Productivity hacks for high performance creators

⏰ time to read | 4 minutes

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Welcome to The Whipple Effect, a bi-weekly newsletter to help men find focus through sobriety and create a life they love through holistic productivity.

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👋 Hey friend,

One thing will destroy your focus and productivity.

And I have a hack for the hyper sensitive creators.

Let’s get to the cause and cure of this disturbance.

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A Source of Suffering in Society

You can’t get away from it these days.

Urban madness is at an all-time high. Everything is moving faster and getting louder. People are less patient and lack common courtesies. The vibe and pace have even breached into your own home.

Some of the surprising top offenders:

• leaf blowers

• lawn mowers

• dogs barking

• neighbors music

• kid crying in the other room

Or, how about generators when you’re camping?

If you don’t notice these things consciously, they affect you subconsciously. Our ancestors never had to face these adversaries. But our modern world has become a labyrinth of loud noises. And modern survival is based not in hunting animals and rubbing sticks together. Men like you and me make our living through online business and personal branding.

The things on that list destroy focus.

Focus is the key to creating value online.

Online offerings are what sustain your family.

So your life and legacy are all on the line here.

I’m sensitive to sounds. But I’m not the only one. A large portion of the population who suffer from sounds is underserved. Now, let’s learn a little bit about them and how they’re being affected. Maybe you can relate?

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Are You a Sensitive Person?

Here are some classifications and definitions.

1. Hyper sensitivity

This refers to an increased or excessive sensitivity to physical (sensory) stimuli, such as sound, light, touch, and taste. It can cause discomfort or distress, and it's often associated with conditions like sensory processing disorder, fibromyalgia, and certain mental health disorders.

2. Misophonia

This is an extreme sensitivity and strong negative emotional and physiological reactions to specific sounds, typically repetitive and relatively soft ones like chewing, breathing, or tapping noises.

3. Sensory processing disorder (SPD)

This is a condition where the brain has trouble receiving and responding to information that comes in through the senses. This can cause individuals to have difficulties with certain sensory stimuli, leading to problems with motor skills and other areas of functioning.

4. Hyperacusis

A health condition characterized by an increased sensitivity to certain frequencies and volumes of sound. It can result in discomfort and distress when exposed to sounds that would be normally acceptable to most people.

5. Phonophobia

Fear or anxiety triggered by specific sounds.

For sensitive creators, noise isn't just a minor annoyance.

It's a major barrier to success. It equates to lost time, money, and energy. Every unexpected interruption sets you back on your current task and diminishes your overall productivity and creativity. This constant battle against noise can lead to frustration, reduced work satisfaction, and burnout.

Imagine what you could achieve if every session of deep work wasn't cut short by a sudden sound bomb seeping into your workspace.

Some people numb through self medication.

That’s the way I coped for years.

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My Musical & Wild Backstory

I was a professional musician for years.

Music taught me a lot about life. But intense study trained my ears to notice everything. Subtle nuances do not escape my senses. I pay attention to the spaces between sounds. Recall the list from earlier: it’s all music.

They’re all just melody and rhythm.

Not the good kind. They’re dissonant.

Like a bad song that gets stuck in your head.

After my musical career, I spent a lot of time immersed in wild nature. Of all my time alone in remote areas for extended periods of time, my ears were further trained to pick up on every sound around me. It was as much out of fascination as it was for survival.

That makes me a musical scout on alert.

For better or worse in this crazy world.

I may be hyper sensitive, but I won’t let noise keep me from having an impact. And you shouldn’t either. So let’s learn how we can maintain a flow state and maximize deep work.

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Simple Strategies to Hack Your Hearing

Here are some simple solutions.

See an explanation in my YouTube video.

Airpods

These are my go-to. I always have them on me. They have a noise cancelling feature. Open up Spotify and turn it up. All else disappears. Thank god.

Ear muffs 

It might seem extreme, but wearing these at work or in your house makes a big difference. They effectively reduce what you hear around you. Shooters wear them on the range so they’ll work for your office. I got mine here and you should try them.

White noise

This is a type of noise produced by combining sounds of all different frequencies together. It's often used in various fields like music, acoustics, and electronic communications to mask background sounds, aid sleep, enhance privacy, and provide relaxation. There’s a lot of apps for this. Here’s the one I use.

Brain FM music 

This has been one of my favorite apps. Brain.fm’s focus music is made to help you work better, by blending into the background so you can focus distraction-free, all while stimulating the brain with gentle rhythmic pulses in the music that support sustained attention.

Turn off notifications

Turning off notifications on devices boosts productivity. They’re interruptions that pull attention away from tasks, breaking focus and flow. Each time this happens, it takes time and mental effort to refocus on the task at hand. By turning off notifications, you maintain a steady work rhythm, minimize distractions, and enhance efficiency.

Doors windows closed

It sucks sometimes, but you have to do it.

Communicate to others

Maybe talk to the neighbors, but that’s risky. I’ve made it clear to my wife that I’m hyper sensitive and need a quiet space to not go crazy (I mean work). During these hours, I am not to be disturbed.

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Action Steps Moving Forward

Think of your big life goals.

If your current situation isn’t ideal, you gotta generate some inspiration. Maybe you need to move to a new home, or city. The aim is to reclaim your creative space and your professional momentum.

You need to take action steps to get there.

You need a plan. Some steps might be quick and easy, like the ones I mentioned. If you’re less sensitive than me, then those should work just fine. You need an effective strategy for dealing with sound and stress.

Indulging in vices is not an option.

My main goal is to make a lot of money and move into a nice, big home that’s at least two miles from anyone. I think about this vision every day, and everything I do is oriented toward that goal.

Until then, it’s a game of survival.

Sensitive people understand.

Are you one of them?

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Thanks for reading this Letter.

Watch the video on YouTube.

Reply with your thoughts.

I’d love to hear from you!

See you in two weeks,

David.