How we keep our mind on business…Oooo squirrel!
Keep your brain on track and focused on business. If you work from home like we do, you know it’s hard to keep focused. Heck, it’s hard to focus when working from anywhere! Phone, family, lunch, pets, laundry, Facebook, online sales at Old Navy, ooooo squirrel!
So, instead of getting lost in Creative Market (which is easy to do), we use a simple tool that keeps us focused and productive.
Errday. Whether we’re designing, coding or taking care of other business duties, using certain ambient sounds helps us work better and more creatively.
Can't focus? Oooo squirrel! Get our secret to staying productive. Click To Tweet
It’s all based on science.
Science people! The nerdy me thinks it’s cool, the down-to-business me doesn’t care as long as I’m being productive and gettin’ shi*t done!
The first thing that comes to mind when I think of science is: She blinded me with science! You too? See distraction…
80’s pop science is awesomeness, true. But… real science, is even cooler. Here’s a short description of how noise works to help us focus from Coffitivity:
“According to a peer-reviewed study out of the University of Chicago, A moderate level of ambient noise is conducive to creative cognition. In a nutshell, this means being a tiny bit distracted helps you be more creative.”
Our productivity secret weapon.
In order to keep our distracted brains on track, we use one of these scienfabulous tools.
All you do is open a new browser window, hit play and get to work.
- Spotify Coffee Shop album – Has free and paid versions. This is my #1 go-to.
- Harry Potter Ambient Sounds – By Amient-Mixer.com. You can actually find all kinds of ambient goodness here. Not a Harry Potter fan? Try out some Doctor Who or choose from holiday sounds, movie sounds, nature and others.
- A Soft Murmur – A variety of ambient sounds from birds chirping to singing bowls to rain and more! You can even combine sounds if choosing one just won’t cut it.
- Rainymood – Makes you want to curl up with your computer and get to work.
- Focus@Will – Free 30-day trial. Use this link to get 10% off a subscription.
Give it a try! I mean, all it can do is help, right?
Shiny object syndrome? Do what we do...kick it with science! #productivitytips Click To TweetDoes this brain-focusing trick work for you? If not, tell us how you stay focused? Please share and we’ll all be more productive! 🙂
I love this, Janet. I always ejoy your posts; you and Stefani make even the most mundane topics fun and interesting to read about. So when I saw this subject line I thought this was going to be about productivity tools. Don’t get me wrong, I love some good old productivity, but this is so much better. Thanks for sharing.
Ha! Well, thank you Tamara! What a nice compliment! Background noises (other than dogs barking or the garbage truck) really do help me get things done. It’s weird too – a lot of times if I try music, I notice I’m singing along in my head which gets me off track. So to me…these ARE productivity tools lol! 🙂
Thank you, sweet Tamara! Glad we surprised you with our “tools” :)!
I will have to try the techniques. When I work from home I’m normally not as distracted as when I go to a coffee shop or some place like that. I will have to see if these techniques work when I am out working. Thanks for the tips
You’re so welcome Tracie! Hopefully this helps when you’re out and about working too. Let us know, we’d love to see how it works for you!
I LOVE tools and I am a huge fan of Focus@Will. I firmly believe me it has helped me with focus and creativity.
Good to know! I haven’t used that one much but may now – thanks Yolanda!