I would see about getting a different pair of headphones. Full enclosure with noise cancelling works wonders in drowning out normal (and abnormal) office noises. We have an unusually loud person in our room (three cubes away) that really likes to talk on the phone. It is impossible to get anything done with him on the phone, so I put on my headphones and without having to turn the music up to uncomfortable volumes (I like my music to be on low volumes, never liked loud music ) it completely drowns out the noises around me. It is a good thing that my phone has a light that flashes when it rings, or I'd probably never answer it.