What is white noise?
Some may have found themselves working more productively sitting in a crowded cafe instead of at home or in an open-plan office, and others may have had the experience that they fell asleep more easily especially when it is a rainy night.
I believe you can somehow feel the relatability. Why would there be such situations, if it’s not just out of randomness?
This is because “White Noise” like these, raindrops and people chatting in the cafe, can actually help us in terms of focus, productivity and relaxation. Researchers at University of Illinois have found that participants who listened to 70 dB of noise performed better at work than other two groups (exposed to 50 and 85 dB noise levels respectively). Noise at 70 dB level is just similarly to the sound of a moving car 10 meters away.
Noise at this level was reported to be just soothing enough to calm our minds and keep ambient sounds away, with itself not being too overwhelming to distract us from our tasks. This is called “White Noise”. Similar to the definition of “White Light”, a mixture of all spectrums. “White Noise” is a mixture of all frequencies of sounds, including high, low and mid-range. Most often heard in nature, sounds of waves, rain and forest are normally white noises. Other examples can also be found in everyday life such as TV statics, sound of woods burning in the stove and the boiling of water.
Why does white noise work?
The main reason why noises like that can help us get more productive, focused and relaxed is that it can block out other disturbing sounds in the surroundings and thus keep us in a non-distracted zone. Imagine you’re staying in a quiet cafe, where there are only several people talking while the coffee machine is running. You might be able to hear clearly each of the conversations. But if the cafe gets crowded as more and more people come in, conversations will start to fade away and become part of the background sounds. You won’t get so attentive as your mind skips from interpreting and processing information from these sounds. As a result, more attention will be allocated to what you’re doing at hand. This is basically how white noises work.
When to use white noise?
The workplace is perhaps the place where we need to be focused most, especially because of increasingly various distractions nowadays: whips of your phone, a pop-up reminder from whatever devices, sounds of printers and coffee machines, loud talks from co-workers, annoying phone calls on the hallway, and etc. The popularity of open plan offices makes it even harder to stay away from these noises. White noises in this sense can be helpful, to help avoid disturbance for one thing, and to reduce your anxiety level for another.
Studying is another case that needs a high level of focus and productivity. Dead silence in the library can make us particularly alert to ambient sounds, and sometimes even a drop of pen is no different from an earthquake. But if you put on your earphones and listen to your favorite forest sound, you wouldn’t even be able to notice that because it can immerse you into what you’re reading or writing.
People who suffer from sleeping problems, such as sleep deprivation, may also benefit from listening to white noises. Soothing and relaxing as the sound is, the anxiety level is way lower compared with sleeping in silence. Therefore, people may fall asleep more easily and are more likely to have a sounder sleep than usual. With a good-quality sleep, chances for a productive next-day are also higher.
One more situation that white noise can come into play is perhaps meditation. We’ve introduced how to do a mindful meditation before, and with the help of white noises, one can get more focused at the present moment and feel more calm and free during mediations.
Will the white noise itself be distracting?
Some may have sought the help from white noises before but failed to see a fit, and others may wonder what if the white noise itself is distracting. Truth is that there’s no one-fits-all solution, and therefore sounds enjoyed by some may be noises to others’ ears. But one golden rule is the white noise that doesn’t incorporate too many high-pitched sounds or sharp breaks is the one liked by most people. Therefore, you found it is no use maybe because you haven’t met the right one yet. Being picky about white noises is the very first step, and it may take some time to finally have sounds pleasant to your own ears.
Give it a go!
Now that you’ve read it through, you may have got a better understanding of what white noise is, how it works, and when to use it. Fortunately, instead of looking for other white noises apps or resources on media, you can simply find some great white noises in TickTick! More excitingly, TickTick has recently replaced all of the original white noises with better-quality ones. Try and see if you like it!
It has doubled the chance of increasing your focus in TickTick because the White Noise is combined together with our Pomo Timer/Stopwatch in the Focus! It is hard to not be focused with both the help of Pomodoro technique and white noises.😉
