ASMR Sounds for Zen Concentration and Focus: Work and Study (4 min read)

By Ma Dingding

You want to improve your concentration?

You want to have better focus?

You are a bit ADD, ADHD, and you need sound to force your focus in order to be productive?

I understand you. 

I suffer from this modern affliction too. 

I use ASMR sounds to focus. But the older I get, and the more I meditate, the less I need artificial elements to help me focus. 

Depending on the season, the time of the day, the environment, the task I am working on, the time I woke up, how I feel, the energy level I have, the amount of tea I drank… I may or may not use some sounds to “guide my focus”. 

Generally speaking, if I work in a noisy environment like an office (eh, sometimes we do not have the choice) or a café (which I avoid,) I will use headphones to block the noise and in some occasions even use earplugs. 

If I work from home, my mornings need to be very quiet (which is why I wake up early, to enjoy the morning’s silence.)

But when I feel, yes it is an emotional argument here, feel, when I feel like guiding my focus and forcing my concentration, I use background noise. 

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I listed below what I avoid, and what I indulge in when it comes to sounds and music for concentration. 

If you have great suggestions and would like to make me and the community discover some treasures, please feel free to share with us

Avoid

I never listen to music with lyrics. It influences the subconscious and steals away your concentration. 

I never select music that has fast tempo. It influences the physiology, the biological rhythm and the heartbeat. 

I never choose music that has unstable beats. Unstable input creates… unstable output. 

If you are interested in top performance and being in the moment, I suggest that you also avoid music with lyrics, fast tempo and unstable beats. 

It is a well-know trick that shopping malls use music with slow beats, so that you stay longer and take you time strolling around. 

On the opposite, restaurants use fast-tempo music so that you eat and get out as soon as possible… unless the restaurant is expensive and they aim to sell you a 7 course meal of course. 

The quality of what we listen to is as important. If you listen to music that contains strong language… it influences you, consciously or unconsciously, in a negative manner for sure. 

The Lesson

Both our physiology and our psyche are influenced by input. 

This includes the quality of our sleep, what we eat, what we drink, what we watch, what we see… but also what we listen to. 

1. Steady Background Sounds: high need for focus
2. Sounds of Nature or Meditation Music: medium need for focus
3. Classical or Jazz Music: lower need for focus
4. “Housy” Hip Hop Music: for my own amusement

The less focus I have, the more I will listen to Steady Background Sounds. They tend to really help me reach a state of “flow.”

The more natural focus I have, or the less focus the task requires, the more I will listen to Sounds of Nature or Meditation Music as well as Classical or Jazz Music. 

At the end of the day, when I get a bit tired, I tend to go for music that brings some good feelings rather than enhances mental attention. 

I list below my favorite sounds and music, all on Youtube: