I have definitely found that controlling the sound around me has an immense effect on productivity, and that I can use different sounds to influence my work. I

I have definitely found that controlling the sound around me has an immense effect on productivity, and that I can use different sounds to influence my work. I use several tools for playing non-music sound when I'm working. SimpleHabit Focus Player (beta) [0] and Focus@Will [1] both play instrumental-y type sound, not really music per se. These two require a subscription but are inexpensive relative to the productivity boost they provide. Then SimplyNoise [2] and Zero Noise [3] for playing just colored noise in a noisy environment. The former uses Flash, so the latter is a bash script I made that's similar. I use the Spotify Focus playlists like Deep Focus sometimes, but they're more general and not as good as the dedicated services. I find these are especially good for combatting interruptions, conversations, and variable noises like conference calls. Sometimes I'll use something upbeat and EDM-y to get into flow when working on simple things. Another recent HN thread where I listed a few more related suggestions is https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14886317#14888870 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14886317#14888870. [0]: https://www.simplehabit.com/beta/focus https://www.simplehabit.com/beta/focus [1]: https://www.focusatwill.com/app/music https://www.focusatwill.com/app/music [2]: https://simplynoise.com/ https://simplynoise.com/ [3]: https://github.com/tedmiston/zero-noise https://github.com/tedmiston/zero-noise