There’s a reason you see so many laptops flipped open in coffee shops. According to a recent study, our ability to think creatively is enhanced when working in an environment with a moderate amount of noise. “Moderate,” around 70 decibels, is just about what your average milk-steaming, line-murmling, paper-shuffling coffee shop will provide. Of course, if you don’t have enough cash for a day’s worth of lattes to fuel your imagination, you could always stay home and run a vacuum cleaner, which emits about the same level.
The next time you’re given the finger over pursed lips “shhhhhh” sign for being too loud in the library, tell explain to the librarian that what the place needs is noise.