A.J. HansonBrain.fm: Does it Really Work?
One thing I’ve been using when I write is Brain.fm. It’s music without lyrics designed to help increase focus, relaxation, or sleep (depending on which tracks you choose to listen to). I first heard about brain.fm from another writer who swears by it to increase productivity.
Music that is scientifically proven to increase focus.
-Brain.fm
I’m a mother of three small children and I have two day jobs and an insatiable addiction to writing so I’m constantly looking for ways to maximize the efficiency of the time I have.
Brain.fm has helped!
I’ve noticed that when I listen to the focus tracks while writing, I get less distracted and have an easier time getting into the “flow state” for writing. The music tends to fade into the background and I can focus on the task at hand.
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The Science
I’m a born skeptic — particularly in this age of disinformation. But I’ve been impressed with the transparency with which brain.fm operates and the scientific rigor of their research. The relevant research papers are available to read on their Science page.
The term “science” gets slipped in, tossed out, and thrown around with abandon these days, but we don’t take it lightly here at Brain.fm. Not only does science serve as the foundation for our functional music, but our science predates Brain.fm. Thus, we have a whole section committed to debriefing our users about our research and technology.
Brain.fm’s evolution from our very first ever beta product to the patented functional music we have in service today is attributed to an entirely research-based data-driven approach.
Recognized for our commitment to a high scientific standard, Brain.fm received funding from the National Science Foundation to explore the always-expanding potential of what functional music can do for us and our high-achieving brains.
https://brainfm.helpscoutdocs.com/article/16-science
The music has modulation rates applied to induce specific brain waves for various tasks. For example, the modulation rate for focus states is 12 – 20Hz to induce high Alpha and Beta waves. This does mean that the music has a slightly audible humming or distortion, but it’s not terrible — it’s definitely still music!
Tips to Get the Most Out of Brain.fm
Since I’ve begun using brain.fm, I’ve found a few ways to get the most out of this functional music service.
1. Listen with Headphones
Brain.fm uses 3D sound to help with various brain states — this only works when you’re wearing headphones! For sleep and relax, the 3D sound creates a sense of a rocking motion while the focus sounds often sound like they’re coming from in front of you to help you focus on whatever you’re working on.
2. Choose Your Favorite Tracks
When you find a track that works well for you, add it to your favorites! This way it’s easy to find again if you want to quickly get back into that zone.
3. Explore the Options
There’s a bunch of options for types of music available. You can select the activity you’re doing, the genre of music you want to listen to, and the level of neural effect you want. For writing, I often choose Deep Work for the activity, Electronic for the genre, and High for the level of neural effect. But there are lots of different options.
For example, within the Focus activity category you can choose Deep Work, Learning, or Creativity. There are many genres to choose from such as Electronic, Atmospheric, Piano, Post Rock, and others along with a slew of nature sounds to choose from such as Thunder, Nightsounds, and Forest. Neural effect levels include Low, Medium, and High.
I particularly enjoy the interval timer setting that allows brain.fm to work within a Pomodoro Method where you can listen to music for 25 minutes and then have a five minute break.
Interested?
If you want to give brain.fm a try and see if it works for you, check out their free trial option. If you like it, you can use the discount code ajhanson for a 20% discount.
20% discount with code: ajhanson
I only endorse products I use and find helpful and brain.fm is one of those. I hope it helps you like it has helped me!
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