With more and more people working from home, gone are the noises of he office cubicle. Say goodbye to the ringing or phones, the clatter of other people’s keyboards, and the chatter of your co-workers.
For some, the silence of working from home or some other remote location is a blessing. For others it’s a curse. In fact, a 2012 article in the Journal of Consumer Research from Oxford University Press suggests a connection between ambient noise and creative cognition.
Some seek the local coffee shop just for the buzz of activity. Others may try to find one of a growing number of co-working spaces — if there is one in the community. But now there’s an easier way to bring that noise back into your work day — without having to spring for a $4 latte or a membership fee for a co-working space.
There are downloadable noise apps that claim to help people increase their creativity and productivity — just by creating the hum of activity. Below are some of the popular ones.
Noise Apps
Noisili
According to its homepage, Noisili improves focus and boosts productivity.
This noise app lets you mix different sounds and create a perfect environment for whatever mood you desire. Before making layers of sounds, choose if you are feeling “Random, Productive or Relaxed” and go on from there.
The app provides a elements of white noise and nature sounds that can be blended into a single track. Some samples of the nature sounds are rain, thunderstorm and ocean waves. Noisili also includes a familiar sound when inside a coffee shop.
Coffitivity
Some go to coffee shops to think clearly. Not just because of the coffee served, but usually because of the relaxing environment of the cafe. But what if a coffee shop isn’t nearby?
Coffitivity may be the right noise apps for you. Play background noise from an actual coffee shop. All you have to add is a brewed coffee by your side.
When you download the app, you can choose sounds from among different cafes, tea houses and bistros.
Brain Wave
Brain Wave provides not just a single track but sounds that pan from ear to ear. So it delivers an aurally more sophisticated experience with sounds that move stereophonically. As sounds pan from ear to ear the brain is exercised by distinguishing the auditory movements, or so the developers would have us believe.
This brain activity, of course, is believed to create increased productivity, not just in the mind but also in the body.
Naturespace
If you’re more of a nature person, Naturespace could be the perfect noise app for you, as it doesn’t have any other featured noise or sound than the sound of nature.
These sounds include birds flapping their wings, crickets chirping, forest winds that rustle the trees, and every sound you can imagine when outside camping.
The apps website explains, “it’s really about delivering the highest quality audio available while giving your mind just enough imagery and text to put you in the right frame of mind, without interfering with your own imagination.”
Thunderspace
Not everyone is afraid of the sound of thunder. In fact, a lot of people enjoy the sound of the pouring rain and a slight rumbling in the distance. The result is the relaxation felt during a heavy downpour or rainstorm.
For those who choose to work despite the bad weather, Thunderspace is the right noise app to download.
MyNoise
MyNoise is more than an ordinary noise generator. It is designed to calibrate the background noises it produces for the user’s hearing thresholds.
The app not only calibrates the sounds it produces for your personal hearing threshold It also calibrates for your audio equipment and even for the ambient background noise already existing in your listening environment — say an overly loud central air system or the squeakiness of a porch swing.
Ambiance
Ambiance is billed as the “environment enhancer” that helps the user to create a soothing ambient sound that can guarantee a relaxed, focused and retrospect atmosphere
This noise app is one of the oldest sound apps available. But you can still pick from thousands of sounds to download and listen to.
When your environment is creating a lack of productivity, Ambiance may be one of the noise apps to consider.
Image: Coffitivity
[“source-smallbiztrends”]
