Working From Home Playlist and Ambiance Resources

Setting the Ambiance for Working from Home

Sometimes, silence is even more distracting than noise! With more and more people working from home, many of us are probably realizing just how much we rely on background noise to concentrate. Whether that’s simple white noise or actual music, having something on in the background to passively listen to can make a big difference in our ability to concentrate. Some people like to listen to podcasts while they work, others prefer music. As much as I love podcasts, I can’t listen to them while I’m writing; I have too much trouble focusing. Instead, I like to listen to some calm, quieter playlists or ambient noise. If you’re of the same mind, I have a Working From Home Playlist for you and a great ambient noise resource!

Working From Home Playlist

I put together a 25 song playlist of some of my favorite songs to listen to while working at home. The playlist is full of subtle, softer songs that you can listen to at minimal or normal volume. It features some old favorites of mine, from the likes of Elliott Smith and Belle & Sebastian, along with some newer finds, like Lord Huron and Bear’s Den. You can get the working from home playlist here!

Playlist Tracklist:

Ambient Mixer as Background Noise & Audio

If you need wordless background noise to do your work, I highly recommend Ambient Mixer. A friend of mine recently told me about this resource and I am totally obsessed. Ambient Mixer hosts “atmospheres,” or lengthy background noise tracks that have been designed to follow certain themes, feelings, or genres. Sometimes, when I’m working, I get thrown off by songs with words, so these ambient atmospheres are perfect background noise. Plus, if you’re into creative writing, the atmospheres are amazing for getting yourself into the right headspace to write.

Theoretically, the resources could be used for video content creators, but I use it for simple background noise. Here is a video from Ambient Mixer that explains how you can use the platform creatively.

There are countless pre-made ambient audios, including generic, geographic, and movie or show-based themes, like Outlander and Harry Potter. You can choose from one of these pre-made and customize the details and settings. Whether or not you adjust the settings, you can download files of the atmospheres for minimal fees.

For example, here are two screenshots of one of my favorite atmospheres, The Highlands of Outlander. The first is what the page normally looks like. The second is what appears when you click “show mixer.” In this view, you can adjust the volume/frequency of different aspects of the atmosphere.

Some of My Favorite Ambient Mixer Atmospheres

When I first set out to share my favorite Ambient Mixer Atmospheres, I was excited for the variety. However, I quickly realized that I’ve been mostly listening to Outlander inspired atmospheres. If you’re looking for something a little less Scottish then I recommend starting from the Ambient Categories list on the left hand side of the page. Otherwise, here are the atmospheres I’ve been toggling between:

Give them a try and let me know what you think!


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 *This post was originally published in April 2020. It was most recently updated on September 4, 2023.