Focus@Will uses the power of music to help you concentrate

Focus@Will, a Los Angeles based music startup, wants to help you focus through the power of streaming music. The service uses its exclusive library of instrumental compositions, carefully crafted into 20 minute phases, to keep your mind on the task at hand. Will Henshall, the guy heading the project, says that the app increases focus for 2 out of 3 people that have tried it.

The music is geared for concentration rather than entertainment, so don't be surprised if you don't recognize many of the tunes. The app is said to be ideal for students, journalists, coders and other folks who work on brain-draining or repetitive tasks. So, how does it work?

Songs are grouped into phases with specific tracks played every 20 minutes to bring your brain back to attention. Why? Your mind tends to lose focus after about 20-30 minutes of concentration. The tracks are arranged to be soothing to your limbic system – that flight or fight response that wants to interrupt your work every now and then with things like "danger, food, sex or shiny things." Five phases will play for 100 minutes of pure musical concentration. When 100 minutes are up, you're encouraged to take a break before starting another round.

Why does it work? The company spent two years researching productivity with its 200 alpha participants and also utilized a productivity study based on a Bowker research project. They found that we were sensitive to the sequencing, timing and pace of music. Songs are arranged based on speed, intensity, key and recording style. There are several genres to choose from including classical, ambient and jazz, as well as other selections like "focus spa" and "alpha chill."

The order of the songs is designed to be seamless to make you forget that tracks are changing in the background. If you encounter a particular piece that jolts you out of your musically induced state of concentration, skip the song. This tells the system that you didn't like it, and it won't be played again (similar to Pandora's genome project).

To make the best use of this service, the folks at focus@will encourage users to begin the music as soon as you start working on your task. Set the volume to be louder than any background noise that might distract you, but lower than the volume you set for your entertainment music.

The public beta is free and available via your web browser. Focus@Will plans to roll out apps for your Android and iOS devices very soon.  

My results? I found that the music did, in fact, increase my concentration. Session timeouts were quite distracting, but expected with a beta service.

Image courtesy of author via app screenshot.