What are you listening when you work? 2 apps to boost your productivity and focus

03/09/2017 Costin Ciora apps, focus, focus @ will, noisli, productivity Apps, Productivitate

I originally published this in Romanian at CariereOnline.ro here.

Do you want to be more productive? Probably, the answer is YES. I think that a better answer could be that you want better results and more free time for you and your family. Thus, productivity becomes a tool which can be improved daily. Your energy determines the productivity, so what you are listening to influences your efficiency, but also, your results. If you are the kind of person that works in an environment with a lot of noise, or you want to be more focused on your tasks, this article will be useful. I will tell you about 2 apps for sounds/music for boosting your productivity and focus.

I remember, that during my student years, I learned for tests and exams by listening to the radio. But, it was very frequent to get distracted because of the type of melodies. So, from a more random play of music, I switched to specific concentration playlists from Youtube, which allowed me intense work sessions. I have playlists that, as soon as, I start them, they remembered me of the previous sessions with high productivity, and gave me an instant plus of energy to finish specific tasks. But, sometimes some song made me get to relax for the needed working state, so I was again distracted from my work.
I started thinking about how everything I do or listed affects my productivity. Each work session in which you listed to something that boosts your focus, should be analyzed in order to identify what suits you.

The key is not listening for relaxation, but more for boosting focus. What haven’t I added “What music do you listen…” in the title of this article? Because, as you will further read, it’s not necessary to list only to music.
Many scientific studies have analyzed the impact of music on productivity. In a study in 1972, researchers from Birmingham University have published a series of experiments, concluding that music leads to increase in efficiency, mainly for repetitive tasks. Moreover, another study from 2015, concludes that natural sounds like beach waves and forest sounds can increase focus and efficiency.

So, here are 2 apps that will help you be more focused in accomplishing your tasks. I use them and tried (in a successive manner) to write this article.

1. Noisli — this is an app that contains more than 16 ambient apps, like the forest noise, beach waves or coffee shop background noise. Depending on your preferences, you could evade from your office noise, why not, at least at the sound level on an isolated beach. Exactly like the study from 2015, ambient noise will ensure you the needed focus and will limit distractions.
2. Focus @ will — it’s an app that contains more than 50 channels of different type of music specially created with the help of neuroscience researchers. The study developed by the research division of the company analyzed the most active 22000 users and concluded that the app boosts concentration with 200–400%, while productivity with more than 75%.

So, by paying attention to what you could do to reduce the daily noise, you can see the difference between relaxation music and the sounds and music needed for concentration. Scientists are there to help, and the results are apps to help you.

What are you listening when you work?