A quick but still useless guide for listeting to music at work.

These days pretty much everyone in my team "works" from home. Well, they like to call it a team. However, they also said "there is no I in team", which led me to the conclusion that in this case it doesn't apply to me and my participation in any interaction like meetings, team-buildings (don't even start, OK?), and other office gatherings is subsequently not required.

Anyway, I have not been to the office in months. Perfect time, then, for a guide on how to listen to music at the office.
This guide was inspired by a former boss who had the most impeccable etiquette when it came to such things. We had a very efficient and elegant protocol: he never barged in to tap on my shoulder about anything when I was busy listening to something or not listening to something. You may object that his office was more than 800 kilometers away (about 450 liters and 9 hamsters for those who prefer the imperial measuring system), but I still appreciated his lack of attention. In exchange, I would always set my work chat to "Don't disturb" and the phone to Silent. To be honest, I never used any other settings anyway, I have no idea why these settings are not the default or why there are additional options that to choose from instead

Oh, yes, the guide... First -like all my guides- I am not an expert at this, and I do not claim supreme knowledge in the topic. I am not like those obese nutritionists who insist on being called gurus simply because they have read about carbs, probably while using crunchy biscuits as a fork for cake.
This is based on my personal experience and works for me. Feel free to try and keep whatever works, but I do not take any responsibility for failures, employment termination or anything bad. Actually, scratch that: I do not take any responsibility. Full-stop.
Of course, if it works, any donation on Patreon is welcome. It is welcome even if it does not work.

What? What advice? Oh, yes, yes, yes. Sorry. I was thinking about donations.
There it goes: the music I listen to depends on what kind of work I am trying to do. "Depends" is a crucial word in any job involving advisory, and for most consultants it is where they usually stop and ask for more money in a future revision or implementation.
I am not most consultants, though.

·       For admin stuff, something cheery to keep me away from suicidal thoughts helps a lot. Unless it is to ask for money (expenses, invoices, reimbursements), in which case a glorious march is the most suitable option.

·       For day to day stuff (maintenance, troubleshooting, deployments), it is usually something soothing and mellow, like power metal or something with many instruments and no voices. This is also a great option for strategic planning activities, like sudoku or playing chess with Paul.

·       For when I do exciting work (scripting or something creative or interesting), anything is fine, since I tend to ignore it anyway. Even the choir of eight different bosses asking about those TPS reports cannot distract me from the flow.

·       For important activities like watching stuff on YouTube or Reddit I prefer to ditch the music completely and immerse in the acoustic delight provided by the said important activity.

As an endnote, when working in an office with other people, I think etiquette is quite important. Which is why I wear noise-cancellation headphones and never at high volume.
Sometimes I wear headphones even when I do not listen to anything. When someone asks me something and it is not related to where we go for lunch, I pretend not to hear them without them getting offended. If they insist, I insist in ignoring them, too. If they start waving or shoulder-tapping, well, offence it is! Please hold my headphones, I need to go sharpen that stapler.