Tuning out the noise: 5 low-cost ways to chill out

Let’s face it. You can’t control everything in your environment.

But you can control how you respond to it.

You might not be able to stop the late-night party noise in your neighborhood — or that jackhammering project down the street. The noise from your neighbor’s Harley drives you nuts. And on weekend mornings, another neighbor hauls out a leaf blower and wakes you up before 8 a.m. It’s infuriating, right?

Right now, you just need to develop some coping skills. And that starts with choosing your own personal soundtrack — one that will relax you, help you sleep, or help you focus.

First, you need a pair of decent earbuds. Headphones are also OK, but they’re too bulky for sleeping.

Some people recommend white-noise machines, but I don’t. Believe me, I’ve tried. I bought a white noise machine and it kept me awake at night. I thought it sounded like machinery. Instead of relaxing me, it just reminded me of the same type of noise I was trying to escape.

Instead, you want soothing sounds. To tune out the exterior noise with something that feels much better and doesn’t spike your cortisol. And you’ve got loads of options and apps to choose from. Let’s look at a few of them.

1. Play natural sounds and tune out the noise you don’t want

You can find sounds from nature online like wind chimes or rain. One podcast, “The Sleep Meditation Podcast – ASMR Sleep Triggers” offers several variations of chimes, rain, water, white noise, and desert wind. Look for YouTube videos that play continuous nature sounds, like this “90 Minutes of Woodland Ambiance” or “3 Hours of Gentle Night Rain.” Of course, you can also find apps to deliver these sounds, and one of them is called Noizio. It offers sound loops like Coffee House, Campfire, Sea Waves, Sunny Day, and more. Noizio is a free download with In-App purchases.

2. Listen to a bedtime story

Does listening to a story make you sleepy? Drew Ackerman’s creative “Sleep with Me” podcast does the trick. Each episode is an hour long, and after the first few minutes of tangential narratives and funny jokes, he’ll tell a story to help you fall asleep. I can’t say that I can remember what any of the stories were about because I always fall asleep shortly after they begin. A link on the Sleep with Me website offers a 25% discount for an app called Calm, which offers daily meditation and even more bedtime stories. Another podcast, “Sleep Whispers,” tells a story in whispers, which I personally find distracting, but maybe it works for you.

3. Do productive work with chillout music

I agree with Melissa Chu’s article on Medium about the best types of music for work: avoid lyrics and complexity. While some of you might like upbeat or pop music to feel energized, I need to listen to something low key to help me focus and channel my energy into the task at hand. And if I’m in a noisy environment, the right soundtrack helps me tune out the distractions. Sites like focus@will promise to deliver scientifically designed sounds for a subscription fee (and you can also check out one of their free YouTube soundtracks). Of course, you can create your own playlists on Spotify, stream channels from sites like SomaFM or even the freeCodeCamp channel on YouTube, or many other options. On a personal level, I started creating my own chillout playlists years ago for work. Then I graduated to hosting a chillout/downtempo/minimal podcast called EXPANDIZONS, with over 100 episodes. Some are more chill, while others are slightly uptempo. Find the music services that work for you. There’s something for everyone!

4. Listen to binaural beats

Binaural beats send a different frequency to each of your ears, which generates a beat that you can hear when you wear headphones or earbuds. The effect is supposed to be relaxing or even sleep-inducing. Some websites, apps, and YouTube videos offer an opportunity to dip into the world of binaural beats and see if they work for you. Personally, I’m not sure if I can tell the difference between some of the alleged binaural beats and regular ambient music. However, I found a podcast that generates a consistent hypnotic tone that might do the trick. It doesn’t seem like it’s more than a hum at first, but after a few minutes, it actually does seem relaxing. Try this series from ASMR & Insomnia Network: “Sleep with Silk: Binaural Beats.”

5. Listen to meditation, progressive relaxation, and mindfulness audio

You can find, buy, or subscribe to many meditation apps and services online. If you don’t know what works for you or if it works at all, try some podcasts or YouTube videos first. I like the Meditation Minis podcast because they’re relatively short and easy to fit into a busy schedule. You have to get past the ads, but this is true on a lot of services. Another short podcast is “Meditation Station” by Stin Hansen. And finally, try out some apps for daily practice, like Headspace, Calm (mentioned above), or Buddhify. Some of them offer free trials, while Buddhify costs $4.99 USD to download, but you get a lot for your money.