What to Listen to When You Need to Focus

Do you love listening to music while you’re working? I sure do. Not only does it help keep me awake but it can help set the mood if I need a certain mindset.
 
Unfortunately, my favorite music can be distracting. Whether it’s Darius Rucker, Chris Stapleton, Mose Allison, or 70s disco tunes, it’s easy for me to concentrate more on the song lyrics than on my proofreading and copyediting projects. Being distracted when you bill by the hour doesn’t work and isn’t fair to clients. Luckily, there’s a simple solution.
 
All I had to do was create some awesome playlists—with instrumental music. Mine are on Pandora and Spotify. They’re perfect for those times when I need to focus, whether it’s for my clients or this blog post.
 
Don’t mistake instrumental for only classical tunes, although I do enjoy Chopin. There are so many lyric-less options! Here are a few of my favorites:

• Action-Packed Movie Soundtracks. Need something energetic? Look no further than your favorite action movie soundtrack. I pump up the volume with DC and Marvel movie soundtracks (Wonder Woman, Iron Man, The Avengers, etc.). I also enjoy these soundtracks: Harry Potter, Now You See Me, How to Train Your Dragon, Star Wars, Star Trek, and X-Men. Other soundtracks in my rotation are Woman in Gold and anything from Japan’s Studio Ghibli (Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, My Neighbor Totoro, etc.).
  • Action movie playlist on Spotify
  • Woman in Gold on Spotify
  • Studio Ghibli tunes on Spotify (playlist created and shared by Emily Marie McSwain) 
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• Piano Solos. I love the sound of piano solos, and they offer such a wide range from calm and serene to magical and energized. Jim Brickman, John Boswell, Robin Spielberg, and Dustin O’Halloran are a few favorites. I also leave this type of music playing on my Amazon Echo when my dog, Howard, is home along guarding the house—and taking his epic naps!
  • Dustin O’Halloran on Spotify
  • Jim Brickman radio on Pandora
  • Jim Brickman on Spotify
  • John Boswell’s Garden of the Sky radio on Pandora
  • Robin Spielberg radio on Pandora
    
    
• Jazz. Instrumental jazz has nothing in common with that lullaby music commonly heard in elevators. Recommendations include Cadillac Jones, Ahmad Jamal, Horace Silver, Thelonious Monk, and many more!
  • Blinuet radio (From Rushmore soundtrack) on Pandora
  • Ahmad Jamal radio on Pandora
  • Ahmad Jamal on Spotify
  • Cadillac Jones radio on Pandora
  • Horace Silver on Spotify
  • Thelonious Monk radio on Pandora
  • The Capitol Vaults Jazz Series on Spotify
    
    
• White Noise. Not my favorite choice, but some people swear by it. There was a cool article on NPR about white noise in the workplace. There’s no shortage of free and paid smartphone apps as well. 

Want to know what else works for me? Sometimes I turn on sports or a news station that I’m not interested in. For me, it’s often sports on ESPN or hardcore economics on Bloomberg. The sound serves as the perfect background noise. Podcasts and foreign language stations also work well. As long as the voices are pleasant and neutrally-toned, it’s easy to stay engaged with my work without letting the content interfere.
 
Give some of these playlists a whirl. See if any work for you to pump up your productivity, minus those distracting lyrics! Enjoy!