Can you concentrate when people are speaking next to you?

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Can you concentrate when people are speaking next to you? I just can't read and understand any simple e-mail when colleagues are speaking next to me. I am now working in open space, it's horrible.

Anybody would also have this problem? Do you have any techniques or solutions?

Sometimes I can, sometimes I can't.

When I can't I try to cover my ears but it doesn't help much. Once it happens it won't go away till I refocus. Therefore the wisest thing I can do is taking some break and going back in a few minutes, once I calm down. Forcing myself only makes it worse and I require more time to recover the harder I try to concentrate instead of taking a break.

What helps the best is being well rested, well feed, my clothes fit well and I am not stressed. If I am in a good mood I can concentrate for a while even with some distractions - until something makes me stressed/frustrated/hungry/tired/cold/hot... Then my ability to read goes out the window.

No, I can't read (or write or focus on listening to something else) if someone is talking nearby ( or the TV is on or similar).

I find it very hard to concentrate on reading or writing when people are talking next to me.

Not really. I also have problems in class (even across a lecture hall) while people are talking.

i cant neither. its mega hard for me to focus like this

It often impairs my focus, probably more so than it does with the average person. Some kinds of speaking seem more distracting than others - perhaps not surprisingly, sudden, unexpected bursts of loud, strident sound distract me the most, while I might not even notice continuous, reasonably quiet tones with less high-frequency content. A small group of people used to regularly gather near my desk at work to chatter. Nobody else ever seemed to find it a problem, but occasionally it would shatter my concentration so completely that I would go home and leave it up to the management to work out what had happened. They never even noticed I'd gone.

It drives me nuts. White noise earphones are the only solution I know of other than plugging my ears with my fingers which really isnt very effective.

If someone is talking right into my ear, no. Otherwise, it doesn't bother me.

Drives me crazy. I cannot hear anything when there are multiple streams of audio input.

I rather suck at that myself.

I can't go from one conversation to another. I have to concentrate on one conversation.

I find it hard to block out any kind of distraction. Noise particularly, I can't stand, whether it's people talking, TV, music, traffic driving past, whatever. The sound of lots of people talking at the same time is a particular problem - it makes me very anxious, and I have to get away from it to avoid shutting-down sometimes.

No. I can't concentrate when people are speaking next to me.

No. I tend to use ear plugs, ear defenders or noise cancelling headphone....or a combination of those.

Yes. My head has a good filter until I get overly tired. Then I get a minor meltdown.