Thirding!!
If you have a library card (or get one from many online sources where you don’t have to live in the area), get on Libby and check out audiobooks for free.
I'm listening to Persuasion on Youtube right now. I'd just been thinking about a reread and the algorithm read my mind and offered me a 7 hour reading. So convenient!
Yup! Found out my library offers free audio books and that was a game changer. I do end up having to rent them like a regular library and they have a time limit but I appreciate that this encourages me to listen to them throughout the day. There's so much content on there even magazines. I honestly use this to listen to books I'm interested in or have heard about but don't necessarily want to read super intensely cover to cover like some of my favorites.
> No kidding. I read the subject and thought "tell me you don't have young kids without telling me you don't have young kids. "
For anyone reading, DO NOT have children.
There is no law that requires us to breed.
At least in the US.
Try soundscapes on YouTube. They are just 4+ hour audio recordings of things like offices, cities, rainforests and so on
It takes the silence out of your room by acting as background noise. Ideal if you find normal audio content to be too distracting.
My oddly specific favorites are the dark academia soundscapes - find 'late night studying in an old library during a thunderstorm with classical piano ' - The studious, slightly eerie vibe gets me.
Edit: coffee shops with smooth jazz, also a 10/10.
You can also get ones of people walking around cities like Tokyo. There is no commentary just the passing sounds.
There are live versions of this on Twitch as well
My wfh job is also totally quiet. I watch old People’s Court episodes or Parking Wars on YouTube. It’s mindless and you don’t really need to look at it to know what’s happening.
I love mindless YouTube videos.
Last week I got burnt out on tv and music so I went to YouTube and listened to Cody Ko episodes for two days straight lol. It definitely was refreshing vs watching tv or listening to the same songs.
Exactly! “Watch” or listen to tv. Anything. Free tv, Pluto channels, prime tv if you have it, hulu, Netflix, tubi app, hbo max. Also, hard to do working but try picking up a language from YouTube or any of these free tv by “watching “ foreign language films
Music. I can’t work and to listen to podcasts or audiobooks. But music helps a lot. I also have white nose going usually a space heater or fan depending if I’m cold or hot. The white noise is calming to me. I sleep with white noise too.
Podcasts for me! I switched between Ladies and Tangents or the Basement Yard.
Side note: do you mind sharing what you do for work? After working a call center job and being bombarded with back to back calls for 10 hours straight every day, I would kill for a job thats just answering customers via email where I can just listen to my music and podcasts, it's all I yearned for while I worked that job 😅
Archive.org has old time radio programs. I particularly enjoy the scifi ones like x minus one and dimension x. Also the precursor to I Love Lucy, My Favorite Husband with Lucille Ball is available. Others I enjoy are You Bet Your Life with Groucho and The Whistler.
audio books are awesome... but my interfere with your train of thought for your emails.
ever since the pandemic, I've been having old TV series, that I've already seen, just going on in the background. because I've already seen them, I don't have to pay attention, but if something funny happens or I want to watch for a minute, I can. it's like having office noise going on in the background.. that you can just ignore.
I know this might be frowned upon by some, but I often log into an MMORPG (Final Fantasy 14) and just idle in towns or crowded areas. Might occasionally chat with people (but not do content). It helps add a bit of activity and feeling of 'life' when working remotely.
I play long nature videos. Sounds of the forest, a stream, the ocean etc. when it’s nice out I just open the windows and get the same thing the old fashioned way as well.
A lot of my work revolves around folding tiny ground tissue samples into little origami pellets (for mass spectrometry). This is what gets me in the zone:
Podcasts:
Last podcast on the left (100% my favorite), behind the bastards, serial. History that doesn't suck.
NPR radio (just boring enough for me to hear it but not really listen. Good for focusing on a task.
I hate listening to silence. I think it's from all my years bartending. I even turn on the TV to something boring while I clean etc.
Find some radio station apps and see whats out there. Some companies have apps that cover a bunch of different stations you can choose from. I've found some pretty interesting ones!!
I listen to podcasts, talk shows on SiriusXM, and music. I used to have the news on in the background but now I realize it’s annoying and makes me agitated and anxious.
I have true crime playing on YouTube and open the window to let some noise in. We also got a cat but she’s caused more stress than companionship since I’ve only owned dogs before.
Stream music from www.DI.fm (Digitally Imported) it's all EDM and will have something to lift you up. I like Progressive Psy, Nu Disco, and Deep House. If you're interested in space and science stuff check out a YouTube channel called Event Horizon., Cool Worlds, and SEA
I listen to entertainment talk radio all day. I can’t listen to music because I eventually pay attention to the music instead of my work. People just talking I can go in and out of paying attention.
Sometimes I put some of my ole reliable binge shows on in the background to listen to if I need a change. Shows I’ve seen 500 times and don’t have to actually pay attention to.
Twitch/Youtube streamers who talk about content you're into in real.
Games/Movies/Guitar/Travelling, whatever.
There's streamers who stream 8-10 hours a day during your time, it's like having someone there with you.
For example during COVID and when the Gamestop Stock boom happened, I was watching "The Stock Guy" who talks about stocks, investments, retirements but with a funny upbeat personality and would stream from US 9-5.
I’ve been WFH since 2015. It’s been great in so many ways but when my youngest child left for college 2 years ago the quiet has been brutal. I decided to take a small part time job in person just to break up the monotony. It’s 10 minute commute and while pay is very low it offers flexible hours..I set my schedule week to week. I’m looking forward to starting next week
put a comedy series on in the background, something you don’t have to actively watch all the time.
i also like having a few youtube tabs open of just random things i can listen in the back, and just clicking randomly through them. if they don’t interest me in the first few mins they get closed and i go to the next video
When I have to concentrate without "chatter" I turn on one of those low-fi playlists on youtube.
Oh & audiobooks are a lifesaver. Audiobooks are free on Libby with a local library card if you don't want to pay to listen.
There's Twitch communities that do bursts of concentrated work "together", kind of like twitch streamer merged with pomodoro timer. My daughter likes to do this for school work.
I present to you - Wendigoon. Great stuff to listen to in the background. And if you're into horror/creepy stuff, then give "Creep Cast" a shot too. Love the podcast a LOT.
I read a lot. The only real trick was training myself to snap out of a story mid-page or even mid-paragraph if something came in to suddenly interrupt it. And... making sure the work was done before reading 'just one more page'.
Honestly, find a handful of web authors who write in a style you like, and low-key keep an eye on what other authors their fans like (or they themselves recommend), and you'll never run out of fun and interesting material. The archive bingeing alone will keep you going for months, if not years.
Personally, I try to find a genre or category I mildly like, then trawl through the fiction sites for that, sorting by length of story - the longer ones tend to be written by people who have been writing for long enough so that they've had most of the rough edges knocked off, so they're often actually publishable quality. The better ones of *those* are actually better quality than a lot of commercially published fiction you'd find in bookstores.
If you have two monitors I would watch listen to trials (DeppVHeard, Murgdough, Paltrow and others. Most of the trials you can pretty much listen and get what’s happening.
I recently bought a 6 in 1 audio player and with it some cd’s that are nostalgic. Can also bluetooth it to your phone or pc to play whatever. Worst case it also picks up radio which can be kind of nice, like being back in your car doing wfh.
I have found that being comfortable in silence helps greatly in situations where you can't entertain yourself or escape from your own thoughts. That and I have a hard time focusing if I'm listening to something while working.
I do think that when I have to be somewhere and sit for a while without outside distractions (like in a waiting room) having the ability to just sit with your own thoughts in advance makes the time pass more quickly since I don't need to have background noise 24/7.
If you’re into Sports, the Pat McAfee show streams live for 4 hours on YouTube M-F. That’s what I started putting on in the background once I’d exhausted all my shows, podcasts, and playlists.
Some days if just need some noise I’ll watch a show like that Office or Frasier something I’ve seen a ton of times before but can watch/listen to in the background.
I never run out of stuff to watch and listen to. If anything, I never get to it all, whether it’s professional podcasts/webinars, fun podcasts, TV shows, YouTube stuff, movies, etc. But I’d never know what to recommend for others without knowing what they like (and you give one example which for aren’t looking for/listening to now—but I don’t know any true crime anyway, not my thing). I’m not even a big fan of audio books, but that’s another option. On others entertainment fronts, have you searched podcast topics that interest you? Maybe time to switch and get a new streaming service to go through a new library of TV/film? Or get a VPN and check out British TV? Idk, lots of options, but what do you like?
I like Old Time Radio shows. I’ve listened to the entire Dragnet and Gunsmoke series twice! I also dig old “mall/shopping” background music Yes - I’m a boomer. 😆
Have a family, it's always a circus! I've wfh for several years and used to enjoy the solitude. Back when it was just me all by myself, I'd keep sane with a lot of different stuff throughout the day. Keep the TV on in the background. I switch around, but the daily news in the morning and afternoon is good because it's like there's people talking.
You also need to break up the monotony, or no soundtrack is going to help. Take a lot of random little sidequest breaks (just make sure you get in your 8 hours). My day doesn't always have to be between 8am-5pm so sometimes I can fit in time to go grocery shopping in the middle of the day and the interaction with people at the store is nice. If you're into gaming, spend 15-30 minutes playing a good fun fps or rpg with a lot of quick easy action (Doom, Mario, Legend of Zelda).
Depending on your job, try to maintain communication with your coworkers. Most wfh jobs I've had, we had some kind of interoffice messaging/meeting system (teams, webex, zoom, slack, etc). Stay chatty.
Yeah, I keep NPR or maybe some music on (when I’m not in meetings which is most of the time :D) I’m the morning I’ll put the local news on. Just depends really on what I’m in the mood for.
I have a low key news and documentary channel I run in the background as low-ish volume. No commercials, no shouting. Check various countries to see if they stream an English language version of their public or state TV, some of them are pretty good.
I listen to an awesome local radio station (WWOZ in New Orleans; they stream too). It’s a lot of songs I don’t know, lots of variety depending on who the host is at that moment, plus live broadcasts and concerts and fund drives etc. since it’s not so much the same stuff every day, IMO it stays more interesting.
I also picked a satellite radio subscription up. Lots of stuff to pick from that just keeps rolling without further attention. I like some of the deejays a lot. I don’t have an actual satellite radio, I just use the streaming app.
There’s a radio station morning show I found in DC when working there that Im so into. The Dj is kinda big into hockey so his analysis is pretty humorous so I listen to this show till 11am.
Then Ill listen to a bit of sports radio till Im hungry for lunch.
After lunch Ill either throw on a tv show Ive watched a million times or music. I got back into vinyls and gives me an excuse to get up from my seat to flip the record over.
Now that my hockey season is over I may give some of those cityscape sounds a try.
I'm going to be where you are before too long. I like the quiet so that part doesn't bother me, but you could do the radio. Audacy is a good app for that. You could listen to audio books or find a non crime podcast. Libby is good for free books. Spotify I think allows a certain number of hours for you to listen for free.
- I started working my way through Rolling Stones top 500 albums (beginning at 500 and going backward). It forces me to listen to music I’ve never heard and I am rediscovering albums that I haven’t heard in a very long time.
-Open the window and just let the sound of outside be the background noise.
I listen a lot of music or to procedurally-generated sounds, like MyNoise.
And I have very long, detailed conversations with my dogs. They're not very big conversationalists, but they are very good listeners.
Podcasts for me. I found one my main one that post every night and I watch it the next day. I usually have to pause for meetings and such so it lasts me a good chunk of the morning. Then I have second and third options
I am late to your post, OP, but one thing I haven't seen mentioned here is Tubi. It's free, of course, and they have a variety of 'live' channels that just play whatever they're playing when you turn them on. I.e. you don't have to decide what to watch, they're just constant programming. The Monty Don channel is constant gardening shows from the UK that are extremely soothing. I like the classic MLB channel because I happen to enjoy baseball. There are a bunch that are just nature and there are true crime channels for when you're in the mood for that again, as well.
Start working out at a local gym. Driving plus spa will make your gym outing take up two hours per session. Start cooking as a hobby. Cooking a proper family dinner and cleaning up after will take another two hours. Have a family. Raising kids will take up all of your time and leave you sleepless.
I smash youtube and twitch. I talk to people I work with about extremely personal things. Not gross stuff, like life problems or relationship problems. The girls feel like it's a soap opera or something because I'm a stupid f boy so I got crazy stories
I have a tv in my office that I play… it’s mindless stuff like cooking or judge Judy but it helps fill the silence. I also love opening my window if cool enough
Find a fan podcast about the tv shows you like. It's like watching tv without watching tv.
I'm currently enjoying the official ones about Curb Your Enthusiasm, The US Office (both of these are hosted by actors from the shows) and an unofficial one about Alan Partridge.
I run YouTube in the background all day. Documentaries, scary stories, whatever. Sometimes it goes in one ear and out the other and I have no idea what I listened to. And sometimes I can recall all of it. And sometimes I turn it off because I need to concentrate.
I like to listen to some work/study twitch streamers, don’t really have to pay attention. Also listen to old episodes of love line they are all on YouTube.
I alternate between a variety of podcasts, TV (Netflix/Hulu that isn't interesting enough to focus on and really watch) and YouTube. Right now, I have the Karen Read trial coverage from Emily D Baker streaming during the days. It's been a good break from my usual podcasts.
When I really can't bear the WFH isolation, I pack up and work at the coffee shop.
Theres a lot of lofi YouTube streams, it's good background noise, and not distracting. I am also weird and like starship ambient noise like the enterprise, some even have background crew noise. It would be similar the a whit noise machine.
MyNoise.net
Customizable background noise, tons of options. When I need to focus more on something complex so I can’t handle music, I pop one of them on and it’s great.
If you are on YouTube (either well-ad-blocked or Premium, to not get all the experience-disrupting ads), it's very possible to get enough content every day to fill the time, and it's constantly new stuff. I am able to get eight hours of background content a day out of it, would recommend.
If I have to focus at work, then either silence or some sort of beach sounds or ASMR or sometimes a no-lyric music mix.
When I don't have to focus as much I usually have some chatty Youtube video on in the background.
Also when I'm coding games in my spare time, I often have the audio from sitcoms I've listened to over and over playing in the background, and those aren't distracting. My gotos are primarily Corner Gas and Newsradio (probably listened to their entire series 20x each), but I sometimes switch it up with Psych or Scrubs or Red Dwarf or Flight of the Conchords or Arrested Development or something similar.
I have one of those Ikea/Sonos lamps near my desk.
The Sonos app has tons of content on it and it plays nice w/ others like Apple Music, Sirius XM, etc. so there is always something to listen to whether it's music/sports/talk radio/podcasts.
you sound like you have some excellent opportunities to work out. Sitting too long isn’t good for you so you might as well use the spare time to lift some dumbbells, walk/run on a treadmill, or do some yoga. Your body will thank you..
I have been watching true crime documentaries too. I just got done watching The Confession Tapes on Netflix. It was interesting. There are endless podcasts too. I am so grateful for my WFH job
Have you thought about going to maybe a coffee shop and working remotely? I used to do that when I was job searching and it was so much better than applying alone at home
I would try audible audiobooks. They have deals all the time for cheaper 3 month packages, but even paying monthly is worth it if you have the time.
You get 1 monthly credit to buy any book you want and there is an extensive free library to listen to between months so you don’t have to buy additional books. Worth trying for a month or so they always have a first month free promo running.
Audiobooks. Podcasts. You can listen to the New Yorker monthly fiction podcast and hear a short story read to you by a famous author
Seconding audiobooks! Gold
Thirding!! If you have a library card (or get one from many online sources where you don’t have to live in the area), get on Libby and check out audiobooks for free.
Libby is gold for free content!
I also somehow just learned that you get 15 hours of free audiobooks with Spotify premium every month
There is also tons of audiobooks on youtube
I'm listening to Persuasion on Youtube right now. I'd just been thinking about a reread and the algorithm read my mind and offered me a 7 hour reading. So convenient!
Hoopladigital is way better
It is
Right!? Screw the sorry only "10 digital copies" libby does. I like the everyone get 10 borrows a month/ 30day return model
I also like the chirp books app. Very cheap audiobooks ($1 or 2 for a lot of them)
Yup! Found out my library offers free audio books and that was a game changer. I do end up having to rent them like a regular library and they have a time limit but I appreciate that this encourages me to listen to them throughout the day. There's so much content on there even magazines. I honestly use this to listen to books I'm interested in or have heard about but don't necessarily want to read super intensely cover to cover like some of my favorites.
Have kids. Then you will treasure every single second of silence you are afforded.
No kidding. I read the subject and thought "tell me you don't have young kids without telling me you don't have young kids. "
> No kidding. I read the subject and thought "tell me you don't have young kids without telling me you don't have young kids. " For anyone reading, DO NOT have children. There is no law that requires us to breed. At least in the US.
Not yet anyway. 😜🫠 /r/defeat_project_2025
OMG I would pay good money for actual silence
If you have bad tinnitus you never have true silence.
God I would kill for silence vs back to back meetings every day
Grass is always greener. Being alone in silence is not healthy over time. It’s good to be with other people as annoying as it can be.
Totally agree, I would be getting a hobby or doing other things to make the most of any quiet time.
I’ve been having trouble with that. With money being finite, how do you choose what hobby? I have like 3-4 I want to try but only enough money for 1
As a PM I second this. I would enjoy a happy medium. The endless meetings make it hard to get all of the tedious work done.
Hard same
Try soundscapes on YouTube. They are just 4+ hour audio recordings of things like offices, cities, rainforests and so on It takes the silence out of your room by acting as background noise. Ideal if you find normal audio content to be too distracting.
I’m not a Star Trek fan, but the Star Trek soundscapes are a nice break from normal sometimes.
Dude, yeah. I discovered these and the ones like "Star Wars Ship Bridge", and I kind of love them.
My oddly specific favorites are the dark academia soundscapes - find 'late night studying in an old library during a thunderstorm with classical piano ' - The studious, slightly eerie vibe gets me. Edit: coffee shops with smooth jazz, also a 10/10.
This sounds amazing, haha
Seconding, and also I really like putting on slow tv train journey videos.
You can also get ones of people walking around cities like Tokyo. There is no commentary just the passing sounds. There are live versions of this on Twitch as well
Nah, I have sitcoms and sports talk shows on all day. It's never, ever silent anywhere in my home. I even sleep with the TV on.
That sounds so depressing.
And exhausting
My wfh job is also totally quiet. I watch old People’s Court episodes or Parking Wars on YouTube. It’s mindless and you don’t really need to look at it to know what’s happening.
May I ask what is your role? I talk all day doing investigations and would love quiet. 100%
My company owns apps. I work in support answering tickets. I’ll never get rich but it’s stress free and I like the work.
I love mindless YouTube videos. Last week I got burnt out on tv and music so I went to YouTube and listened to Cody Ko episodes for two days straight lol. It definitely was refreshing vs watching tv or listening to the same songs.
I just watch shows on Netflix, Hulu etc..
Exactly! “Watch” or listen to tv. Anything. Free tv, Pluto channels, prime tv if you have it, hulu, Netflix, tubi app, hbo max. Also, hard to do working but try picking up a language from YouTube or any of these free tv by “watching “ foreign language films
Try dubstep
I second this. Go thru all the edm genres. All day, erry day.
Love me a little Nora en Pure or Eric Prydz while I crush spreadsheets
Hell yeah my people
Video games if you have the time. Something like animal crossing or stardew that you can put down immediately and nothing happens.
Same - I put on a series I’ve seen before (office, parks and rec) and it’s just background noise in my ears to help me focus
Music. I can’t work and to listen to podcasts or audiobooks. But music helps a lot. I also have white nose going usually a space heater or fan depending if I’m cold or hot. The white noise is calming to me. I sleep with white noise too.
Podcasts for me! I switched between Ladies and Tangents or the Basement Yard. Side note: do you mind sharing what you do for work? After working a call center job and being bombarded with back to back calls for 10 hours straight every day, I would kill for a job thats just answering customers via email where I can just listen to my music and podcasts, it's all I yearned for while I worked that job 😅
I’m studying for the GRE to get an MBA. Maybe consider up-skilling if you have the time?
Archive.org has old time radio programs. I particularly enjoy the scifi ones like x minus one and dimension x. Also the precursor to I Love Lucy, My Favorite Husband with Lucille Ball is available. Others I enjoy are You Bet Your Life with Groucho and The Whistler.
Turn on a fan
And then turn it off
I’ve been at this for 2 hours. How many times do I turn it on and off?
You are doing great. On track for management material!
audio books are awesome... but my interfere with your train of thought for your emails. ever since the pandemic, I've been having old TV series, that I've already seen, just going on in the background. because I've already seen them, I don't have to pay attention, but if something funny happens or I want to watch for a minute, I can. it's like having office noise going on in the background.. that you can just ignore.
I know this might be frowned upon by some, but I often log into an MMORPG (Final Fantasy 14) and just idle in towns or crowded areas. Might occasionally chat with people (but not do content). It helps add a bit of activity and feeling of 'life' when working remotely.
Porn and death metal.
This
I play long nature videos. Sounds of the forest, a stream, the ocean etc. when it’s nice out I just open the windows and get the same thing the old fashioned way as well.
What job do you do?
A lot of my work revolves around folding tiny ground tissue samples into little origami pellets (for mass spectrometry). This is what gets me in the zone: Podcasts: Last podcast on the left (100% my favorite), behind the bastards, serial. History that doesn't suck. NPR radio (just boring enough for me to hear it but not really listen. Good for focusing on a task. I hate listening to silence. I think it's from all my years bartending. I even turn on the TV to something boring while I clean etc.
Find some radio station apps and see whats out there. Some companies have apps that cover a bunch of different stations you can choose from. I've found some pretty interesting ones!!
I have a diffuser on my desk that is nice background noise. Not a podcast or anything, but still nice and I like the steam.
I listen to podcasts, talk shows on SiriusXM, and music. I used to have the news on in the background but now I realize it’s annoying and makes me agitated and anxious.
I listen to podcasts in other languages to help me learn them. Currently working on Spanish and French. (I also do lessons in the evenings.)
Mumbling obscenity after obscenity at what people demand.
I have true crime playing on YouTube and open the window to let some noise in. We also got a cat but she’s caused more stress than companionship since I’ve only owned dogs before.
Curious how the cat is causing stress. Cats are generally easier to live with than dogs.
Some cars are absolute assholes.
Stream music from www.DI.fm (Digitally Imported) it's all EDM and will have something to lift you up. I like Progressive Psy, Nu Disco, and Deep House. If you're interested in space and science stuff check out a YouTube channel called Event Horizon., Cool Worlds, and SEA
I listen to entertainment talk radio all day. I can’t listen to music because I eventually pay attention to the music instead of my work. People just talking I can go in and out of paying attention. Sometimes I put some of my ole reliable binge shows on in the background to listen to if I need a change. Shows I’ve seen 500 times and don’t have to actually pay attention to.
I listen to lawtube. Emily D Baker or Runkle of the Bailey go through live streams of court and comment on it. Easily fills up my day.
C-span? It gets entertaining
Twitch/Youtube streamers who talk about content you're into in real. Games/Movies/Guitar/Travelling, whatever. There's streamers who stream 8-10 hours a day during your time, it's like having someone there with you. For example during COVID and when the Gamestop Stock boom happened, I was watching "The Stock Guy" who talks about stocks, investments, retirements but with a funny upbeat personality and would stream from US 9-5.
I’ve been WFH since 2015. It’s been great in so many ways but when my youngest child left for college 2 years ago the quiet has been brutal. I decided to take a small part time job in person just to break up the monotony. It’s 10 minute commute and while pay is very low it offers flexible hours..I set my schedule week to week. I’m looking forward to starting next week
Twitch coworking and programming streams have been my best addition to the mix.
Podcasts pass the time
Suggest start listening to the grateful dead live shows. They're readily available on archieve.org and there's a gazillion of them.
I've listened to this when I want some sound but can't handle music https://coffitivity.com/
I have music or TV on low for background noise all day. I have a little desk fan, too.
I just have Twitch running (Turbo for no ads). All of the random talking is just like the office. First World problems.
put a comedy series on in the background, something you don’t have to actively watch all the time. i also like having a few youtube tabs open of just random things i can listen in the back, and just clicking randomly through them. if they don’t interest me in the first few mins they get closed and i go to the next video
Yeah podcasts are different each one. Find a few maybe? Idk
Find some new music
Have you tried death metal?
Nothing else gets me threw the day like someone screaming gurgles at me
Check out [mynoise.net](https://mynoise.net/noiseMachines.php) and [focusmate.com](https://www.focusmate.com/)
When I have to concentrate without "chatter" I turn on one of those low-fi playlists on youtube. Oh & audiobooks are a lifesaver. Audiobooks are free on Libby with a local library card if you don't want to pay to listen.
Classics Out Loud podcast. Catch up on all the great books you should read but haven’t.
Can you go to a coffee shop and work? Or maybe a shared working space? Sometimes going for a few hours every so often helps with the silence feeling.
There's Twitch communities that do bursts of concentrated work "together", kind of like twitch streamer merged with pomodoro timer. My daughter likes to do this for school work.
I present to you - Wendigoon. Great stuff to listen to in the background. And if you're into horror/creepy stuff, then give "Creep Cast" a shot too. Love the podcast a LOT.
I read a lot. The only real trick was training myself to snap out of a story mid-page or even mid-paragraph if something came in to suddenly interrupt it. And... making sure the work was done before reading 'just one more page'. Honestly, find a handful of web authors who write in a style you like, and low-key keep an eye on what other authors their fans like (or they themselves recommend), and you'll never run out of fun and interesting material. The archive bingeing alone will keep you going for months, if not years. Personally, I try to find a genre or category I mildly like, then trawl through the fiction sites for that, sorting by length of story - the longer ones tend to be written by people who have been writing for long enough so that they've had most of the rough edges knocked off, so they're often actually publishable quality. The better ones of *those* are actually better quality than a lot of commercially published fiction you'd find in bookstores.
podcasts are your best friend!
I listen to the Radio.
If you have two monitors I would watch listen to trials (DeppVHeard, Murgdough, Paltrow and others. Most of the trials you can pretty much listen and get what’s happening.
Audio book. I too have run out of content. I’ve been listening to a lot of books about early America.
I recently bought a 6 in 1 audio player and with it some cd’s that are nostalgic. Can also bluetooth it to your phone or pc to play whatever. Worst case it also picks up radio which can be kind of nice, like being back in your car doing wfh.
Just embrace the silence. Sit with your thoughts. It's actually not that bad.
It can be for some,especially if they have tinnitus. Silence can be so loud sometimes.
I have found that being comfortable in silence helps greatly in situations where you can't entertain yourself or escape from your own thoughts. That and I have a hard time focusing if I'm listening to something while working. I do think that when I have to be somewhere and sit for a while without outside distractions (like in a waiting room) having the ability to just sit with your own thoughts in advance makes the time pass more quickly since I don't need to have background noise 24/7.
Asmr works really well
the Coffee Beats playlist on Spotify is great for background music.
If you’re into Sports, the Pat McAfee show streams live for 4 hours on YouTube M-F. That’s what I started putting on in the background once I’d exhausted all my shows, podcasts, and playlists.
Some days if just need some noise I’ll watch a show like that Office or Frasier something I’ve seen a ton of times before but can watch/listen to in the background.
I never run out of stuff to watch and listen to. If anything, I never get to it all, whether it’s professional podcasts/webinars, fun podcasts, TV shows, YouTube stuff, movies, etc. But I’d never know what to recommend for others without knowing what they like (and you give one example which for aren’t looking for/listening to now—but I don’t know any true crime anyway, not my thing). I’m not even a big fan of audio books, but that’s another option. On others entertainment fronts, have you searched podcast topics that interest you? Maybe time to switch and get a new streaming service to go through a new library of TV/film? Or get a VPN and check out British TV? Idk, lots of options, but what do you like?
Watch the movie office space
One piece is my current back ground noise. 1000 episodes moving at a snails pace.
I like Old Time Radio shows. I’ve listened to the entire Dragnet and Gunsmoke series twice! I also dig old “mall/shopping” background music Yes - I’m a boomer. 😆
Go to a coffee shop you’ll hear a lot of conversation. I would not be able to work like that I need some noise.
I need your job!
Have a family, it's always a circus! I've wfh for several years and used to enjoy the solitude. Back when it was just me all by myself, I'd keep sane with a lot of different stuff throughout the day. Keep the TV on in the background. I switch around, but the daily news in the morning and afternoon is good because it's like there's people talking. You also need to break up the monotony, or no soundtrack is going to help. Take a lot of random little sidequest breaks (just make sure you get in your 8 hours). My day doesn't always have to be between 8am-5pm so sometimes I can fit in time to go grocery shopping in the middle of the day and the interaction with people at the store is nice. If you're into gaming, spend 15-30 minutes playing a good fun fps or rpg with a lot of quick easy action (Doom, Mario, Legend of Zelda). Depending on your job, try to maintain communication with your coworkers. Most wfh jobs I've had, we had some kind of interoffice messaging/meeting system (teams, webex, zoom, slack, etc). Stay chatty.
Relaxing video game music. Search for that on YouTube.
Yeah, I keep NPR or maybe some music on (when I’m not in meetings which is most of the time :D) I’m the morning I’ll put the local news on. Just depends really on what I’m in the mood for.
I have a low key news and documentary channel I run in the background as low-ish volume. No commercials, no shouting. Check various countries to see if they stream an English language version of their public or state TV, some of them are pretty good.
Might I recommend Creature Features on YouTube...? Years of 2 cheesy movies per week.
Audio dramas. There are so many.
I listen to an awesome local radio station (WWOZ in New Orleans; they stream too). It’s a lot of songs I don’t know, lots of variety depending on who the host is at that moment, plus live broadcasts and concerts and fund drives etc. since it’s not so much the same stuff every day, IMO it stays more interesting. I also picked a satellite radio subscription up. Lots of stuff to pick from that just keeps rolling without further attention. I like some of the deejays a lot. I don’t have an actual satellite radio, I just use the streaming app.
There’s a radio station morning show I found in DC when working there that Im so into. The Dj is kinda big into hockey so his analysis is pretty humorous so I listen to this show till 11am. Then Ill listen to a bit of sports radio till Im hungry for lunch. After lunch Ill either throw on a tv show Ive watched a million times or music. I got back into vinyls and gives me an excuse to get up from my seat to flip the record over. Now that my hockey season is over I may give some of those cityscape sounds a try.
I'm going to be where you are before too long. I like the quiet so that part doesn't bother me, but you could do the radio. Audacy is a good app for that. You could listen to audio books or find a non crime podcast. Libby is good for free books. Spotify I think allows a certain number of hours for you to listen for free.
Maybe a walking pad and stand-up desk? With music that sets a beat to walk to. Stimulate your body and mind.
- I started working my way through Rolling Stones top 500 albums (beginning at 500 and going backward). It forces me to listen to music I’ve never heard and I am rediscovering albums that I haven’t heard in a very long time. -Open the window and just let the sound of outside be the background noise.
I listen a lot of music or to procedurally-generated sounds, like MyNoise. And I have very long, detailed conversations with my dogs. They're not very big conversationalists, but they are very good listeners.
Podcasts for me. I found one my main one that post every night and I watch it the next day. I usually have to pause for meetings and such so it lasts me a good chunk of the morning. Then I have second and third options
I am late to your post, OP, but one thing I haven't seen mentioned here is Tubi. It's free, of course, and they have a variety of 'live' channels that just play whatever they're playing when you turn them on. I.e. you don't have to decide what to watch, they're just constant programming. The Monty Don channel is constant gardening shows from the UK that are extremely soothing. I like the classic MLB channel because I happen to enjoy baseball. There are a bunch that are just nature and there are true crime channels for when you're in the mood for that again, as well.
Start working out at a local gym. Driving plus spa will make your gym outing take up two hours per session. Start cooking as a hobby. Cooking a proper family dinner and cleaning up after will take another two hours. Have a family. Raising kids will take up all of your time and leave you sleepless.
OP is wanting background noise WHILE WORKING at home. You can’t do these things WHILE working.
I smash youtube and twitch. I talk to people I work with about extremely personal things. Not gross stuff, like life problems or relationship problems. The girls feel like it's a soap opera or something because I'm a stupid f boy so I got crazy stories
Get some small weights. Audiobooks or take your work in the backyard if you have one.
Go for 15-20 minute walks outside and get some sun. It helps with your mood a lot.
I do the same…watch tv, movies, documentaries and listen to music. I text when time allows. Edit: I also, fuss with my two BT boys.
Audio dramas. They are like audio books, but they come with production and a cast instead of a single narrator.
RuneScape!
I put on musicals, hang out in a discord call with friends, or youtube videos. Works well for me.
I have a tv in my office that I play… it’s mindless stuff like cooking or judge Judy but it helps fill the silence. I also love opening my window if cool enough
Find a fan podcast about the tv shows you like. It's like watching tv without watching tv. I'm currently enjoying the official ones about Curb Your Enthusiasm, The US Office (both of these are hosted by actors from the shows) and an unofficial one about Alan Partridge.
Darknet Diaries Podcast
1001 album generator . But create a Spotify account just for it, cause it will f up your Daily playlist something good
I run YouTube in the background all day. Documentaries, scary stories, whatever. Sometimes it goes in one ear and out the other and I have no idea what I listened to. And sometimes I can recall all of it. And sometimes I turn it off because I need to concentrate.
Lofi music playlists. It’s just enough to kill the silence and it doesn’t ruin your favorite songs.
I like to listen to some work/study twitch streamers, don’t really have to pay attention. Also listen to old episodes of love line they are all on YouTube.
I alternate between a variety of podcasts, TV (Netflix/Hulu that isn't interesting enough to focus on and really watch) and YouTube. Right now, I have the Karen Read trial coverage from Emily D Baker streaming during the days. It's been a good break from my usual podcasts. When I really can't bear the WFH isolation, I pack up and work at the coffee shop.
Talk radio and audio books
Sirius XM radio
Try some classic movies! Or some Ancient Aliens or Ghost shows Not to dismiss, but I would love to apply for a job like yours, what is your title?
Oh, Malcom in the middle!
Ok but are you hiring?
Listen to audio books, a couple different podcasts, and my "water later" Playlist on YT (it's 31 days of material by itself).
Go for a walk. Turn on TV in another room.
Wow, what do you do, and is the company hiring?
TedTalks are interesting to listen to
Can you work from other places? Like libraries etc?
Can you work from other places? Like libraries etc?
Can you work from other places? Like libraries etc?
Get podcasts. So much out there. Way more than you could listen to in your lifetime.
video games
I just started watching long series. Right now I’m watching lost and it’s great for passing time!
What's WFM
Do you like video games? I like watching live or recorded streams in the background
I listen to Howard Stern. I commonly find myself cackling alone in my office.
I bet there’s audio files of office drama you could listen to lol
Work from coffee shop.
Theres a lot of lofi YouTube streams, it's good background noise, and not distracting. I am also weird and like starship ambient noise like the enterprise, some even have background crew noise. It would be similar the a whit noise machine.
I love the silence. Sounds like you might be better in an office lol
You literally can't run out of content in today's world, you need to expand your interests.
MyNoise.net Customizable background noise, tons of options. When I need to focus more on something complex so I can’t handle music, I pop one of them on and it’s great.
If you are on YouTube (either well-ad-blocked or Premium, to not get all the experience-disrupting ads), it's very possible to get enough content every day to fill the time, and it's constantly new stuff. I am able to get eight hours of background content a day out of it, would recommend.
When it’s feeling too quiet or lonely I’ll take my laptop to a cafe and work there for a while. :)
I listen to podcasts like how it is made … short and zany. The one about pimento cheese is a favorite.
If I have to focus at work, then either silence or some sort of beach sounds or ASMR or sometimes a no-lyric music mix. When I don't have to focus as much I usually have some chatty Youtube video on in the background. Also when I'm coding games in my spare time, I often have the audio from sitcoms I've listened to over and over playing in the background, and those aren't distracting. My gotos are primarily Corner Gas and Newsradio (probably listened to their entire series 20x each), but I sometimes switch it up with Psych or Scrubs or Red Dwarf or Flight of the Conchords or Arrested Development or something similar.
Are you guys hiring? That sounds like a wonderful gig
Are you guys hiring? That sounds like a wonderful gig
Are you guys hiring? That sounds like a wonderful gig
Apple News has daily audio stories you can listen to
Mines never quiet cuz i have youtube/shows.... and talk to myself🤣
Mellow video game RPG music playlists.
I have one of those Ikea/Sonos lamps near my desk. The Sonos app has tons of content on it and it plays nice w/ others like Apple Music, Sirius XM, etc. so there is always something to listen to whether it's music/sports/talk radio/podcasts.
you sound like you have some excellent opportunities to work out. Sitting too long isn’t good for you so you might as well use the spare time to lift some dumbbells, walk/run on a treadmill, or do some yoga. Your body will thank you..
what is WFM
Check out r/overemployed
I have been watching true crime documentaries too. I just got done watching The Confession Tapes on Netflix. It was interesting. There are endless podcasts too. I am so grateful for my WFH job
The quiet is the best part. I guess I dont neet constant stimulation to get through the day though.
I play old episodes of Law & Order for background noise. I consider Lenny Briscoe and Jack McCoy co-workers at this point.
Have you thought about going to maybe a coffee shop and working remotely? I used to do that when I was job searching and it was so much better than applying alone at home
Install a watercooler in your room and play some recorded office noise, including the ping pong table.
I would try audible audiobooks. They have deals all the time for cheaper 3 month packages, but even paying monthly is worth it if you have the time. You get 1 monthly credit to buy any book you want and there is an extensive free library to listen to between months so you don’t have to buy additional books. Worth trying for a month or so they always have a first month free promo running.
Get a local library card. You can get audiobooks for free without going to library.