yeah, I find active noise cancellation bothers my ears too. Back when going to offices was a thing, I would keep multiple sets of headphones at my desk: an open-back headphone for really clear sound quality that lets sound through so that I could hear people if they tried talking to me (I like the AKG K240 MKII's for this but beware you need a headphone amp for these), and closed-back headphones when I'm finding the external noise distracting. For passive isolation I use Vic Firth's isolation headphones, they're designed for drummers to use for monitoring while recording drum tracks. https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/IsoHdphV2--vic-firth...

also if you already have earbuds that you like but they don't give you enough isolation, you can always wear earbuds under construction earmuffs, which is what I was doing before getting the Vic Firth isolation headphones.