Find Your Music

There are tricks to make our brains more productive: finding your best time (see Tip 152) or going to a different place (see Tip 68). Music is another variable you can tweak.

I will not share --==THE ULTIMATE PLAYLIST FOR PRODUCTIVE WORK==--. It does not make any sense. We have our own tastes, especially when it comes to music. A track that makes me a creative beast (right now, I'm listening to Uriah Heep's Gypsy, very loudly and on repeat) might just give you a headache.

But my point is clear -- create a playlist with your music for productive work.

Most likely, you'll actually need at least two: one to activate the flow, and another to maintain it.

1. The brain activation playlist kick-starts your brain and forces it to switch into creative mode. Something loud and raw, some driving riffs. We need the music to activate your thinking, whatever that takes.
2. The flow maintenance playlist does the opposite -- when your brain is in the state of flow, this playlist helps it stay there for as long as needed. The music here would be more calm and even monotone (real credit for my PhD thesis goes to smooth jazz).

You can start with some existing playlists. Spotify has a lot of stuff -- search for "music for study," "music for creative work," or "music for productive work." It's a decent way to see what other people (or Spotify algorithms) think is good -- but you'll like some tracks and hate many, so eventually, curating your playlists is something that only you can do.

And, as a bonus, something that never quite worked for me, but reportedly works for my friends -- nature and ambient noises. Noisli (freemium) or myNoise (free) are worth a shot.

Your most productive hours are waiting for you -- let some good music make them even better!