The best headphones for work and being productive

Remote work offers employees flexibility and freedom to work from virtually anywhere. It offers many benefits such as a better work/life balance, and recent studies show that productivity increases when people work from home. That said, sometimes your at-home setup is less than ideal for a productive day of work, and many factors can disrupt your process. Noise cancelling headphones help turn any location into the perfect work environment by blocking out distractions while letting in just the right amount of ambient noise. Here are the benefits of noise cancelling headphones for work at home.

The hybrid workplace model helps parents balance the demands of their jobs with their child care needs. Noise cancelling headphones with an ambient aware feature — such as Aware Mode on the Bose QuietComfort 45 Headphones — work great in this situation as they block some noise while still allowing you to hear what’s happening around you. Aware Mode lets you hear content and your surroundings at a balanced volume, so you can keep your eyes and ears on your children to make sure they’re safe.

Whether it’s rowdy dogs or vociferous cockatoos (which have chirps that reach up to 135 decibels [dB]), pets can be a source of distracting noise when working from home. Headphones that provide both passive noise cancellation (PNC) and active noise cancellation (ANC) are best in this situation since pets can produce both constant noise and quick, sharp sounds. In these situations, our noise cancelling earbuds, QuietComfort Earbuds II, work phenomenally for ANC capabilities.

Live in a place where people are always coming and going, like a college dorm or apartment building? Maybe a roommate also works from home or watches TV during the day. If the coming and going of others is a decreasing focus, a pair of noise cancelling headphones for work at home could help. Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 offer the best noise cancellation, creating a quiet space even in a chaotic environment. And with unrivaled voice pickup, you can participate in conference calls without the TV show in the background interfering.

It’s hard to escape the din of the city, even inside an apartment. That’s because low-frequency sounds can travel through walls. So the rumble of buses, garbage trucks, and commercial trucks invade interior spaces. Loud, obtrusive noises can also be a distraction when you’re on-the-go, or even working from an airport or airplane.

Fortunately, this constant low drone is what ANC headphones are best at blocking out. Setting the headphones’ noise cancellation to high will make the sound of the city imperceptible, allowing you to get some work done.

Working at home can feel isolating if you’re used to working around others. Coffee shops offer you the benefits of free Wi-Fi®, easy access to caffeine, and a lively and pleasant atmosphere. The key to productivity in this environment is reducing ambient sound without completely blocking it out. Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 are great noise cancelling headphones for working at a coffee shop thanks to adjustable ANC that lets you dial down the ambient sound to your preferred level. And the Conversation Mode feature significantly reduces the amount of noise cancellation and pauses music playback, making it possible to order a coffee without taking off your headphones.

The great outdoors can be a great workspace. As long as you have a strong cellular signal, you can use your smartphone to create a mobile hotspot, giving a laptop Wi-Fi access. Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II are ideal for working outdoors and keeping your hands free for other tasks. Work at the beach, by the lake, in the park, at a hiking trail’s scenic overlook — anywhere! Imagine getting some fresh air while getting some work done — that could never happen in an office. Best of all, you can use the noise cancellation features even when you’re not playing music, so it’s possible to adjust the level of nature sounds to your liking.

No matter where you choose to work, noise cancelling headphones, and even wireless headphones, can make any place a quiet workspace.