This is a thread for whatever you put on in the background to help with focusing on what you want to focus on. Podcasts, podfics, music, tv, movies, radio, etc. Do feel encouraged to suggest a more interesting thread title.
In my case I recently found that sewing and embroidery, which I have a love-hate relationship with, is much easier and more soothing for me if I have space stuff going on in the background. Right now I'm listening to Astronomy Cast, which is pretty much exactly what I like. I listen to podfics a lot while I'm cleaning, and music while arting. Recently I've been listening to a lot of Delta Rae.
I knit to help me pay attention to meetings at work. Or to pay attention to podcasts/other audio-only stuff (like conference talks, lectures). I can’t knit without having something else going on so it kinda goes the other way too. :p
That's something I hadn't thought about, but I do that too! Not meetings, but when I want to listen to something and actually absorb it, I have to be doing something with my hands. Something I can do without focusing on it too much so that I don't lose track of what I'm listening to. Which mostly means crochet or laundry/dishes/low-effort cleaning. Now that I think of it, I took CAD through high school and I chrocheted through the lectures when I wasn't taking notes.
During things like lectures I'll try and play with my various fidget toys if I can. Or I'll doodle. Another thing I do is, if it's a class like grammar, I'll try and 'draw things out' with my hands. It keeps very, very, very focused. An example of what I mean is...we're learning about movement rules and how those are shown in trees. Namely you've got to make arrows leading from the scrambled words leading to their original place where they've left a gap or trace. So I'll kind of point and draw out the path of the thing with my hands. Keeps me focused even if I'm tired. When I'm doing stuff that doesn't involve me needing to like actively listen to someone I listen to music. A lot of music. Often times it is just one song on repeat. The current One Song On Repeat has been Susumu Hirasawa's Kuuten-G. This changes periodically but usually it is a a Hirasawa song, some pop bullshit, or something from a video game.
i listen to a lot of "lo fi study jams" to keep my brain working during homework! i can link my favorite 24hr streams later. i also have a handful of albums that i really love - everything by Alt-J does a very good job of it, esp Relaxer
