■ I hate

the sound of traffic so much that many years ago I persuaded my wife, Clare, that we should move to a quiet, leafy lane. even now, I take ear plugs and noise-cancelling headphones when travelling. Clare thinks I’m being overly sensitive, so I was delighted to show her the results of a recent Swedish study that found playing people the sound of traffic, even at volumes as low as 40dB (similar to talking quietly in a library) had a significant impact on their ability to focus and get work done.