Noise colors

White, pink and brown noise: what the names mean, what the sleep studies found, and how they differ. Pocket Lofi plays music rather than noise; these guides say so.

  • Brown noise vs white noiseWhite noise carries equal power across every audible frequency, so it reads as a bright, even hiss.
  • Noise colors explained (white, pink, brown)Noise colors describe how a sound's energy is distributed across frequency.
  • Brown noiseBrown noise is broadband sound weighted heavily toward low frequencies, so it comes across as a deep rumble rather than a hiss.
  • Pink noisePink noise contains the full audible range with more power in the lower frequencies, stepping down about 3 decibels per octave.
  • Pink noise vs white noiseWhite noise holds every audible frequency at equal power, so it sounds higher-pitched, like a humming air conditioner.
  • Pink noise for sleepPink noise has several small sleep studies behind it, and the findings are promising rather than settled.

Lofi

Where the sound came from and why it works as a backdrop.

  • What is lofi?Lofi is a production aesthetic more than a strict genre: downtempo instrumental beats deliberately given the texture of imperfect recording, with vinyl hiss, filtering and soft, rolled-off highs.
  • The lofi aestheticThe lofi aesthetic is deliberate imperfection used as comfort: tape hiss and vinyl crackle added to clean recordings, paired visually with looping hand-drawn scenes of someone working at a desk.

Focus

Music, attention and the state people call flow.

  • Focus music and ADHDResearch on sound and attention in ADHD is genuinely mixed, and the effect appears to depend on who is listening.
  • How to enter a flow stateFlow is full absorption in a task, and it is most likely when the challenge matches your skill.
  • Binaural beats for studyingA binaural beat is an illusion: two slightly different tones, one per ear, that your brain resolves into a third pulsing tone.
  • Deep workDeep work is Cal Newport's term for focusing without distraction on a cognitively demanding task.

Study techniques

The methods with evidence behind them: active recall, spaced repetition, deep work.

  • How to build a study playlistBuild it once, make it instrumental, and make it long enough that it outlasts the session.
  • Active recallActive recall means retrieving information from memory rather than reviewing it.
  • Spaced repetitionSpaced repetition means reviewing material at increasing intervals rather than in one block.

Want to start now rather than read? The 25 minute timer runs in the tab.