When working, I see that some people create a space for themselves by wearing headphones and listening to music so they don’t get distracted.
Do you guys feel the same way and if so, what tracks or mixes are you recommending?
I’ve found out that I most frequently reach “the zone” when I listen to an artist I know well. Listening to something new while working is generally a bad idea, unless I have a particularly braindead task to accomplish. The genre doesn’t seem to matter to me as much as I’d expect in terms of focus.
Synthwave is my Go-to for work
I recently rediscovered the genre while looking for remixes of classic commodore 64 game tunes. Surprisingly effective as background while working.
Occasionally I get feedback that some listen to DJ sets I put together to work. So I took a look at what I actually listen to for deep work and recorded a mix specifically for that.
I tend to listen to instrumental playlists. Video game soundtracks are really good for this because they aren’t meant to be distracting, and they keep you focused. Nothing with defined vocals/words.
I agree with the folks talking about instrumental music, since music with vocals can be more distracting. Classical music and jazz can both be great - pick a composer and chances are there are huge playlists of all their symphonies or piano sonatas or whatever on Youtube. Or a Youtube search for “(jazz artist name here) full album” can get you a full album to listen to. I also like Soundcloud for listening to more “homemade” music by new artists. I ditched Spotify over the Rogan stuff so youtube and soundcloud are my main sources for streaming music these days
My usual go-to for productivity is lyric-less “ambient” post-rock: Explosions in the Sky, God is an Astronaut, the Album Leaf, etc. I’m also usually happy when Spotify starts mixing in some Sigur Ros/Jonsi, because even if there are lyrics I can’t understand them (either because I can’t speak Icelandic or because Jonsi is just making “non-linguistic vocalisations” that just sound nice alongside the instrumentals). This is for when I’m at work doing detail-oriented things or writing. Lyrics or podcasts are too distracting because I focus on the words.
Soma FM Online Radio Stations, primarily Defcon Radio.
My job alternates between finance stuff and writing long documents. If I’m working with numbers, then anything from old heavy metal, old rap or jazz works for me. If I’m writing then the Spotify’s Brown Noise playlist is my companion.
I’m almost always listening to this lo-fi beats channel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6D2p1UYM1Yw
Music without vocals works best for me, techno is really good for this. As someone else mentioned DJ sets are really good (John digweed at Cordoba is my go-to).
Aphex twin, four-tet, bicep, overmono, boards of Canada are all pretty ambient without being distracting.
This works for me perfectly as well.
