noise driving me crazy - what to do?

[zway_zway]

Hi,

I'm a university studeint (with adhd) and I am extremely frustrated with the amount of idiots who have to giggle and chatter in all the places that are supposed to be quiet for studying.

I try to go the library early Sat and Sun mornings. And for a couple hrs get productive work done. Then these idiots arrive, sit in the quiet areas, and the whole time they either whisper or burst out giggling every 2 minutes. The other day, these stupid girls were taking pics with their cell phone cameras (making that fake "click" sound), and laughing hysterically.

I always search for new quiet places on campus, and soon after they are invaded by irritating ditzy morons who need to talk and ruin in for everyone else. I've tried telling them to "please be quiet", but then I feel an ackward tension in the air that prevents me from focusing until they leave or i leave.

I study math, and I need EXTREME silence. No people talking, music, fans, etc. I'm sure this is not so unusual a request. But this is the second university i've been at, and both have done a ****ty job at providing adequate study places for people like me.

*Note: the places I mentioned above are designated as "silent" study places. But they don't have people around enforcing it all the time, and when one idiot breaks the rules, all the others tend to follow. And I'd be too self-conscious if i had to go and tell the librarian that I wouldn't be able to concentrate as well.

[kello2005]

use ear plugs! or ask at the library if they have a special section for students signed up with accessibility services - my school does...it's very quiet in there and they even have computers and printers you can use.

[APSJ]

I have the same problem, to some extent. Once I get focused on something acircus could open up outside my window and I wouldn't care, but when I'm trying to get focused the tiniest sound can drive me crazy.

Ear plugs are a good idea, as is checking to see if your school has private study rooms.

Another idea is, if your university has graduate schools, go try their libraries if you're allowed. I'm in law school, and the law library is quite quiet. Undergraduates are allowed in, but they are quickly silenced or ejected if they start chatting or giggling.

[wsmac]

Here's what I do in my classes at school and in the library...

I have to wait until I get absolutely ****ed at rude people...
-The ones who are talking but not about anything relating to the lecture, or just talking outloud in the library.

-The ones who are tapping loudly

-The ones who are eating food from a crinkly package

Those types...

I get up from my seat, walk right over to them and get my face right down so I am looking straight into theirs.
Then I tell them I'm trying to concentrate and if they wish to continue gossiping, they should take it outside the classroom or library.

As for the tappers... I'm a bit nicer because I find my legs and hands moving all the time too. I just ask if they can tap without making a loud noise.

I find it amazing that, all too often, librarians and instructors seem to ignore people who are causing noise issues.


Visual stuff gets me too... having to sit behind people who have their phones out and are texting during lecture.

[aloha1983]

Hey, most unis have special rooms for people with disabilities or difficulties like this away from the others... visit the disability support officer because auditory processing and ADD are still counted.

[Crazygirl79]

I know the feeling, I really do. I almost had a major sensory meltdown due a course lecture because one woman continually kept asking the teacher 50 million questions which was really distracting and by the end of that lesson I was in tears and couldn't get home quicker. Have you considered distance learning?

[Cacho]

Ear plugs + noise cancelling or just thick headphones... you don't have to play music through them.

Additionally at Universities there's usually some "hidden" rooms or labs where people don't go much. Basements of certain buildings or certain labs. When I was at the U there was an entire floor on one building where all the offices were empty for some reason. No one ever went their.... (my friends and I used it for indoor rollerblading, but I could have use it for studying too).

Oh yeah, check to see if there are music rooms, they're often sound proofed. And wherever you go put in earplugs AND headphones (or those ear guard things they use at the shooting range) on top.

[wsmac]

I remembered that one thing I would do to find a really quiet place to study, was search for an empty classroom.
I have always been successful finding a room that way.
It may not be in a department I have classes in, but I don't care.

I search for rooms that are open for use and then copy the time and day.
At the colleges I've been to, there is usually a schedule of use posted outside the classroom door.

The other thing I thought of is to contact your instructors and see if they know of any rooms available during the hours and on the days you need them.
Perhaps there is an empty office even?

...... I just realized this thread is almost a year old now.....

[Cacho]

Originally Posted by wsmac

...... I just realized this thread is almost a year old now.....

uhhhhhh..... woops... good catch... wonder what ever happened to the OP?

[Werl]

try earplugs

[barnops]

Originally Posted by Cacho

Ear plugs + noise cancelling or just thick headphones... you don't have to play music through them.

Additionally at Universities there's usually some "hidden" rooms or labs where people don't go much. Basements of certain buildings or certain labs. When I was at the U there was an entire floor on one building where all the offices were empty for some reason. No one ever went their.... (my friends and I used it for indoor rollerblading, but I could have use it for studying too).

Oh yeah, check to see if there are music rooms, they're often sound proofed. And wherever you go put in earplugs AND headphones (or those ear guard things they use at the shooting range) on top.

Yea, at my uni there are rooms for people working on group assignments, you can "check out" the rooms for x amount of hours, so I usually grab one for 2 hrs at a time. They don't care if its just me, and its super quite/I can stare at the wall (opposed to out the window into the "distracting" library.

Worth seeing if your uni has any of these.

[AlexaN]

Originally Posted by zway_zway

Hi,

I'm a university studeint (with adhd) and I am extremely frustrated with the amount of idiots who have to giggle and chatter in all the places that are supposed to be quiet for studying.

I try to go the library early Sat and Sun mornings. And for a couple hrs get productive work done. Then these idiots arrive, sit in the quiet areas, and the whole time they either whisper or burst out giggling every 2 minutes. The other day, these stupid girls were taking pics with their cell phone cameras (making that fake "click" sound), and laughing hysterically.

I always search for new quiet places on campus, and soon after they are invaded by irritating ditzy morons who need to talk and ruin in for everyone else. I've tried telling them to "please be quiet", but then I feel an ackward tension in the air that prevents me from focusing until they leave or i leave.

I study math, and I need EXTREME silence. No people talking, music, fans, etc. I'm sure this is not so unusual a request. But this is the second university i've been at, and both have done a ****ty job at providing adequate study places for people like me.

*Note: the places I mentioned above are designated as "silent" study places. But they don't have people around enforcing it all the time, and when one idiot breaks the rules, all the others tend to follow. And I'd be too self-conscious if i had to go and tell the librarian that I wouldn't be able to concentrate as well.

Oh, I have EXACTLY the same problem.
I bought silicon ear plugs.
It helps.
I even sleep with them...otherwise even tiny noise wakes me!

[Layla771]

I like ear muffs better than earplugs (sensitivity to noise can be greater after earplugs than after ear muffs).

Some librarians can be too shy or too timid/SA to ask people to be quiet.. Or it just doesn't bother them that much.. I did find that in certain libraries 'no phones' and other rules were quite enforced, so maybe just try to find such a one? Parishes or people with big houses may have quiet rooms too. So you may find something like this to study too.. Or team up with other people who need quiet (and are quiet)..

[Lunacie]

[quote=wsmac;831345]I remembered that one thing I would do to find a really quiet place to study, was search for an empty classroom.
I have always been successful finding a room that way.
It may not be in a department I have classes in, but I don't care.

I search for rooms that are open for use and then copy the time and day.
At the colleges I've been to, there is usually a schedule of use posted outside the classroom door.

The other thing I thought of is to contact your instructors and see if they know of any rooms available during the hours and on the days you need them.
Perhaps there is an empty office even?

...... I just realized this thread is almost a year old now.....[/quote]

That's okay. It's clear that the OP isn't the only with this particular concern. We've had a lot of new people join the forum in the last year who hadn't ever seen any of this advice before. Sometimes bringing up old threads is a good thing.