Yes I've thought about this a lot before. One thing I notice is that this works "in reverse" for me too. By that I mean if I am listening to a podcast and doing nothing, I lose focus on the podcast as I start fidgeting with something and start thinking about that. If I am doing something that requires my focus to do then I lose track of the podcast too. My best focus on listening happens when I am physically doing something I don't need much attention to do. Stuff like doing the dishes, taking out the trash, walking the dog, or driving. Anything I can do on autopilot while listening.
This is what I was dealing with. When working or reading books, I got easily distracted, even in a library. I tried listening to white noises but that was also uncomfortable because I would have quickly lost the sense of time and start feeling claustrophobic. So I made a special noise music for myself a month ago to address all this issues, and it has helped me a lot. Now I can read a book in public for an hour without distraction, and I play it when I need to focus on something at work. From my experience, the noise matters a lot.
Yes I've thought about this a lot before. One thing I notice is that this works "in reverse" for me too. By that I mean if I am listening to a podcast and doing nothing, I lose focus on the podcast as I start fidgeting with something and start thinking about that. If I am doing something that requires my focus to do then I lose track of the podcast too. My best focus on listening happens when I am physically doing something I don't need much attention to do. Stuff like doing the dishes, taking out the trash, walking the dog, or driving. Anything I can do on autopilot while listening.
This is what I was dealing with. When working or reading books, I got easily distracted, even in a library. I tried listening to white noises but that was also uncomfortable because I would have quickly lost the sense of time and start feeling claustrophobic. So I made a special noise music for myself a month ago to address all this issues, and it has helped me a lot. Now I can read a book in public for an hour without distraction, and I play it when I need to focus on something at work. From my experience, the noise matters a lot.