Dude. I love my ear plugs. They greatly improve my life. Especially while sleeping. Unfortunately my sleeping has been crap for several months cause I had a kid and I'm afraid he might choke on one but I literally lie around and daydream about the day when I can use them again.

[…] for waaayyyy longer! Especially useful since I live inside the city. I also use them to work: https://copywritingcourse.com/ear-plugs/ One of my favorite, easiest, and cheapest sleep hacks.  Try the “Hearos” brand ear […]

[…] in ear plugs to “get into your own little […]

Dude! I always wear earplugs when I go to bars. Friends laugh, and it's not the greatest for hitting on girls, but I just don't care anymore. It's so damn loud, and I care about my hearing too much. By the end of the night, people eventually admit, "Ok, you're smart for wearing those." Boom, bitches, told you so. I also wear Bose noise-cancelling headphones (a lot of the time with no music) when writing at coffee shops.

I love all this response to the concept of not hearing for awhile!!! I feel so freaking Vindicated!!!! I mean people tell me I'm supposed to wear my hearing aids all the time, for example --when I go to sleep, walking across the parking lot (drivers are blind?). There is just so much that's not worth hearing !!! And when takes a lot of work to hear it, well why would you want to listen?! Jackhammers and construction outside? Just turn it off! I'm with you all the way you ear plug wearing smart folks!!! I don't know why everybody doesn't have ear plugs, or why people think you have to listen to background noise. Something important is probably NOT going to happen, and if it does, it's something you can probably see or feel! Silence is truly golden!

[…] I love working with ear plugs on.  It’s like “my own little space.”  Whether at home, in a coffee shop, a co-working space……ear plugs drown out just enough noise to let me write in peace wherever I am.  However they still let sound through enough to hear your phone ring, people talking to you etc.  I’ve been raving about ear plugs forever. […]

I have the Bose over-ear noise canceling and the Bose in-ear noise canceling headphones. When wearing the over-ears, I got asked what I was listening too ... I had to reply - "nothing, I am listening to the sweet sound of nothing"...

I am not sure I can travel without them anymore.... every flight hushed, every hotel is a silent abyss, ever tradeshow is dulled to a noise level I can handle... Life without excessive ambient noise great.

Love to know there are other weirdos out there! The Hearos get the job done. If you want to live, you can get some custom made for your ears. I got mine done at an audiology place off of S. Lamar. They're great for concerts too since they don't change the sound.

Also, I like to put in ear monitors (fancy musician earbuds), put my phone in airplane and turn on a white noise app.

Goodbye world!

I found this article after googling the article topic. I have earplugs in now. They are great for writer's. I am almost finished with my first book and wish I would have started using these a LONG TIME AGO. Esp. with 5 kids in the house.

Not only do they block out noise, but they also allow me to "get into my head," as you said. I can think clearer and read/review what I have written better - i.e. I can whisper when reading back and hear myself very clearly.

Anyone can try out this effect by just putting your fingers in your ears and you will see what I mean. When I want it dead quiet, I use earplugs and put on headphones (silence). I can't even hear myself typing at that point.

-Eric

I use them too, good to know that I am not the only insane person who need silence when thinking deep :)

This was a fun and inspiring thing to find in my inbox this morning.

I actually did have to pull out the trusty earplugs yesterday... and I had to add a noise generator on top to really drown out the ruckus.

Ever try a sound generator over the earplugs?

Thanks Justin! Hope you get some value out of ear plugs too....I'm writing this response whilst wearing them :-)

Awesome, we are ear plug brothers!

So glad you've had similar results Eric!

It's hard for people to explain, but even when it's silent I STILL use ear plugs cause they get me in the zone.

Glad you have discovered such a cheap/simple hack that yields huge results :)

Oh wow....I think you've taken ear plugs to the next level!

Ya know....I just recently tried the Bose in-ear noise cancelling headphones, and they were FAR more amazing than I expected!

BAHHAHAA....what a unique perspective on it! It's like you have your own "built in" ear plugs :-P

I agree about ambient noise....especially when it's in an office environment with people talking, keyboards clacking etc. It's incredibly distracting to my brain, and ear plugs are the perfect solution!

I'm not big on staying at bars and clubs too long now, but I definitely remember when I used to go you literally couldn't hear very well the next day.

That PROBABLY wasn't doing my hearing any good, so you're doing the right thing.

A lot of the staff at bars and clubs will often wear ear plugs since they are always in such a loud environment.

Yeah I've heard from a lot of parents they have to stop using them when they have kids. That's unfortunate for now.

The upside is active hearing devices that are actually wearable in your sleep are coming pretty soon.

It's speculated that Apple AirPods will have some form of noise cancellation in their next iteration, and that could be game changing!

Hahahha.....I think the "wearing headphones with no music" look is a GREAT way to deter people from talking to you :)

Hmmmm.....now I've gotta try this!

[…] know this sounds a little silly, but wearing ear plugs when writing is one of my most-used tricks for writing great […]

Nev,

We continue to have amazingly similar taste in products.

I've been on the earplug train for years now. I've tried custom-shaped plugs, cheap plugs, expensive plugs, all different shapes and colors.

My favorites are still the Howard Leight construction series. Very basic. Equal or better seal than custom-molded plugs. $2 at Walmart or anywhere.

Note to other folks with big ear-holes: I have ridiculously large ear-holes. Like people remark on this shortly after meeting me. Doctors don't have to use the little looking-glass-on-a-stick to look into my eardrums. Normal ear plugs are often too small to fit snugly. Howard Leights, inserted backward (pointy side out), do the trick.

They are called MAX. they have the simplest form, and a SLIGHTLY larger flare than nearly every other plug, and it makes all the difference.

totally agree. but there are way better ear plugs :)

i grew up using that style - that you mention - because my dad was a helicopter pilot. so he would use them like accountants use pencils.

he'd bring them home and let me try them. for anything, like sleeping or the shooting range.

the only problem was that they would suck out all the wax from my ears as well...

then i discovered these little bad boys - https://www.esafetysupplies.com/products/radians-custom-molded-earplugs?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI7_Pi2sfz2AIVqL_tCh31SQvPEAQYASABEgJtm_D_BwE

actually the first ones i used where way more expensive than these, but were made from a similar material and way easier to re-use than the old, expando kind.

hope you try them out. changed my world. and i don't make or sell these. i just share a similar passion to blocking out the noice as you.

enjoy =)