
Ask HN: What do you listen to focus when you're working - shovel
What do you listen to when you&#x27;re working that keeps you super-focused?<p>For me, I have a few different goto sources - white noise tracks (noisli), video game soundtracks, and movie scores (esp Hans Zimmer) that I listen to on repeat. Sometimes I listen to a single deep house track over and over, and I can&#x27;t stop writing.<p>I&#x27;d love your perspective.<p>I&#x27;m researching for an article I&#x27;m writing on flow state and productivity.
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eyan
Been on this search lately. I found Thievery Corporation, Sounds From The
Ground, Nightmares on Wax and Tycho fits the bill nicely.

Brian Eno's Music for Airports to get me into the mood for code. If this
doesn't then [http://rainymood.com](http://rainymood.com). :)

For physical prep, loosening my body helps a lot before a long session and in
between sessions.

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tedmiston
I wrote a couple line bash script wrapper around a brown noise generator using
sox + coreaudio. It works well for me, especially with overhear headphones.

[https://github.com/tedmiston/zero-noise](https://github.com/tedmiston/zero-
noise)

Before that I used SimplyNoise
([https://simplynoise.com](https://simplynoise.com)) which is good, but still
uses Flash and so is resource hungry if you're running on battery.

I also work from my home office as much as possible which has a very
consistent AC fan that blocks most outside noise.

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chatmasta
Wow, that is awesome! Using it now. Thanks a lot.

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selmat
For me, as was already mentioned, silence is the best one. This is why i
prefer home-office. All other "solutions" induce headache to me.

In noisy environment can be helpful brown noise. I also tried focus@will
(sample is here:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OGJRx76zLY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OGJRx76zLY)).
From my experience 45-60 minutes is maximum.

If I need high focus and think about solution music is just another source of
distraction for me. As background for tedious tasks it depends on my mood.

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dalke
I've found that music distracts me. When I need to be super-focused, I can't
have any music on in the background.

I can listen to some songs when I need focus, but not super-focus. For those,
I tend to listen to the same thing on repeat for several days or a week in a
row, similar to you.

Some examples are: Koyaanisqatsi, Ian Anderson's "The Secret Language Of
Birds" album, and Tool's Ænima.

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niftich
For this purpose, I too listen to music mostly without vocals, or if vocals
are present, they are the simplistic, melodic sort found in the likes of vocal
trance.

Genres like trance help me focus because of a typical track's long duration,
repetitive structure, and grandiose buildups.

When I need a little bit more stimulation, I switch to a less regular, more
punchy EDM genres like electro house, or something with dubstep-inspired
drops.

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matthewvincent
For me, absolute silence is always my most productive environment. You might
find throwing in some earplugs or noise cancelling earbuds (Bose makes some
great ones) to be a productivity boost.

Edit: More to the actual question, my favorite album to work to is "Immunity"
by Jon Hopkins.

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punchclockhero
Depends on the nature of the work. In my data entry job, high BPM genres like
schranz and hardstyle were a lifesaver - kept me working at a good pace and
not falling asleep on the keyboard, but are very distracting for thoughtful
work like programming. Got recommended some great ambient recently and it
works best for that kind of work.

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tedmiston
On another note, I've found I have much better focus and mental clarity when
my physical desk is empty. I find piles of papers, mail to process etc, to be
discomforting.

The only things on my desk every day are a minimal coffee mug and a wind-up
timer for timeboxing.

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dhruvkar
White Noise.

I've found that it lulls me into being present in the moment. With any intake
of caffeine, there is a tendency to start thinking about new projects, past
mistakes, daydreaming, etc. White Noise has been a really good solution to
that tendency for me.

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meekins
I strongly prefer silence but when the office environment gets too noisy I
just put on some familiar black metal classics from my teens that I know well
enough to not get distracted by.

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benologist
I mostly listen to music while I work if I need to drown out someone else's
noise, otherwise it seems like silence is the most effective way for me to
stay focused!

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znpy
I had nice results with Tekken 3 soundtrack.

Tomba/Tombi sountrack is nice too.

