Studying in silence is impossible. You’re either completely distracted by the incessant ringing in your ears or you can’t stop listening to your inner monologue which usually is ranting about how much stuff you need to do and how little of it you’re getting done. Luckily, the kind people of Spotify have curated a number of playlists to enhance your productivity and silence the voices in your head. If you don’t use Spotify, I apologize but also, why aren’t you using Spotify it’s almost 2017?
1. “Late Night Reading”
This was the first Spotify focus playlist that actually worked for me. It’s a strange mix of songs with words and instrumental/synth/ambiguous noise tracks. The energy level is sort of perfect. It keeps you amped without over-amping you. Also, you’ve for sure never heard these songs before so you won’t get caught up in that moment of “OMG I love this song!!” That being said, it has the track Kanye samples in Blame Game which is always fun and emotional to hear. Definitely a good choice if you’re going to be up through the night writing a paper.
Best songs: Building Steam with a Grain of Salt by DJ Shadow, Insomniac Olympics by Blockhead, and Nice Weather for Ducks by Lemon Jelly
2. “A Soft Jazz Backdrop”
This playlist is great because who listens to jazz in their daily life? It’s great to escape your typical life soundtrack to just get in the study zone. Jazz has the perfect wholesome sound to keep you engaged and right amount of variation to keep you awake. The music picked for this playlist really walks the line of hotel lobby music and wedding band perfectly. You might even tap your foot a little bit if you listen to this one because jazz.
Best song: In a Sentimental Mood by Duke Ellington and John Coltrane
3. “Brain Food”
Honestly, don’t understand the title. This playlist is pretty transcendental and better for mindless work. Spotify considers the sound to be “hypnotic electronic”. It definitely gets a little intense at moments. It features some pretty popular artists like Diplo, deadmau5, and Jai Wolf but with a more alternative sound than we’re used to hearing from them. It is still upbeat and will keep you going when you feel yourself starting to give into the exhaustion.
Best song: Moments by Kyle Watson
4. “Peaceful Piano”
Peaceful is definitely the right way to describe this playlist. This is the perfect playlist to put on when you start panicking about all the work you have to do. The songs vary in levels of tranquility but overall the playlist has a soft sound that will help bring that anxiety down. You’ll be able to get back on track with the soothing sounds of piano. There’s a good mix of songs that might make you sleepy and faster songs that will perk you back up. Also, there’s some song by Alicia Keys that no one has ever heard which counts for something just not sure what.
Best song: Chord Left by Agnes Obel
5. “Intense Studying”
Probably the most popular study playlist and for good reason. It’s classical music which is known to be good studying music. There is just something about classical music that makes you feel smarter and a little snobbier even. If you listen to this playlist you can start telling your friends and potential employers that you listen to Mozart because he’s in there. What do you do in your free time? Oh, just listen to the works of Ludwig van Beethoven and Johann Sebastian Bach. It’s classy and also will keep you highly focused!
Best Songs: all classical music is the same
If these don’t seem to work for you, check out the Focus playlists on Spotify for yourself. It’s in Genres and Moods on the browse page. If nothing works or you refuse to get Spotify because you’re too attached to Napster, just search white noise on youtube and that’ll do the trick or you could never study or do homework again. Your call.