One of the most difficult barriers to overcome when trying to do creative work is to sit down and actually do some focused creative work. Getting in the right mood is hard and painful. The following audio resources will help you get in the right productive mindset to do your best creative work.
I have already explored the best tools and systems to organize and harvest your creative power and now I want to discuss another very important element in the creative process (at least for me).
For me personally, those first 20 minutes after I sit in front of the computer are the toughest. I start opening tabs like a crazy person, almost in autopilot….YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn and goof around until I realise I’m wasting my time and that is when I open my Spotify playlist or any of my Soundcloud DJ sets (listed below).
PLAYLISTS
There is something that Spotify and Apple Music curators just don’t really get about flow states and in that cases DJs deliver. Somehow if a set is recorded on a festival at dawn or dusk the flow effect is heightened.
For the last couple of months I have been trying to curate the ultimate “Extreme Focus Playlist” for getting into the Flow State. A precisely curated selection of tracks that I know will not disturb me too much from any focused work and that my brain now recognizes and associates with hours of Deep Work.
I have to warn you, this is a very personal playlist, it contains some tracks that are a bit weird or just classics for me (James Holden – Lump) and might get YOU out of a flow state.
Some other tracks are meant to pump me as I get into the flow and then ease into more focused states of mind.
DJ MIXES
If you are more into DJ sets, here are my top 3 from 2021 that I used to get some creative work done.
These are ideal to do creative work, repetitive tasks, experimentation without limitation & discovery. They serve as guides for uninterrupted creative work. If you manage to do a couple of sessions with these sets your creative productivity will skyrocket.
3. DAVE DINGER
With a bit of Dub beats Dave Dinger helps you ease your way into the depths of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s ideas.
2. BE SVENDSEN LIVE
A very refined Shamanic house. Be Svendsen‘s high quality tracks take you through a 3 hour trip into the subconscious, a place where ideas are born and fractals are plenty.
1. MIRA KATER
One of Berlin’s best DJs. Hypnotical beats with some tracks that will blow your mind.
AI POWERED SOUND PRODUCTIVITY
A last recommendation is that you try an app called Endel.
Endel is an AI powered generative sound generator that has done collaborations with Grimes and Richie Hawtin and claiming to be backed by science, it has focus modes with timers that allow you to create your own “Pomodoro” styled soundscapes.
I find the sound that it generates a bit boring after a second listen, but some people really like it and it’s getting a lot of traction.