Working from home has recently been a reality for many of us, but working from home can be a difficult adjustment. One of the major changes we overlook is sound. We’re used to busy offices with people talking, making noise and then we’re sat at home, in the silence and it’s weird.
Here are some tips from us about how we’ve been using sound to make our home office environments less disruptive.
Silence
When working from home we might have other people in the house making noise, making calls or kids playing in the background. One great way to make our lives quieter is to use noise cancelling headphones. Sony and Sennheiser make some great over ear headphones, but Apple’s AirPods Pro are also fantastic at cancelling out the noise. There are also apps that can play white noise, pink noise and other sounds that some people find soothing while blocking out the background.
Ambient Sounds
Another option some of us use is ambient sounds. There are a number of apps and websites that can play you background sounds from crackling fires, lapping waves, rainfall and even full recordings of coffee shops, offices and street noises. We like the app Dark Noise for this but there are loads out there, many of them free.
Music
A lot of people struggle with music while working because they end up subconsciously typing the lyrics instead of whatever they were trying to type. One answer is instrumental music. We’ve been enjoying a lot of soundtracks from movies and games, as well as “chill” music and even some meditation music.
Some current favorites are soundtracks from Monument Valley, Destiny, Firewatch, Interstellar, The Social Network, Journey and The Book of Eli. For more meditative tracks try Peter B. Helland and Tycho.
Apple Music also has some great playlists. We just search for things we’re in the mood for and they often exist. Some examples are Inspired Chill, Study Vibes, Living in the Library and our current favorite Pure Focus.
The List Goes On
Whatever your preference, we have loads of ideas so shoot us an email if you would like some more ideas or help setting up your work from home audio. We’re always here to help. Stay safe.