Are noise-cancelling headphones the answer?

This morning I arrived at one of my many remote office locations (local coffee shops) and settled down. I pulled out my favourite (only) pair of proper noise-cancelling headphones—the kind that the ads tell you lets you hear only what you want to hear—and got to work.

I almost always use my noise-cancelling headphones because focus is critical for me. Let’s just say that hearing strangers talk about everything—from “an incredible business opportunity that requires only 10 nanoseconds of work a week” (yeah right!) to “the way you just don’t understand what she sees in him” (maybe mind your own business)—does not help my focus.

Maybe I should mind my own business. But like my grandma used to say when we accused her of eavesdropping, “I can’t help hearing you, now can I?” Good old granny. We sure do miss her! She could always make us laugh.

So anyway, I put my headphones on, turned on the noise cancelling, and zwooop! The distracting chatter and clatter faded into a faint and distant murmur…. Pure bliss.

And then I scrolled through my phone to find the perfect song to play. You know, the one that is rich enough to be interesting but not so much that it distracts. I found one album I hadn’t listened to for many years – not since my days of marathon study sessions in university. It was titled “Music for Meditation Vol 1”. Perfect! I thought. Tap play.

What happened next was surreal…

Sucked in

As the sounds snaked through my ears, I was sucked seemingly through space and time back to my favourite desk at the university library. I could see the shelves, the bright fluorescent lighting and even the dark wooden desk dividers. In the distance, a group of students clumped around a table covered by a large chart…

Like a hologram, this austere bibliotechnic image superimposed itself upon the modern psychedelic contemporary décor of my actual surroundings. But more than that, it was how I felt that surprised me even more.

For a few brief moments, I was university-me again. Specifically, pre-exam university-me. Anxious, excited, hopeful, fearful, focused.

The music had triggered a real and powerful change of state.

After observing myself curiously for a few moments, I smiled. I understood what had just happened as I am sure you do too. If you have ever heard a song that instantly brought back memories, then you surely can relate. In fact, you probably know, all too well, how strange it could feel. Nostalgia I think the word is.

Scientists have, of course, studied the occurrence and given it a rather fitting name – MEAMs - music-evoked autobiographical memories. They have even gone as far as developing a music-evoked memory orientation scale (MEMOS). You have to hand it to them – they nailed the acronym on this one.

But can you harness this phenomenon to your advantage? The answer is yes.

Athletes and headphones

I was talking to my friend, fellow speaker, and Strongman, Marshall Ennis a few months ago. He shared with me how he had a particular set of songs in a particular order that he would use to get himself in the right mental state in training and in performance to achieve his many impressive feats of strength like caber tosses and truck pulls. And he is not the only high performer who does this.

Michael Phelps the legendary swimmer, is also reportedly known to listen to music ahead of a race as do many other professional athletes. They know how powerful music can be. I’m guessing they all own good noise cancelling headphones.

Indeed, it is no coincidence that top headphones brands pay millions of dollars for celebrity-athlete endorsements. They are selling good sound, but a closer look reveals they are selling something more – the result of that good sound – they are selling focus. And what says focus more than a ripped, sweaty athlete powering through a grueling workout? Or the pre-game ritual of the poised star-player, sitting in the dressing room oblivious to the ruckus around him getting into the zone thanks to the technology of digital music and noise cancelling headphones?

Smart marketing.

But it is unlikely you are trying to break any world records. So, what does this mean for you?

Harness the sound

Even though you may not be training to toss cabers or wrangle semi trucks like Marshall or crush olympic swimming world records like Michael, you too can benefit from using music to alter your state and trigger intense focus.

You too can harness the power of music in making you more effective. And that is immensely useful regardless of what you trying to achieve – a brilliant report, a book chapter, an article, a dissertation or an outstanding presentation

In the next article, I will get into some of the techniques for achieving this. And the good news is you don’t need to be sporting spandex to do it. But you might want to go get yourself a pair of noise-cancelling headphones.

Until the next article, be your best and do your best.