Attending graduate school in the City, and living in Brooklyn with roommates, it seems there is never a moment free of some type of distracting noise, allowing the mind to focus on thinking and writing.  This is quite different than my experience attending school (Bachelors and Masters) in Long Island, where its very easy to find both space and quiet.  I’ve experimented with different ideas to create “white noise” – which I consider a soothing alternative to voices, car horns, and even worse…anything that sounds more fun than thinking and writing.

Yesterday I discovered a website called http://simplynoise.com/.

For free you can be treated to endless white noise, or choose “pink noise” or even my personal favorite “brown noise,” which is lower in pitch.  Yesterday, I opened a few browser windows, set them to “brown noise,” then did the same on my iPhone and Kindle and placed them in different places in the room.  Added to my elaborate system of fans and heaters set to fan mode I found myself surrounded in a pool of sound very conducive to thinking and writing and had one of my most productive days.

OK, so these measures may appear extreme – but come on…this is graduate school…we eat extreme for breakfast!  Now if only there was a website that could create more space…

~ Mani