“I can’t work with music playing. I need complete silence.”
Yes, you’re right. Bad music distracts your mind. However, research by top psychologists shows that if you have the right “music” coming from your headphones, you can concentrate four times longer and more intensely.
The word “music” here appears in quotation marks because we are talking about specific sounds that are able to tune your mind to the right wavelength and improve your concentration.
1. Do you like storms?
The sound of rain or storms is very calming to many people. You can find hundreds of storm simulators online, like RainyMood.com or SimplyRain.com. You can even configure your preferred intensity of rain and how often you hear thunder. Another one is Thunderspace.me, which utilizes stereoscopic 3D audio and realistic lightning flashes to create a thunderstorm around you.
2. “One caramel latte and one still water”
The absolute silence can be distracting to some people. It might make you hear each car horn in the street, each discussion in the hallway. But in a café everything blends into a pleasant buzz that blocks out disturbing sounds. This is why some genius created Coffitivity.com, where you can play a one-hour loop of café sounds. It is very realistic. You hear people’s muffled conversations, the sound of the coffee machine, the clinking of spoons... You should try it.
3. Singing forbidden
Sometimes you want to listen to music while working, but the song lyrics automatically distract you. Focus@will is a website created specifically to avoid this. You can choose from many genres: electronic, classical, ambient, chill-out, acoustic, etc. All instrumental. The music here works scientifically to boost concentration and focus.
Spotify.com is also well renowned to satisfy any music requirements, including playlists that feature classical music or tracks to help with focus.
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4. If you want it all
Soundrown.com takes all of these services the farthest. Not only does it contain café recordings, rain, waves, a fireplace, birds singing, night sounds, a monotonous and calming train ride, a fountain, and a children’s playground, but you can also combine these sounds. Choose your favorite ones! Another option for a similar experience is Mynoise.net.
5. Can you do it?
This application is a little different from the others. The previous four applications use music and interesting relaxing sounds to boost your productivity. This one uses freedom. As soon as you turn on Freedom, the program asks you a simple question: “How many hours of freedom would you like?” You say, e.g., two hours. And for two hours you are completely without an internet connection. No email, Google, Skype, nothing. Absolutely nothing. Freedom!
So: which apps will you use to improve your concentration?
