English
Suomi
A steady background sound can smooth over sudden noises while you work, but studies on noise and concentration are mixed. Choose something steady with nothing to follow, keep it below your work in volume, and test it for a week.
Steady beats eventful
Sudden or meaningful sounds, speech above all, are what pull attention away. A steady sound with nothing to follow is easier to work over than music with lyrics or a podcast playing in the background.
Keep it below your work
The sound should sit underneath what you are doing. If you notice it often, turn it down or try a darker sound; if nearby noise still breaks through, try a slightly brighter one rather than a louder one.
Sounds to try
Pink noise is a common starting point because it is even without being sharp. Machine sounds work too: Server room falls 3.1 dB per octave, a steady hum with little in it to notice.
Use the timer as a work block
A sleep timer works for a focus session too. Set 25 or 50 minutes and the sound ends when the block does, which makes a quiet signal to take a break.
Noise or music
Research on attention has found that background speech is especially distracting for tasks that involve reading, writing or remembering, because the brain processes words it hears even when you try to ignore them. Music with lyrics carries the same problem. Steady noise, a fan or rain has no words to follow, which is why it is a common choice for work.
Choosing for where you work
A rough guide to start from:
| Where you are | What distracts | Try |
|---|---|---|
| Open-plan office | Nearby conversation | Pink or white noise; see covering conversation |
| Home with street noise | Traffic, deliveries | Brown noise or a fan |
| A very quiet room | Silence itself, small sounds | Rain or Server room |
| Café or train | Voices and clatter | White noise in headphones, at a moderate level |
