Different types of audio, whether music or podcasts or silence, creates different environments for work for me. Further, I find the right audio for a given task or to-do list or writing session can make or break the work. For example, podcasts and work, of any type, do not sync for me. Podcasts are for dog walking or doing other fairly mindless tasks. Writing while listening to someone talk means I'm not paying attention to one of the two.
Lately, I find YouTube's algorithm for music suggestions is spot-on providing just the right music for the task at hand. Moreover, many of these music videos have break allowing them to function as an audio pomodoro timer.
For example, the lo-fi hip hop station on YouTube provides just the right background sound to not interfere with your thoughts or writing, but also to keep pushing you along. It has a calming presence but not like white noise or the coffee shop stuff.
More frequently of late, I find myself working to recorded concerts on YouTube. After a few listens, they function like lofi hip hop in that they provide undistracting background sound that is also motivating and keeps me writing. Moreover, many of these shows have internal breaks--either between sets or songs, so they provide natural breaks to step back from a current task. Then, the band is back on stage and the writing commences. Currently, some of my go-to concerts are: Goose from Radio City Music Hall (I've had this on in the background while writing so much that it seems like one long song to me), Tyler Childers at Stagecoach, and Sturgill Simpson at The Artist's Den and Caamp at Red Rocks (night 2). Also, when I need a musical reset and transition to something else, I never tire of listening to Sarah Jarosz cover of Crazy.
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