Spotify tanked my productivity, but this music app helped me regain focus

Music can be an incredibly powerful focus tool for many people, and it can be a good catalyst to improve productivity. With the advent of work and study playlists, apps like Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Music are flooded with focus music that aims to strip away distractions.

But lately, I have found myself seeking something different from my usual, run-of-the-mill focus playlist on my preferred music app, Spotify, for a few reasons. Thankfully, I found a dedicated music productivity app that may be the solution to my problems. Here’s all you need to know.

Why I’ve been weaning off Spotify for work

I needed to make a change

Credit: Lucas Gouveia/How-To Geek

I’ve been a long-time user of Spotify, and subsequently, I’ve used it for many years as a productivity tool for work and study. However, it’s easy for anyone to get distracted by their favorite music app. I’ve been dealing with this problem myself. I start with my regular dose of lo-fi playlists but then end up on my favorite rock or EDM playlist, which disrupts my focus.

This is especially prevalent when new releases come out, and I tend to easily get distracted when trying to find the “perfect” work playlist. And while I use these playlists with my app blocker of choice, Spotify itself is a distracting factor at times, which complicates things when I cannot go offline. While I try to let my usual focus playlists just play while I work, this distraction issue can be an annoying obstacle that slowly chips away at my focus over time.

Although it’s a matter of personal control and preferences, there is one way to combat any distractions you may be facing while picking distraction-free, focused music during work or study. Productivity apps work, but how about a dedicated music-based app that strips away the distractions you find on your music streaming apps?

What is Brain.fm?

Music without the distraction

Brain.fm (iOS, Google Play Store) is a deep-focus music app that aims to improve your focus through music streams for different purposes. The app uses lyric-free, beat-only music that requires no playlisting from your end to get you into a focus zone. Each mode (focus, relax, meditate, sleep, etc.) uses long streams to avoid distractions like picking up your phone, switching tracks, and falling into a doomscroll trap.

Brain.fm has a self-explanatory interface with neat tabs. You can select your mode to start a stream, like a playlist to find it later, download tracks offline, and explore individual tracks by genres, categories, and moods.

The app comes with custom music with no lyrics, ADHD-friendly genres, etc. According to Brain.fm, the music you will hear on the app has been tested through EEG studies and FMRI studies, with beats that are scientifically tested to improve user focus.

Each track comes with an ADHD mode that can be toggled on, playing tracks with a high Neural Effect Level to boost activity in a listener’s attentional networks. As for playback, you can choose “Infinite Play” to keep the music going endlessly or set a timer or even intervals if you want to take a break from work.

Why I like Brain.fm more than mainstream focus playlists

Brain.fm is now a must when I need to focus

Once I started using Brain.fm as an alternative to my Spotify productivity playlists, I could instantly see why many reviews of the app mentioned that they like it for work more than for music streaming. The music is tailored to your work and mood, so you can let the app do all the work without worrying about finding the perfect playlist or queue. Brain.fm also just feels like a normal music app through features like its library and explore tab, which adds to its easy usability.

With Infinite Play, you can keep a limitless stream, but the timer feature acts almost like a Pomodoro focus timer for work, since I’m able to break down my work sessions into smaller time blocks that help me prioritize breaks too.

Some of the best aspects that cement Brain.fm as a staple in my (revamped 2026) productivity folder are its simple and distraction-free interface, stream length options, and music compartmentalization. And since there is music for different purposes (work, creativity, learning, sleep, etc.), finding specialized focus music seems much more streamlined than your traditional streaming app.

There are specific streams featuring rain/river sounds, which is a type of focus music that works extremely well for my focus, so I can skip layering Background Sounds onto my usual playlist.

How to Use YouTube Premium As a Productivity App

Make the best out of your watching.

How much does Brain.fm cost?

Brain.fm offers a 14-day free trial, followed by a subscription model at $14.99 per month or $99.99 per year.

While the app is not free to use in the long term, it is definitely a subscription to consider investing in if you are keen on finding a reliable productivity music tool for work, study, or sleep. I would recommend trying out the free trial period (as well as dabbling in some other related productivity apps) before making the switch from your music streaming app to Brain.fm.

There are so many new productivity apps being released regularly, and finding the perfect combination of tools that work for your focus can take some time. But I recommend starting small with just a few apps where you can track most of your day and improve your productivity, instead of flooding your phone with apps you won’t bother using after a few days.

Source link

Stephan Dorsey

Stephan is the sports journalist for the Maple Grove Report.

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Get our latest articles delivered straight to your inbox. No spam, we promise.

6 uncomfortable truths about flexible filament 3D printing

53 DDoS domains seized and 3 Million criminal accounts uncovered

April 17, 2026

politically driven malware aims at Israeli water systems

April 17, 2026

U.S. CISA adds a flaw in Apache ActiveMQ to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

April 17, 2026

I Wish My Brother Had Been Diagnosed With Schizophrenia Before He Turned 18

53 DDoS domains seized and 3 Million criminal accounts uncovered

April 17, 2026

politically driven malware aims at Israeli water systems

April 17, 2026

U.S. CISA adds a flaw in Apache ActiveMQ to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

April 17, 2026

Meta freezes AI data work after breach puts training secrets at risk

53 DDoS domains seized and 3 Million criminal accounts uncovered

April 17, 2026

politically driven malware aims at Israeli water systems

April 17, 2026

U.S. CISA adds a flaw in Apache ActiveMQ to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

April 17, 2026

Recent Reviews

I Wish My Brother Had Been Diagnosed With Schizophrenia Before He Turned 18

Do you ever walk past a person on the streets exhibiting mental health issues and wonder what happened to their family? I have a brother—or at least, I used to. I worry about where he is and hope he is safe. He hasn’t taken my call since 2014.

James and his brother as young children playing together before his brother became sick. James is on the right and his brother is on the left.

When I was 13, I had a very bad day. I was in the back of the car, and what I remember most was the world-crushing sound violently panging off every surface: he was pounding his fists into the steering wheel, and I worried it would break apart. He was screaming at me and my mother, and I remember the web of saliva and tears hanging over his mouth. His eyes were red, and I knew this day would change everything between us. My brother was sick.

Nearly 20 years later, I still have trouble thinking about him. By the time we realized he was mentally ill, he was no longer a minor. The police brought him to a facility for the standard 72-hour hold, where he was diagnosed with paranoid delusional schizophrenia. Concluding he was not a danger to himself or others, they released him.

There was only one problem: at 18, my brother told the facility he was not related to us and that we were imposters. When they let him out, he refused to come home.

My parents sought help and even arranged for medication, but he didn’t take it. Before long, he disappeared.

My brother’s decline and disappearance had nothing to do with the common narratives about drug use or criminal behavior. He was sick. By the time my family discovered his condition, he was already 18 and legally independent from our custody.

The last time he let me visit, I asked about his bed. I remember seeing his dirty mattress on the floor beside broken glass and garbage. I also asked about the laptop my parents had gifted him just a year earlier. He needed the money, he said—and he had maxed out my parents’ credit card.

In secret from my parents, I gave him all the cash I had saved. I just wanted him to be alright.

My parents and I tried texting and calling him; there was no response except the occasional text every few weeks. But weeks turned into months.

Before long, I was graduating from high school. I begged him to come. When I looked in the bleachers, he was nowhere to be seen. I couldn’t help but wonder what I had done wrong.

The last time I heard from him was over the phone in 2014. I tried to tell him about our parents and how much we all missed him. I asked him to be my brother again, but he cut me off, saying he was never my brother. After a pause, he admitted we could be friends. Making the toughest call of my life, I told him he was my brother—and if he ever remembers that, I’ll be there, ready for him to come back.

I’m now 32 years old. I often wonder how different our lives would have been if he had been diagnosed as a minor and received appropriate care. The laws in place do not help families in my situation.

My brother has no social media, and we suspect he traded his phone several years ago. My family has hired private investigators over the years, who have also worked with local police to try to track him down.

One private investigator’s report indicated an artist befriended my brother many years ago. When my mother tried contacting the artist, they said whatever happened between them was best left in the past and declined to respond. My mom had wanted to wish my brother a happy 30th birthday.

My brother grew up in a safe, middle-class home with two parents. He had no history of drug use or criminal record. He loved collecting vintage basketball cards, eating mint chocolate chip ice cream, and listening to Motown music. To my parents, there was no smoking gun indicating he needed help before it was too late.

The next time you think about a person screaming outside on the street, picture their families. We need policies and services that allow families to locate and support their loved ones living with mental illness, and stronger protections to ensure that individuals leaving facilities can transition into stable care. Current laws, including age-based consent rules, the limits of 72-hour holds, and the lack of step-down or supported housing options, leave too many families without resources when a serious diagnosis occurs.

Governments and lawmakers need to do better for people like my brother. As someone who thinks about him every day, I can tell you the burden is too heavy to carry alone.

James Finney-Conlon is a concerned brother and mental health advocate. He can be reached at [email protected].

Source link