The office at my new job is very open, with half-height cubicles for around 50 people. While this model facilitates communication and camaraderie, it is also fairly distracting when you need to do some serious work.

However, I recently discovered a helpful little website that provides peaceful white noise/background sounds to help you focus; it's called iSerenity. I plug in the headphones, kick off The Sounds Of New York or Rain, and dig in to my work.

Seriously, it may sound kind of lame, but I've found it to be quite helpful. Be productive, and enjoy!