For people to use ear buds or head phones at home or in the office

I'm with you OP husband has them in at home constantly never hears me and I have to get up , chase him around wave at him, tap his shoulder to then be glared at whilst he removes them with a snappy 'what???' I am constantly repeating myself as he never hears first time.

To get my backbone up even more he doesn't have them in when he does his duolingo practice, the only time when they might be preferable. I get the rage 😅

Some use it as avoidance for sure....work, homelife or social interaction with a partner/adult they really don't want to be with anymore. Like every device they need boundaries if you have kids at home I think it's awful your putting a barrier up to them spontaneously talking or opening up to you....before them if it wasn't suitable for kids you waited until they were in bed now it's crack on and ignore them.

Because of have auditory processing issues and also can’t cope with the background noise of other people. Working life has been crappy for me since they did away with small offices (used to be 2 people to an office and I shared with the blind lady who needed silence anyway to hear her text to speech).

I hate silence and I also hate the inane chatter of the people that come in and sit behind me every other day

I wear them at work. It's open plan and one of the women just screeches and sings all day long. I can still respond if someone wants me specifically. I also wear them on public transport and to the supermarket because the general public seem to have forgotten their manners in the last five years or so. Screaming kids, people shouting into phones, phones playing videos etc. Toning down the noise for my own well-being hurts no-one.

Our workplace got rid of all phones on desks, its teams call or a mobile if you’re management.

The last place I worked no one wore headphones. We were all expected to listen out for each other's phones and answer them if necessary. I was also expected to keep an ear on work related conversations so I could keep abreast of what was happening, at the same time as concentrating on the task I was doing sufficiently to not make any mistakes. It was a bit ridiculous really.

I don't have earbuds in all the time when I'm in the office but I do sometimes if I'm working on something very complicated and I need to avoid distractions. If I couldn't do that then I'd have to take my laptop and go and find a quiet meeting room to go and sit in instead. That would make it even harder for my colleagues to get my attention if needed.

At home I'll sometimes have one in while doing the washing up and listening to a podcast. Some of the stuff I listen to isn't particularly child friendly and I know that if I've got the windows open my next-door neighbours can hear what I'm playing out loud.

because I'm on calls a lot of the day and using blue tooth ear buds so I get stand up.

It's not terribly healthy to have them in all the time. I don't see why you'd do it home unless you thought playing the music or whatever out loud would bother people.

When I work from home I'm in the living room. I can't imagine ignoring DH for my whole working day when he's sitting in the living room or walking through! It's no different to speaking to people in the office

I wear them at work to filter out the constant drone of the girl two desks over, who insists on narrating her whole day.

They're linked to my phone, so I can answer the phone when needed, and yes, it does stop constant interruptions from people stopping to chat as they pass my desk.

I wfh but used to wear one in the office. I cannot cope with lots of conversations at once. I find it too over stimulating. One in allowed me to concentrate on what I was doing while meaning I could hear what was around me

So I can concentrate when there's constant inane chat going on around me.

Sometimes I wear mine when I'm not listening to anything just so people don't talk to me!

I'm neurodiverse and get far more done with them than I would without. I've never missed a call or important conversation but equally am not disturbed by inane (to me) idle chit chat.

Yabu, live and let live

We don’t allow them around the house. It’s rude.
But in the office they are useful for canceling out distracting noises. I would of course take them off if someone needed my attention, to greet someone arriving etc.

@Whyhaveibeencutoutofmamsnot

we do need to talk sometimes without the look of stop disturbing me

yeah the eyeroll or sigh & huff.

I think it sends a very clear “do not disturb” message. I hate if dh wears his in the house or garden when I’m around too. It’s like he’s deliberately trying to block me out and discourage interaction (given we’re not home together often at all I really don’t like that feeling).

@Whyhaveibeencutoutofmamsnot

I understand.

it stops natural communication. It makes you have to decide whether it's 'important enough' to disturb someone for. Like in the car, I might point out to the teens 'oh look a red kite' which they'd enjoy seeing, but if they're all 'plugged in' I don't feel it's worth getting them to pause to listen to me (and the red kite is probably no longer there) and just general chit chat with DH at home. I find it anti social.

I don't mind if someone's working & trying to concentrate though.

Theres always someone hollering into the phone in the office (well teams call now but it's the same effect). This despite the fact we have a room people are meant to move to for long teams meetings.

So I use them so I can hear myself think.

I always take them out if someone wants to talk to me though

I wear one earbud when I need to focus. It helps me to concentrate, and do mindless tasks like loading the dishwasher, which I'd otherwise get distracted from.

After 3 years of WFH I'm really struggling to adjust to being in an office. I'm totally uninterrupted at home and can concentrate, despite having the radio on, and get way more work done. In the office I can't concentrate with lots of different conversations going on around me, it distracts me so much. So I put my headset on with white noise on.

I wear them a lot. I’m an introvert and it helps me concentrate. I wear them in the supermarket to drown out screaming children and in the hope
that no one will speak to me.

YABU - I can hear people asking me questions like you would over the sound of a radio.