So I've been listening a lot to the mp3s available on
IT Conversations dot com and the content is really great and interesting, but every now and then when I hit a problem at work which requires extra concentration I need to take the headphones off or I get distracted by what the speakers are saying.
Of course, sometimes when I take them off, the office environment is actually more distracting than a compelling discussion on a subject I'm interested in, and includes many highly erratic and jarring elements such as the guy behind me who is swearing about 90% of the day because he can't figure out some piece of code "god d*** sh** that's not it you f***ing piece of sh**"
I just remembered, there's such a thing as music! I have been listening to these IT talks so non-stop for the past few weeks I forgot I had music on my iPod. Okay, moments like this call for some nice droning trance music. Not distracting, but it blocks out the swearing.