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Music for Productivity and Focus
Beat the obsession, take back control, and use music to focus rather than distract
If you’re listening to music right now, please, press pause.The following is a musical without sound in three acts.Act I: The Fight That Turned Into A War
Act II: Compulsive Listening On The Rise
Act III: Give Up Power, Take Back Control
On 17th of September 2016, I canceled my Spotify Premium subscription.
I wasn’t unhappy or couldn’t afford it any longer. I had been a raving customer for over three years. I wasn’t even sure why I did it at the time, but now I know:I needed to stop using Spotify to save myself.
In August 1994, a CD of Sting’s album Ten Summoner’s Tales became the first ever purchase made on the internet, for $12.48 plus shipping. I can’t decide which part of that sentence is the hardest to believe today: that we had to ship music once, that it cost extra, or that anyone would pay $12.48 for a single album.
And yet, those things felt normal not that long ago. I’m only 26, but I still remember doing all of them. I would save some cash, go to a website and order CDs from my favorite bands. I had a clunky Discman, a space hogging CD rack, a big pair of headphones and a drawer full…