You sit down and stare at your screen praying for a miracle. Nada. All you need is a cup of coffee you think. Maybe a bikky or two for inspiration? Before you know it, you’re a coffee deep, three bikkies in and contemplating the meaning of life (along with what’s for lunch).
Sound familiar? Procrastination is one of life’s great challenges. It eats away at your precious time and energy and makes even the simplest tasks feel like a trek. If you’re a chronic procrastinator like me, you’ll know just how quickly you can lose focus and dive deep into the depths of delay. It usually feels a little like this:
Dear productivity, deliver us from procrastination
This year I decided to take steps to improve productivity at work. I have waged a war against procrastination and begun a pilgrimage towards productivity and I’m proud to say – I’ve found my salvation. Can I get a hallelujah?
Yup! After experimenting with a range of productivity prompts to help shift my brain into gear and power through my workload, I finally found the answer to my prayers – audio triggers.
An audio trigger is any activity that uses sound to improve productivity and focus. In fact, you’ve probably unknowingly experimented with these triggers at some point. Whether you’ve blasted your favourite album, listened to ‘focus’ or ‘productivity’ playlists on Spotify, or experimented with white noise tracks, you too have dabbled in the wonderful world of audio triggers.
Not all audio triggers are made equal
One of the most common audio triggers is music, but does music improve productivity? Well, it depends. If you’re like me, you’ll find that music can really help or seriously hinder your productivity. It’s all about making the right choice.
I can’t listen to music with captivating vocals or tunes, or I find myself writing or singing lyrics rather than cracking on with my work. To be productive, I need something purely instrumental and not too catchy. I need compositions that blend into the background while keeping me on track. Well did you know that there’s music that does just that?
Tune into Brain.fm
Brain.fm is a collaboration between scientists, musicians and developers who have come together to craft functional music to improve focus. Through research and testing, Brain.fm uses a science-first approach to create music which supports you in your everyday activities – from helping you get more done, to easing anxiety, to improving your sleep.
Rather than curating existing music, Brain.fm uses research and testing to create music that is scientifically proven to improve productivity and focus. Their music is designed to evoke ‘strong neural phase locking’. Put simply, it gets your brain’s neurons in sync so they can engage in various coordinated activities. Better yet their music minimises distracting sounds, so the music empowers your mind, without disrupting your flow.
Find your frequency
Brain.fm lets you choose from three main activities: focus, relax and sleep. To improve productivity your best bet is the ‘Focus’ category. Under this option, you can select a specific ‘Focus’ activity:
deep work (to help with demanding tasks that require long periods of intense focus)
learning (to help with knowledge retention or long periods of reading)
creativity (to inspire idea generation, creative design, or expression).
You can also sort by genre to find music that aligns with your preferences and alter the intensity of the ‘neural effect’. If you’re sensitive to sound like me, the low effect is ideal. But if you need a bigger boost, you can try medium effect and if you need further stimulation or have attentional challenges (like ADHD), you can ramp it up to high effect. I also found that playing around with volume (especially if you’re wearing headphones) is super important.
Find music too distracting?
Don’t stress! While I think functional music is an amazing tool, it’s not for everyone. Some people find all forms of music distracting (no matter how brain-friendly it is). Luckily there are other audio triggers out there that you can use to hone your focus and smash your deadlines.
Discover ASMR audio
You know those glorious tingles you get when your hairdresser gives you a deep tissue scalp massage? That’s a physical version of ASMR. ASMR stands for ‘autonomous sensory meridian response’ and refers to that tingly sensation which starts in your head and moves down to your neck and spine (often giving you the goosebumps). ASMR can be physical, visual, situational, but the most popular is auditory.
Auditory ASMR (or ASMR audio) is mainly used to relax and induce sleep, but recent studies have suggested that these sounds can also boost your productivity. In fact, a recent blog by Trello revealed after a month of listening to ASMR sounds for four hours every day, one writer increased her productivity by 22%. That’s the equivalent of adding another whole day to your workweek. I just got tingles!
Tingle your way to a productive day
A word of warning. Just like music, not all ASMR will boost your productivity. What tingles your brain, might not tingle another’s. It’s all about finding your own unique soundscape. Try experimenting with a range of ASMR sounds until you find ones which improve your productivity and focus.
Some popular ASMR sounds include:
Typing
Tapping
Page turning
Scribbling
Crinkling
Humming
Buzzing
Air blowing
Water flowing
Cats purring
Clocks ticking
Some people are even into chewing, scratching, and scraping sounds. I’m not here to judge, but eww!
Harness your productive energy
Whether it’s functional music, or sounds that give you the tingles, the right audio triggers can power up your productive energy and get you through the week. If you haven’t experimented with audio triggers before, you’ve really got nothing to lose. If it doesn't work for you, it’s just some new noise in your headphones. But if it does— you could unlock hours of untapped productivity!