Why You Should Be Listening to this Podcast While You're Focusing to Get the Most out of Your Brain Power

I make quite a few playlists tailored for working and studying. I spend a pretty big portion of my time either studying for my classes, reading for my classes, creating work for my side projects, or otherwise needing a headspace where I can dig into my work, and focus on what matters.

And while lo-fi chill hop beats to study / relax to was my poison for a long time, I increasingly grew tired of that type of music, and ventured on to other things.

One of the playlists that I still enjoy (but no longer employ for work) is a playlist of nature noises, which combines the melodious tones of nature's music: birds, the ocean, rain, and brooks. However, that playlist still left some qualities to be desired. First, birdsong is really relaxing! This is a major problem if you are trying to muster the high-intensity energy to make your deadlines. Secondly, it's sort of monotonous. I began to feel the way about my bird song playlist that I feel about white noise - it is so monotonous, that you basically forget it is happening. This lack of engagement can make your brain 'bored' and cause you to seek stimuli to fulfill your deadened senses.

So, What's the solution here?

The Pomodoro Technique

If you have ever used the Pomodoro Technique for studying, then you probably just had a flashback to alarms dictating your schedule, failing miserably at the method, or growing out of it (I was in the latter category, not the former, for anyone feeling particularly bad about themselves reading that paragraph.)

However, I do not think that the technique fails us, rather, it is the complicated manual system and sudden shifts that make the process particularly cumbersome.

While you can use applications to set your Pomodoro timers, you still have to curate and choose a playlist that will suit your particular working or study style. Not only that, but you almost always will have to physically have to reset the timers for your study period, time your breaks, and continue this cycle ad nauseam! Perhaps you would be fine paying for an application to solve your problems ( I used the Forest app before this, which cost me a sum of $1.99 USD), but I don't know of an app that solves all the problems listed above.

Bobby Lyte's podcast uses this method and manages to avoid all these problems.

The genius of the Flowstate Podcast

This podcast has changed my entire workflow process. It works a little something like this:

1. Bobby Lyte curates a variety of music that will keep you engaged in the work and help you enter your flow state (by that, I mean a period of time where one can be engrossed in deep, quality work).

2. Every half an hour, the music stops, which signifies that it is time for your 5-minute break. In the regular episode, the dulcet grain of Mr. Lyte's voice (May I call you bobby?) will insert an excerpt from books, interviews, or advice that I have always found intriguing and insightful. However, if you like to do without Bobby's very pleasant voice, there is also the binaural versions, which allow you to listen to some binaural beats during your break.

3. When the music comes back on, it's time to get back to work!

It really is that simple; The Flowstate podcast is such a powerful and personal experience. It really feels as though I have a person DJ to curate music to surprise me with. His music choice reads to me as a mixture of electronic music, and other categories that bleed into the genre. I'm no music expert, but the interplay of his choices feel so deliberate - it means more to me than having a playlist on shuffle.

Not only that, but the intro and outro to each episode are 2 and a half minutes long each, allowing the listener to stack episodes for longer periods of concentration. While I'm still working up to longer periods of deep work ( I usually switch to a personal task in between scholastic or academic engagements) I hope to be able to build up my ability to get into and stay in flow state.

Summary & Closing Notes

Here are the important bits, summarized just for you:

1. Bobby Lyte runs a podcast titled Flowstate, where he curates music to accompany your work.

2. His podcasts employ the Pomodoro Method, which, in this case, consist of 30 minutes of concentrated work, followed by 5-minutes of break-time to stretch or look at something other than a computer screen.

3. By using this method, It has been easier for me to create periods of time where I can accomplish focused work - free from distractions which could affect the quality of my efforts.

Without mincing words, this podcast has changed my workflow. Try as I might, I cannot find other podcasts which emulate this idea at all. Bobby Lyte remains the sole pioneer in this genre of podcast it seems - and I can't wait for others to follow, and for more people to recognize the genius of this method!

If you have another podcast that you've found that is similar to this idea, please send it to me! My email is in my bio.