Since I started writing this blog I have been working on a parallel personal project: I’ve been honing, refining and curating a playlist for working.
As I write this, it contains nearly seven hours of music.
I’ve gone through countless musical phases in my life when it comes to finding something chill to plug into my ears while I’m trying to write or be creative. For a few years I was really into LoFi but I think I’ve grown out of that at the moment, so instead I started putting songs into a “working” playlist. When I turn that on I have confidence that I’ll have a quiet, downbeat, ambient, vocal-lite collection of songs and sounds to listen to that meet a number of criteria: they are calming, they are limited in their distraction, and they fill the background.
Your own playlist will certainly vary by taste, but I can’t help but highly recommend the exercise of making one.
Make one for quiet working.
Make one for inspired sketching.
Make one to play as you get into the mood to make other music.
Make one each for lightness and darkness and happiness and melancholy, too.
Sound can be an integral part of your creative space, and it is a worthwhile exercise to take the time and effort to decorate that space with a sonic vibe that fits the need of the moments you will spend there creating.