No matter what your particular tastes are in music, I’ve been using an online productivity tool that has made a huge difference in my ability to stay focused and get more done during the workday. And staying focused—especially these days—is a huge challenge we all face.
I’ve always been attracted to acoustical instrumental music rather than the all-too-annoying electronic guitar sounds that are synonymous with rock-n-roll (aka “junk food music”) and other music genres. As a brass player (cornet and trumpet are my specialties!), I’d rather spend some quality time enjoying big band jazz (old and new), English-style brass bands, all types of traditional classical music and even a healthy dose of folk or even bluegrass music (Kentucky Thunder’s one of my favorites).
With all that has to offer, who has time for electric guitars? Yeah, I know, they have their time and place ... but give me some classical guitar or Spanish flamenco anyday!
The online productivity tool that’s helped me so much is called focus@will. According to the top guys at focus@will, the tool’s “power users” include engineers and executives from a wide range of top tech companies (Google, Apple, Microsoft, Tesla, SpaceX, etc.) and of course, these power users are well known for “getting stuff done!”
About focus@will
For anyone who might be unfamiliar with focus@will, it’s a neuroscience based music service that helps reduce distractions. The technology behind it is based on hard science and is proven to be extremely effective at extending attention spans.
Here’s how focus@will works in their own words since they’re the subject experts! ...
Most people can only concentrate for a maximum of about 100 continuous minutes before needing to take a quick break to stretch, move about, maybe get a drink of water, and so on before they resume for another session.
The focus@will system makes it easier for you to get into the concentration flow, and then keeps you there. It works in the background by subtly soothing the part of your brain, the limbic system, that is always on the lookout for danger, food, sex or shiny things.
We’ve learned that people working or studying tend to take about 20 minutes to acclimate to their environment enough to really focus on the task at hand. It takes time for your brain to get used to a stimulus and start “tuning it out” in a process called “habituation”.
Each piece of music phase sequenced by focus@will has a specific role in influencing how your brain habituates, enhancing your focus and reducing distractions. Characteristics such as musical key, intensity, arrangement, speed, emotional values, recording style, and much more determine what is played where and when.
We use patent-pending phase sequencing technology to help prevent habituation from affecting the focusing effect of the music. As illustrated above, your concentration is maximized over the full 100-minute cycle rather than oscillating in much less efficient increments.
So there you have it. Try focus@will for yourself and see if it helps you get more done during the day without those annoying distractions that eat up so much of our valuable time.
