I’m going to share a weird secret quirk of mine.
Every year, my Spotify Wrapped exposes it and HUMBLES me.
In 2021, I listened to Runaway by Aurora 447 times, all between April and May.
In 2023, it was Renée by SALES with 361 plays and while it is a little less, it is still eyebrow-raising amount.
And in 2024… let’s just say Leading Me On (But I’m Not Mad About It) by Remy somehow landed me in his top 0.001% of listeners. I don’t even remember playing it that much, or maybe it’s just too embarrassing to admit.
It didn’t hit me until recently: am I the only one who does this?
Because I don’t just do it when I’m working. I do it when I’m training, traveling, or writing. When I set a goal to run a 5K every day (I made it to day 65 before the Chicago winter froze me out), I played Back to You by Selena Gomez on loop for every single run. Thirty minutes, ten plays, every day.
And weirdly, I noticed that when I did this, when I played the same song again and again, I didn’t just run better. I worked better. I focused longer. I felt calmer.
So I started wondering: is this just a strange personality quirk, or does science actually back it up?
Turns out, it does! (Yaay for unhinged discoveries!)
What the research says about repetition and focus
Familiar sounds free up your brain
A 2025 study found that familiar music reduced mind wandering and helped people stay focused longer on attention-heavy tasks. Because your brain already knows what’s coming, it doesn’t need to keep predicting the next beat or chord. That mental energy gets redirected toward whatever you’re actually doing. (Bidelman, G. M., et al. (2025))
Habituation quiets distraction
In neuroscience, this is called habituation—when your brain responds less to repeated stimuli. A 2022 EEG study showed that repeated sounds trigger smaller neural responses over time, freeing up bandwidth for deeper concentration. (Yue, J., Wang P., et al (2022))
Music you like helps you stay motivated
In a 2020 study, people performed better on sustained attention tasks when listening to music they actually liked. Enjoyment activates dopamine—the brain’s motivation chemical—which helps sustain focus and flow. (Kiss, L., et al. (2020))
Repetition reduces decision fatigue
Every time a playlist changes, your brain does a micro-adjustment. It evaluates tempo, tone, lyrics, and emotional meaning. When you loop one song, those micro-decisions disappear. What’s left is an uninterrupted zone of focus.
Why this works especially well for nomads and remote founders
As a nomad building my own business, I’ve learned that location freedom comes with an invisible challenge: self-management.
There’s no boss, no office, and no 9-to-5 rhythm. Just you and every possible distraction ranging from endless new cafes, news connections, and new country adventures. The same flexibility that makes this life beautiful can also make it hard to stay consistent.
Even after I slowed down my travel pace staying three to six months in one place instead of hopping cities every few weeks, I still found my focus scattered. There’s always novelty to process with new routines, languages, noises, and faces. The brain gets tired from adjusting.
That’s when I realized how much we need anchors! These small, repeatable rituals create a sense of stability when everything else is fluid. For me, looping a single song became one of those anchors.
When I press play, my brain recognizes it as a cue.
It’s like saying, hey we’re working now.
No matter what country I find myself living in (Mexico, Spain, Vietnam, etc…) that sound becomes my portable workspace and an auditory boundary that helps me rebuild structure wherever I am.
If you have ADHD traits you may have already found this simple hack by using white noise. A 2024 study found that pink noise improved performance in people with ADHD without raising stress. Consistent auditory input helps regulate attention by giving the brain something steady to hold onto.
Another study found that white noise improved working memory and attention in children with ADHD and sometimes as effectively as medication for specific tasks. (Frontiers in Psychology 2016)
Looping one song works in a similar way. It adds gentle, predictable stimulation that quiets mental noise and helps you stay on task.
How to build your own “focus anchor”
Pick your anchor song.
Choose something with a steady beat, minimal lyrics, and a soothing voice. You want it to be interesting enough to enjoy but simple enough to fade into the background.Only use it for work.
Let your brain associate that sound with productivity. Over time, it becomes your focus trigger.Keep your routine consistent.
Use the same headphones, play it at the same time, and keep the volume steady. Consistency builds conditioning.Allow boredom.
The moment you stop “noticing” the song is the moment it starts working. Boredom here isn’t bad, it’s your brain entering deep focus.Take silent breaks.
Give your mind space to reset before starting the next work block.
Bonus tips for nomad productivity
Create three daily anchors: a morning ritual, your focus song, and an end-of-day routine. These give rhythm to a borderless lifestyle.
Batch deep work early. Mornings work for a lot of people but I love doing deep work in the late afternoon when I know the U.S. clients are ending their day.
Use sensory consistency. Bring small, familiar items when you travel (a mug, a candle, or even a song) to recreate stability. I travel with a bombilla (straw used for drinking yerba mate) and drinking this actually is a small ritual of mine.
Have one “comfort task.” When motivation dips, do something small and familiar to build momentum again. Stop the scroll (as it will get you in a distracted mode). Maybe go for a 5 minute walk or my favorite.. blowing bubbles.
A final reflection
When I looked back at my hyperfixation songs (Aurora, SALES, Remy, Selena Gomez), I realized they all had something in common. They were slow but steady, simple but layered, soft voices with just enough beat and warmth to keep me moving. They didn’t overwhelm my brain. They guided it.
Does this make me a bit unhinged? Maybe.
But remember that old saying: if it stupid but it works, it's not stupid.
Right now, my song on repeat is Nobody’s Son by Sabrina Carpenter. It’s been looping as I write this.
And once again, I’m deep in the zone.
References
Bidelman, G. M., et al. (2025). Familiar Music Reduces Mind Wandering and Boosts Task Performance. PMC12109699
Kiss, L., et al. (2020). Preferred Background Music Enhances Task Focus. PMC8357712
Yue, J., et al. (2022). Short-Term Habituation of Auditory N1 in Spoken Word Processing. PMC9599792
Rijmen, J., et al. (2024). Pink Noise Benefits ADHD-Related Performance. PubMed 39034029
Söderlund, G. B., et al. (2016). White Noise Improves Cognitive Performance in Children with ADHD. Frontiers in Psychology
