2 March 2014

Productivity Month, Week 3 and 4 – On listening

Yep, this is the colour of my desk. Believe me, it hurts me more than it hurts you.
Altogether, February hasn't been the greatest month. At the beginning, I was pumped to get things going, be more productive, create more, do more, and get things going in my life. It has happened, but unfortunately it hasn't happened as much as I'd like to.

So right now, I'm setting up my life on Evernote (How did I live without Evernote all these years?) while reading the book above to make it more organised (Sneer all you want at self-help books if that's something you do, but come on, "mind like water"? YES PLEASE TEACH ME). I'm trying to eat well, sleep well and take care of myself, and just do whatever I can.

One thing this month has definitely taught me is listening.

I have an odd relationship with noise. I'm super-sensitive to it; if you live with me and you meet me in the evening with murder in my eyes, you better turn down the volume of your TV. On the other hand, I absolutely cannot stand complete silence. I used to be able to do that, but these days nothing gets done if I don't have background noise.

There are studies on how moderate ambient noise makes us more creative, how music helps us perform mental tasks, and if anybody knows a study that explains why I love listening to whole movies while working, please point me towards it. Either way, the right kind of background noise can boost our performance massively.

So here is a list of my 5 favourite online noise providers:

The classic. Best rain loop I'm aware of, and it comes with different music every day if you want to.

I don't use this one very often, but you can switch between three different loops of a café in the morning, a lunchtime cafeteria, and a campus café. It's nice if you're looking for voices.

10(!) different kinds of background noises which you can play simultaneously at different volumes. A café on fire, in the rain!
Seriously though, I love the coffee shop and the birds. The most precious, though, is definitely the train. I switch the train on when I need to focus at work. Usually it's a task I don't want to do, and it does wonders getting my mind on track.

 My favourite. A selection of 14 (FOURTEEN be still my beating heart) different sounds you can also mix at different volume levels. It even changes background colour at all times, and there's a text editor I'm crying tears of joy inside it's like OmmWriter in your browser it's so wonderful. The sounds are great, and you even get white, pink and brown noise if you're into that. My absolute favourite are the leaves, though; they make me happy.

If you're looking for some Mozart Effect, browse 8tracks. It's full of all kinds of wonderful playlists, but oh my do I love the ones created for writing. I first really discovered 8tracks when I started work and needed some instrumental Christmas music to get me through December. There's even a rating system so you can find the most popular, most liked mixes (usually the most awesome). It's... just... my love for 8tracks cannot be put into words. I don't get any creative writing done without it.

Right. And yet again I have successfully avoided doing the work I actually wanted to do. Hooray structured procrastination!

4 comments:

  1. i'm quite the opposite --- i work best in silence, especially while problem-solving. but, you've amassed a great compilation and have bookmarked it already. i already know rainy mood will be great.

    have you heard of lullatone? http://www.lullatone.com/category/music/ great sounds!

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    1. Yeah, when I really need to concentrate hard on a problem I prefer silence as well, but that only happens in rare cases. Usually it takes the right background noise to get me to concentrate in the first place.

      I hadn't heard of Lullatone – they're lovely, thank you for sharing!

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  2. wonderful post! i found it through katrina... i can totally identify with this. i too am sensitive to sound, but prefer to have background noises (tv, music, talking) to silence. i can't wait to use all these new sounds. thanks for hunting and gathering... and sharing

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    1. Thank you! :D
      Yes, I find silence a bit uncomfortable sometimes. I grew up in a city, so having no background noise is unusual and strange for me.

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