbourhood or perhaps try a different walking route to work.

    If I walk the most direct route from my house into town I end up walking alongside a major road — filled with all the accompanying air and noise pollution. But if I take a diagonal route, it adds five minutes, but it avoids the main road and takes me along a tree-lined path that skirts a brook with all its accompanying bird song and babbling. For the sake of five minutes, I know which my lungs and ears prefer.

    I hope these simple ideas will help you to find some quiet space. I’d love to hear if you have any other ideas for finding a bit of hush in our increasingly noisy world.

  • There’s one way you can help me sleep better (please)

    There’s one way you can help me sleep better (please)

    I’ve got a little favour to ask…

    It won’t take much of your time and it could mean the difference between a good night’s sleep and me trying to work out how to turn off the buzzing minibar at 1am without ripping it off the wall. It could mean the difference between a few hours of rest after a long day exploring a new place and my husband screaming at children who are running up and down the corridor at 3am (yes, this really happened — Disneyland Paris, 2005). It will definitely mean the difference between me enjoying the hotel I’ve spent hard-earned cash on and spending the day searching for a hotel to move to so I don’t start plotting ways to end all humanity.

    So what is this little favour?

    I need you to write hotel reviews. More specifically I need you to write reviews that mention the noise levels of the hotel. I don’t care if you’re an American and have turned up in Paris or Venice and the rooms are ‘so small I can barely stand up’. We know the rooms in our centuries-old listed buildings are small, but we like them. I’m also not overly concerned if the car park is a little tight or if the receptionist doesn’t jump at your every last little whim. These things won’t disrupt my holiday or cause anxiety or an increase in tinnitus levels. They are minor inconveniences — knock off a star if you must, but I only have one concern — is the room quiet enough to sleep in?

    So, please, when you write your next review, in between moaning about or gushing over the range of pastries at breakfast, take a moment and think about the noises you heard during your stay.

    • Were the walls in the room paper thin so you could hear everything going on in the room next door?
    • Did the bare wood floors make the people on the floor above sound like they were partying with a herd of tiny elephants?
    • Did the air con hiss and whine all night despite being turned off?

    Quiet night? It’ll cost you

    A recent article in the Guardian talked about a new trend for sleep tourism. Fancy hotels who have created plush rooms with soundproofing, comfortable beds and blackout curtains promising a great night’s sleep. Now, excuse me for being picky, but surely the aim of every hotel should be to offer a great night’s sleep?

    Yes, depending on what you spend the bedding might be fancier, the shower gel might have come from an over-hyped apothecary in Mayfair or you might be lucky to get some PG Tips and the slowest boiling kettle in the world. But a great night’s sleep should be the number one aim for anyone opening a hotel. What the else are you there for?

    Perhaps if more of us write about the noise issues then hotels might start to pay attention. If people aren’t staying at their hotel because the lifts are noisy or housekeeping bangs their vacuum against the door at 7am, then they might do something about it. If not it’s going to affect their bottom line.

    Recent hotel noise issues

    Here’s just a handful of noise-related issues that have led to middle-of-the-night rage:

    • A buzzing minibar in a £250 a night room — the plug was hidden behind a panel so I couldn’t even turn it off.
    • A loose manhole cover on the road outside — nothing the hotel can do directly but they can report it to the council. When asked if they’d done this they responded, “No, it’s always been like that.”
    • A lift that every time the door opened bellowed “first floor” loud enough to wake us in the room furthest away from it. I’d hate to have been in the room opposite.
    • A hotel receptionist in Paris who when I complained about the traffic noise and asked to be moved to a courtyard room responded, “It’s Paris”, in that spectacularly haughty way that only Parisians can pull off. I appreciate it’s a major city with all the accompanying noise — I’ve stayed in Paris many times. But I didn’t expect to stay in a hotel where they’d apparently opted for tracing paper rather than soundproof windows.
    • A beautiful old hotel in the hills above Donostia / San Sebastián — lovely and peaceful until the dog on the farm next door started barking at 4pm and continued through until quarter past ten.

    Some of these things the hotels should have thought about when they were being built — oh the doors slam really loudly, perhaps we’ll go with a different style? Some of these things can’t be changed — yes the centuries-old buildings in Europe are beautiful, but they’re often not practical or easily modernised.

    But I’d like to know about these things so I can make an informed choice. And writing a review that comments on the noise levels, even just a few words, could make the difference between me spending a lot of money for barely a wink of sleep or waking from a night where it feels like I’ve been cocooned in a marshmallow made of love and kittens (Sofitel Luxembourg, that’s all you).

    Of course, some of these things wouldn’t bother other people — I admit as a person with tinnitus and misophonia I’m perhaps more sensitive to noise than others. But with 7.1 million people in the UK suffering from tinnitus and one in five having misophonia, a little bit of thought about noise will go a long way.

  • Why we need to listen more

    Why we need to listen more

    Nine years ago, my tinnitus started. Silence was a thing of the past. Then over the last few years, I become more and more sensitive to and annoyed by noise. The quietest woof of a dog in the distance was enough to kick my fight or flight response into action. Every beep, bang or bark was an intrusion in my hearing space. At that point I hadn’t accepted that silence, due to tinnitus was a thing of the past.

    The Covid lockdowns made things worse. Some noise went away for a while – the bypass near our house was much quieter for a few months. But this was replaced by other humanmade noises – drilling, mowing lawns, and don’t get me started on the pointlessness of leaf blowers. There was an increase in people buying dogs (for company and as an excuse to leave the house more often). More dogs, more barking, more noise. The constant doses of cortisol hitting my system were leaving me exhausted, and a bit of a cow to live with, especially when I shouted out the window at the early morning dog walkers.

    Listen more

    What would happen if I listened more? I decided to stop fightling the noise and take control of the sounds I wanted to hear, and learn to adapt to or find ways to remove the noise that I didn’t.

    Sound is something we want to hear, something that pleases us.
    Noise is an unwanted sound, often humanmade.

    For example: at the moment I’m stood in front of my window, it’s a beautiful spring morning, the birds are flirting with each other and busying themselves making nests. This is a good sound. In the near distance, there’s a delivery vehicle announcing to the world with eardrum-pummelling squeals, that it is reversing, this is a bad sound. Before, this would have led me to don my noise-cancelling headphones, removing both the good and bad sounds. No more birdsong!

    So, if I want the birdsong in my life what can I do? Well now, I take a little more time and care when I’m listening. I can rationalise that the irritating noise will soon go away, and the birds will continue with their tunes (well, at least most of the time I can, it’s a work-in-progress). I try and tune into the sounds I want to, and let them flow over the noise, a DPD van reversing is little competition for a wren at full blast. This takes some time and practice, a bit like meditation, but it’s worth it, even if you only manage a few minutes at a time to start with.

    I believe we should be more active listeners to the world around us, rather than just accepting the noise. And this is especially important now while the world is a bit quieter and we can hear the sounds we want to hear. Noise pollution is not only stressful, but it also shortens life expectancy. A study by the World Health Organisation (WHO) shows that in Western Europe alone, at least 1.6 million healthy years of life are lost to noise pollution.

    There are some noises that I’m working to appreciate, rather than remove. The sound of people gathered in the park outside, chattering away, is something that, especially at the moment, should be cherished.

    Some noises are hard to appreciate or remove. Other than stealing all my neighbours DIY tools, there’s little I can do to silence that noise – and neither should I, they have a right to look after their property. I can however remove myself from the noise by going for a walk. I can also lead by example – this year we’re replacing our noisy electric lawnmower with a quieter cylinder one.

    For bigger noises, think planes, trains and automobiles, there are various groups you can join or support who are campaigning to either silence or quieten these intrusions. For example, HACAN campaign for those affected by the noise from planes taking off and landing at Heathrow.

    And it’s not all birdsong and wind rustling through the trees for me. There are still many times when the noise gets to me and I feel my anxiety rising. I’m not sure I’ll ever reach a sound nirvana. But for the sake of my health, and those who just want to walk their dogs at 6 am, I’m trying to accept the noises I can’t change, let the sounds I want to hear into my life, and work with others to remove or reduce the ones that are doing us physical and mental harm.

    But for now, why not open a window and have a listen to what is going on in the world around you. Sounds are subjective, ones that make me happy might make your teeth itch, and vice versa. So, try listening to the ones that make you smile, relax or feel part of nature. Those are the ones we need to amplify and appreciate before they’re buried in a world of noise.

    Originally published on Quest for Quiet (7 March 2021).

  • Swimming in silence

    Swimming in silence

    If you search ‘tinnitus swimming’ all the results talk about the negatives – swimmer’s ear being the main one, and how to prevent it. But for now, let’s take a look at the positives.

    My tinnitus is a barometer for my stress and anxiety levels. At the moment, after a brush with Covid, a nasty horsefly bite and some stressful deadlines at work my T is at peak attention-seeking. Swimming is my ultimate relaxant – although it has to be outdoors, I find indoor pools noisy and a bit grim (think used plasters floating by at eye level!). And it has to be skins, no neoprene here, although a bobble hat is essential and the absolute in outdoor swimming chic

    Outdoor swimming can also be a massive challenge. When I first started outdoor swimming in 2019, I was not a confident swimmer. The thought of not being able to put my feet down or the extremes of swimming in the winter took me so far out of my comfort zone, I’m not sure how I ever got back in the water, let alone fell in love with it. But fall in love I did, to the point I now swim in an old quarry that is 36 metres deep, with a 6m drop as soon as you kick off – no chance of putting my feet down. And this was the beginning of ‘silencing’ my tinnitus because the challenges meant I had something else to focus on.

    Now I find outdoor swimming the most relaxing thing in the world. The moment I step into the water, everything else in the world disappears. My mind is either silenced and I just bob along, chatting with the cormorants, great crested grebes and kingfishers, or it awakens my creativity – many stories have been conceived and plotted in the silky ripples of a lake. With my stressors removed, my tinnitus no longer has a place in my consciousness.

    Swimming alternatives

    BUt what happens when I can’t go for a swim? Instead, I have cold showers, apologies to my neighbours who have to put up with the regular shrieks, followed by giggles and laughter. This has something of a dampening effect, but it is shorter-lived than the effects of swimming.

    Go back to 2016 when my tinnitus started and I never would have said that swimming would be my go-to thing for silencing the ringing. And I guess that’s kind of the point. You don’t know if something’s going to work for you until you try it. So, please try not let tinnitus get you down. Meditation is often cited as something to try, but it might not work for you – it doesn’t work for me. But what about knitting, or gardening or mountain climbing? I find the best way to silence my T is to do an activity where my brain has to concentrate, so it doesn’t have time to become obsessed with the ringing, music or humming.

    I’d love to know what works (or doesn’t work) for you. Perhaps something you never expected to work has become your go-to way of distracting your brain. Feel free to share in the comments below.

    Further info

    If you are interested in outdoor/ wild/ cold water swimming please check out Outdoor Swimmer’s guide to swimming safely.

    If you need help or support with your tinnitus the British Tinnitus Association support line is available Mon-Fri 9-5 on 0800 018 0527. If you feel like you can’t cope and need help outside of these times the Samaritans are available 24/7 on 116 123.

    This post was originally posted on Quest for Quiet (10 Feb 2021).