More and more people are wearing headphones at work. For knowledge workers, being able to tune out background noise and distractions to zone in on their work has become a popular pursuit.

Many find it rude…I’ve heard that some companies ban them…but for the headie’s, (people who swear by listening to music while working and a term I just made up) it has become a cultural norm.

I like them. I like them a lot. When I need to jam out a ton of emails; transcribe notes from meetings; drown out chatter that surrounds me – listening to my favorite tunes is a great escape.

Yes it is in many ways rude. People will do the wave in front of my face and then “the move” – symbolic gesture that says “please take off your headphones so that I can ask you a question.” I can even see how people will get annoyed by asking questions over the cube only to get no reply (can’t hear with headphones on – right).

But my take on it is – we are here to work. To Git R Done. And ultimately it is the results that we produce and the attitude we bring to the work environment everyday that should be measured. In open seating environments with phones ringing, cube pow-wow’s occurring, and overall distractions – blasting Pearl Jam to increase my personal productivity and work enjoyment is worth it.

Thoughts?