Noise cancelling headphones was suggested for me to cope better with the open office environment at work and I finally researched and splurged on a set on my own. And I got two headphones stands. Gosh again I feel guilty for spending on myself…I always feel like I need to be more frugal on money but fasting with meals cuts some expenses down ;___;

But yes, I do find open office environment distracting when I need to focus, block out everything and do the work. Although they’re more manageable for me, the internet and Slack are distracting already by themselves! There’s no fort of solitude for me! I don’t know how I would survive in complete solitude anyway…it’ll require a complete life and career change.

To block out visual stimulation in my peripheral vision of people moving and talking about, I do have a silly cardboard fort at work ;P That’s one of my other attempts to manage open office environments better – it helped a lot and I can focus on my work better. Having a day to work from home is a privilege I’m grateful for too; I’m able to work at a more flexible pace for some solitary focused work [thanks Mighty!!].

With my previous headphones, I could still hear conversations and I get my  mental fatigue headache faster from sensory overload, later in the day. I’m hyper sensitive to people being social and their presence around me especially when I’m not deeply focused, interested and invested within the flow of my work :< Maybe I get nice chats during mornings & overhear some fun office shenanigans [they’re great!] but usually I tend to go into my work bubble, conserve my energy, get a solitary quiet break/nap and try to push through the day.

I can’t hear the AC with the noise cancelling headphones! Wow!When I have nothing playing from the computer with noise cancelling on, I can hear people talk who are near me but they’re super muffled and distant. I can’t hear myself typing much either. When I have something playing on the computer, I cannot hear anything just very vague human noises unless they’re close to me~! Yay! At the moment it’s all new to me so I can’t say if it’s working for me. I’ll have to use it for several more months before I can say anything substantial.

So far it’s tiring on my head to wear for long periods of time due to the pressure and I’m still adjusting how I put it on my head. So I need to pace it and use it only when it’s noisy/rowdy. It’s super cool how I can check how much battery charge is left through a nice lady voice! 😀

And I can use it as normal headphones! For quiet mornings at least. I would turn on noise cancelling when needed, later in the day if chatting is happening 😀 Let’s see how it goes later in the year as I figure out how I like to use it best.

I’ll still hear a few people closest to me but I hope I can block everything else! Hoping it slows down my social stamina depletion and I can survive better and longer 😀

So please don’t be alarmed if I happen to wear them, I’m just attempting to block the crowd noise, not the people I’m talking to 😀PS: I got Sony’s WH-1000XM3 Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones (:

Quick BurpDoodle: Out of stamina

Where my exhausted mind drifts off and I look deadpan bored husk on the outside. Unfortunately that’s what most people see when they see me haha

Yes, this state of being is what I’m trying to minimise!
There’s going to be a lot of Zombie Leonie Mode! D:

MIGW, PAXAus and GCAP Attendance:

This year, I’ll just be going to PAXAus for a day for the Indie section, do GCAP, 3 daytime-ish social things…but that’s all out of the countless shenanigans available. As I said, I’m not doing late night parties.

Decided that I’m not going to PAXAus next year…so this is my last. It’s not for me to begin with but I kept pushing myself in a foolish attempt to belong. I’ve lost interest in almost everything about it. At least I tried! Reasons/excuses to go have dwindled away. Not sure if Nanojam’s return will bring me back :S It’s generally too overwhelming for me.

For GCAP, I’m seeing the appeal of hanging at the sidelines instead of going to talks, following suit after some others I know. Then again, I prefer drawing people than doing the energy draining networking/socialising thing in crowds…that’s why Speaker BurpDoodles happened in the first place! I think I’ll do less of them if I’m too exhausted. Let’s see what I actually end up doing…there are talks I’m curious about ;P I can catch recordings for talks I’ve missed anyway…I don’t want to stress about it.

What’s certain is that I want to relax, catch up with people, try these headphones, take introvert breaks, draw people and walk/sit about.
Then go home to rest up.
We’ll see how I fare, eep!!
I’m not excited about MIGW, just dreading how exhausted I’ll be :’)