TikTok users have found a way to improve their concentration and productivity at work or in school.
This trick is none other than listening to white noise.
It’s a solution praised for its benefits on attention: “White noise is a sound signal with no particular frequency and no rhythm. It is just a neutral sound played continuously and not too loud, like a continuous sound of rushing air,” explains the psychologist Amélia Lobbé, author of “Le jour où j’ai apprivoisé ma peur” [“The day I conquered my fear”], published in France by Le Courrier du Livre.
Helpful for ADHD and tinnitus
For this professional, listening to white noise could have beneficial effects, especially for people suffering from ADHD (Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder): “People with ADHD can see [the effects of] their disorder diminish and their concentration improve when listening to white, pink or brown noise, or to non-intrusive music, because listening to soft music increases the production of dopamine (among other things).
“ADHD is thought to be linked to low dopamine levels. Listening to soft music or white noise could increase the attention span of people with ADHD,” the specialist says.
“Pink noise is a variation of white noise, with the low frequencies emphasised and the octaves balanced. It is said to be softer and more pleasant to listen to than white noise.
“There is also brown noise, with a more accentuated bass that is slightly different from white noise and pink noise.”
This technique can also prove effective for people with tinnitus.
“When a white noise or a masking sound is played, instead of the full attention being fixed on the tinnitus, on intrusive thoughts, on writer’s block, or on fears (fear of not falling asleep, of mice, of the dark, of loneliness, etc), a part of the attention is caught by the sound (white noise or sound masking) and the other part of the attention can be floating, because it is released from the anxiety, or it can also be focused on a piece of work to be completed,” explains the psychologist.
On TikTok, the hashtag #Whitenoise counts more than 132 million views to date, and a multitude of variants are also used, such as #Whitenoises, #whitenoisedeepsleepsounds or even #white_noise.
Choose your sound, choose your source
There is certainly no shortage of video testimonies advising users to listen to white noise to promote concentration and increase productivity. But does this trick really work, or is it just a viral trend?
For the psychologist Amélia Lobbé, the effects can vary from person to person. And listening to white noise is not the only way to regain focus.
“The effect is different for different people (not just young people): for some people, the most effective sound will be white noise, for others it will be pink noise, the TV or radio in the background, using music for sound masking, the atmosphere of a café, the sound of rain, Zen garden sounds, the sound of walking in the forest, of a fire crackling in the fireplace,” she lists by way of example.
“A study shows that background noise at 70 decibels, neither total silence nor intrusive noise, stimulates creativity and imagination.”
On TikTok, white noise sounds are found in several thousand videos, like “Just White Noise,” used in almost 3,000 clips.
However, despite this popularity, listening to white noise via social networks is not the best technique to improve productivity: “I advise specialist sites and YouTube, rather than networks like TikTok, where videos are intermittent: studies show that the worst thing for concentration is not to have noise, but to be constantly interrupted by colleagues, children, or to frantically scroll on social networks,” explains Amélia Lobbé.