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My top 5 Conditioning sounds

and how I use them to activate focus.
Dorien Vullers

Dorien Vullers

2 Min Read

As humans, we would like to get a grip on the elements around us, including time. We find this in the clock that shows us when we can be hungry, which determines where our day begins and ends. Time became an essential part of our existence. But whatever control we perform, time keeps ticking by at the same pace. Although the experience does not always correspond with what the hands of time tell us.

After all, time has different sides, something the Greeks described as Chronos and Kairos. Chronos is what we describe as the ticking time, from when a hand was attached to the sun. Kairos is time as an experience, the right time to get something done. Nowadays mainly known as ‘flow’. Does the challenge lie mainly in the smart use of time instead of trying to tame it? Something that Elke Geraerts nicely describes as ‘letting go’ of wanting to manage time and actively prioritising your own focus and how you use time as your partner-in-crime. One of the dozens of tips I took from her books is ‘conditioning yourself’ to allow your brain to move to that intense focus. I do this on the basis of a playlist composed by myself. Specially chosen songs that inspire, propel me and get myself in ‘the zone’ in no time. Welcome, flow!

Here I would like to share with you my Top 5 artists / sounds, each with its own specific goal:

  1. My FOCUS-in playlist:
    The Piano Guys delicious instrumental versions of well-known songs, in which piano and cello are central.
  2. To hold the FLOW:
    Sebastian Plano: his album ‘verve’ combines minimalism and melancholy to form the perfect background music
    Yiruma: possibly my favorite classical composer
  3. Activating Music:
    Push: Unmatched in the trance category, delightfully uplifting to create progress
  4. FOCUS-out:
    My ‘nillies’ spotify list (and at the same time guilty pleasure) to reset my brain and get energy. There’s nothing more pleasing than a 5-minute trip with ‘The Backstreet Boys’, haha!
  5. CHECK-out:
    To switch from one role to another, eg at the end of the working day, I like to put on a Trance-set:
    Gareth Emery @ Tomorrowland (2017) via Youtube
    Disco Dasco Summervibe DJ Mousa (2014) via SoundCloud
    Cosmic Gate @ Tomorrowland (2017) via Youtube


Which rituals do you use to work with focus or to be able to switch smoothly between different moments in the day? I would love to know!