What music do you to listen to while working? Please share what you listen to, and how the music helps you achieve flow.

Lo-fi hip hop and jazz offer the best beats to get into a workflow. Since these genres rarely use lyrics, there’s no interruption to your train of thought while responding to emails or creating content. I find that lo-fi beats are never activating, and I can keep them on in the background for any activity. The steady rhythms also keep me working at a consistent pace.

I’m a total connoisseur of good music, so I typically listen to all sorts of tunes, but movie soundtracks are my go-to for achieving workflow. While working, I’m most productive listening to movie soundtracks because it is a highly targeted and specially crafted type of music. This masterful orchestration inspires creativity, flexibility, and efficiency in my work. Movie soundtracks put me in the mind frame of a superstar CEO/businesswoman/entrepreneur extraordinaire starring in her own film. Lights, cameras, action— let’s {literally} get to work!

When I'm working, I like to play the music that is incredibly soothing and puts me at ease. My go-to stations on Pandora are Norah Jones and Nat King Cole. Their stations always make me feel incredibly relaxed. It makes me feel like I'm walking on a cloud, but still at work. For some, that relaxed vibe might make them feel sleepy, but I absolutely love it.

House music and EDM may be an odd type of music to listen to while working, but it helps me get into the flow of the workday. There are little to no lyrics in House and EDM which are usually very distracting for me while working and the bass/beat gives typing and writing a type of flow that is hard to find without music.

Instead of music, podcasts are extremely effective in achieving workflow. Podcasts similar to the industry you work in keeps you up to date on trends, and consistently shares new information and knowledge to help you better succeed in your role. This form of listening while working is a more productive option than music and keeps the mind sharp. Not only will you learn different perspectives and insights, but also keeps the workflow less stressful.

I'm having trouble focusing if the music I listen contains words or is very dynamic. I've always seen the best results in my performance when working to steady, peaceful tones that would bring me to some kind of hypnotic state. I started using an app called brain.fm, which has various stations providing different music/sounds for better focus.

‘Coffeeshop music’ is a simple descriptor of music that creates a peaceful workplace backdrop, helping us achieve a state of flow without being a distraction to our work. When played at a moderate- to low volume in an office or co-working environment, pleasant-sounding songs with an average of 120- to 140 beats per minute (BPM) keep an upbeat and positive feel and help drown out any conversations from those nearby. We generally want to avoid anything offensive, music that might lull us to sleep, or genres with dissonant or jarring progressions, such as hard rock, stereotypical elevator music, or rap. Examples of ‘coffeeshop music’ include classic and modern mainstream tunes, acoustic, modern folk-rock, and New Age tracks. Sounds of nature, solfeggio frequencies, music from artists like Garth Stevenson, Paul Cardall, Max Richter, Dustin O’Halloran, and instrumental music from cinematic scores can also be a great way to achieve a personal flow state using earbuds or a small speaker.

Some of my favorite playlists on Spotify include "Book Club", "Deep Focus" and "Calming Classical". "To each his/her own" naturally, but for me a slow, calming, and relaxing vibe is essential. Above all else, I know that I would not be able to concentrate with lyrics present, so instrumental-only songs are simply a must for me. This way it feels lovely to have (not too loud) music in the background that adds some rhythm to your work and isn't distracting. Ideally, you want it to complement your daily routine and boost your productivity instead of getting in the way and becoming another distraction. Give them a try and enjoy!

I listen to video game music while working to help me achieve workflow. For me, video game music is fascinatingly unique in its ability to convey various emotions, oftentimes with no words. These sonically pleasing tunes and diverse melodies help me focus on the tasks at hand. Another element I love about video game music is that it frequently showcases themes of triumph, adventure, action, and happiness. These themes, combined with instrumentation that bring them to life so well, help inspire me to ‘level up’ and conquer my tasks—not unlike slaying a final boss, if you will.

My go to genre when working, and especially when writing, is modern classical music. I struggle to think straight is a song's lyrics are playing in my ears (especially if I know the song and start singing along!). So, I turn to artists such as Ludovico Einaudi, a composer and pianist who performs beautiful music that fills the silence without distracting me from my work. Modern classical draws on elements of pop, rock and folk so the melodies and tunes are familiar but are calming and allow me to think straight, without putting me to sleep. For me, it's the perfect way to achieve flow.

I listen to Enya on repeat for a number of reasons. Firstly, her music is relaxing and transports you to somewhere that feels ethereal and otherworldly which helps remove you from your immediate demands and find flow. I also like her because sometimes lyrics and beats can be distracting if you need to write newsletters, copy or social posts and you can often misspell or write an entirely wrong word when lyrics are obnoxious. With Enya, I find that her lyrics are more like a soothing instrument than words so they don't filter in as words and are far less distracting than regular music.

A lot of my work needs silence to think and tease out ideas. But if I'm executing a plan, and the thinking's already done, I love something with a good beat to keep me going. I feel like the beat propels me forward. LCD Soundsystem and Moderat are two favourites. But if I need to actually get motivated before I even start work? I put on This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody) by Talking Heads before listening to anything else. There's something incredibly uplifting about that tune.

I love to listen to country. I'm from the South, so country music is in my blood. It gets me in a good rhythm for the day. It's usually upbeat and has a cadence to it that I find helpful when trying to be productive.

I usually listen to electronic music or hip hop while I'm working. I find that it helps me to focus and achieve a flow state. The music is usually fast-paced and has a consistent beat which helps to keep me on task. The lyrics are also usually not very distracting or thought-provoking, which allows me to focus on my work.

My baby brother and his lady are in a reggae band (Thrive!), and their music is deeply rooted in building a world filled with kindness, love, and healthy connections. As a Chief Happiness Officer and somebody focused on those exact same topics, I keep their music in rotation regularly. For one, it's just great music and simultaneously held me relax and stay motivated. I also have their permission to use some of their songs in my workshops and sessions, so I'm often writing speeches or workspaces where i plan to use those songs, so it's a natural fit. And having that personal connection to the band reminds me that no matter how far apart we are, we're never actually alone.

I enjoy listening to the movie and video games soundtracks. The masterpieces of the legendary Hans Zimmer, epic Slavic folk from “The Witcher”, and oriental rhythms from “Ghost of Tsushima” are my favorites. This type of music usually combines classical and instrumental sounds. I know those songs well, so my mind isn’t surprised by new stimuli and doesn’t have lyrics distracting my attention. Depending on the needs, I put my mind in a state of motivation or relaxation by adjusting the soundtrack.

My go-to is House Music, also called "Ambient" Music, much of it it doesn't have vocals and cuts that do, don't distract me the way listening to rock does. I've been listening to a lot of “Lane 8” who's a House Music artist who’s been gaining traction lately. Check out "Daya" for example of his talent. When I want to go old-school without vocals distracting me, I listen to Oxygene by Jean-Michel Jarre, a pioneer in electronic, or ambient, or whatever genre label they think of next. It's chill and in the background it makes it easier for me to focus. Probably the biggest benefit of listening to music at work is occasionally I’ll hear something that makes me stop and listen. It’s like a mini mediation moment that clears my head.

Any music that you love will likely generate joy and joy will generate your best work. The soundtrack from the movie Guardians of the Galaxy 2, curated by James Gunn is packed with classic hits from the 60s, 70s and beyond . Played in the background, your workday is likely to be filled with nostalgia surrounding each song and nostalgia, a positive emotion, often leads to happy thoughts and happy work!

It really depends on what I'm working on. If I'm writing, I like to listen to classical music or instrumental music. If I'm doing more analytical work, I'll listen to jazz or folk music. And if I'm feeling energetic and am doing a pretty routine type of work, I'll listen to pop or rock music. But really, it varies depending on my mood and what type of work I'm doing.

The best music for concentration is classical music. When I’m working, I like hearing melodies in the background, but it can’t have shouting or screaming vocals, intense percussion or shredding guitar solos. When I’m driving, that type of music is fine to hear. When I’m focusing on work, I want something playing in the background that consists of orchestral arrangements and slower tempos. I don’t want any sounds that break my concentration. Classical music, by comparison, seems to help me focus. It’s the perfect background noise for work.