Am I oversensitive to sound in my surroundings? What could I do to maintain calm?

I feel I suffer from similar afflictions. I get more irritated an aggressive though. What I do is have a place that is just for me to be quiet in. I have a small shop and in it I have my PC, drawing table, tools, TV, radio and any other things I like to have around in there. By scheduling time that I can pursue my interest without interruption, I have found that I handle life's B.S. much better. I guess I actually schedule time to be around people too. I like people, but do better with small doses of them. My girlfriend does not understand, but she allows this of me because she knows that I am a better, calmer person for it. I also wear small earplugs in loud situations. No one can see them and it cuts the really harsh sound down and allows me to hear conversation.