The Lord of the Rings

franchise · in 22 sources (2020–2024)

Sources by year: 2020: 4 · 2021: 2 · 2022: 1 · 2023: 10 · 2024: 5

Also known as: Lord of the Rings

Often together

What comes up in the same parts of the videos; the number is how many parts.

Harry Potter (book series) (8) · play, power, people (3) · Spotify (4) · Pomodoro technique (3) · Zoom (5) · The Wheel of Time (2) · Feel-Good Productivity (book) (6) · Mac mini (2) · Google Docs (2) · Mistborn (2)

What the videos say

The most important statements of each year; all statements.

2024

2024-03-19 · Why You’re Always Distracted - 5 Mistakes Ruining Your Focus — recommendation: Ali: Rather than fixed blocks, except before a meeting, Ali puts on the Lord of the Rings soundtrack, works as long as he makes full-focus progress, and takes a break when he finds himself wanting to do something else. — 00:13:28
2024-03-29 · Stop Wasting Time - 11 Tools to Double Your Focus — recommendation: Ali changes background music by task: Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter music when he really needs to focus, more upbeat music with lyrics for boring admin he just needs to get through. — 00:22:41
2024-06-10 · Discipline is Overrated 🤔 — recommendation: Ali: At the gym it is not discipline that gets Ali through: it is his personal trainer, or, working out alone, making it fun with an audiobook or Lord of the Rings battle music to feel more epic and a workout he enjoys. — 00:00:00
2024-06-11 (said on 2024-04-14, implied) · A Productive Week in My Life — recommendation: Ali times his focus by playing a three-hour YouTube background-music video, such as Bag End music from The Lord of the Rings, and pausing it whenever he stops or gets distracted, so it works as a focus timer. — 00:15:01
2024-11-01 · How to Reset Your Dopamine (And Change Your Life) — Ali: At medical school Ali found starting to study for exams really hard, but once in the flow, with Pirates of the Caribbean, Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter music playing, it became fun. — 00:12:24

2023

2023-01-18 · My Productivity Desk Setup (Portable) — Ali: When trying to focus, Ali normally plays his Study With Me playlist on Spotify, with soundtracks from Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings and other films. — 00:01:57
2023-03-01 · How to Stay Focused While Studying - Evidence-based Tips — recommendation: Ali makes a boring task such as book edits easier to focus on by framing it as an adventure: he goes to the local coworking space, grabs a coffee on the way and plays Lord of the Rings music on his headphones. — 00:03:48
2023-03-14 · Why you struggle to stay motivated. — Ali: At medical school Ali made studying for exams more enjoyable: studying with friends in the same library, colour-coding his timetables, playing Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the Caribbean music, and moving between coffee shops and libraries around Cambridge. — 00:03:55
2023-08-04 · I Read 107 Productivity Books. Here's What Actually Works. — recommendation: Ali: To make his work feel good, Ali plays The Lord of the Rings music in the background, sometimes works in a coffee shop as an adventure, and lowers the seriousness so the stakes feel lower. — 00:10:47
2023-08-30 · I Tried 137 Productivity Tools. These Are The Best. — recommendation: Ali: At his desk Ali plays ambience videos such as Lord of the Rings Rivendell music full screen on his second monitor, as background sound that helps him focus while working. — 00:05:39
2023-09-19 · My Most Productive Desk Setup Ever — Ali: For Zoom calls that need privacy, or to concentrate when people are in the office, Ali puts on noise-cancelling headphones and plays the Lord of the Rings soundtrack, which helps him focus. — 00:03:02
2023-12-05 · How to Be Effortlessly Disciplined: 5 Mindset Shifts — recommendation: Ali: For exam study, Ali suggests asking what it would look like if it were fun: Lord of the Rings instrumental music in the background, a different library or coffee shop each day, pretty notes and colour-coded timetables. — 00:10:29
2023-12-15 · How I Read 100 Books a Year (My 10 Best Tips) — Ali is listening to The Fellowship of the Ring, the first Lord of the Rings book, after trying many times over the years to read it and never getting through its denser descriptions; the narrator makes him likelier to finish. — 00:07:04
- One of Ali's favourite things is walking while listening to an audiobook: as he gets his 10,000 steps every day he is listening to The Lord of the Rings. — 00:07:33
…and 1 statement more in 2023 — all statements of 2023

Also named in: The 5 Minute Rule ⏳

2022

2022-12-05 · 12 cheap purchases to boost your productivity — Ali: Lighting a candle is part of Ali's work ritual, with headphones and his study-with-me playlist of Lord of the Rings, Pirates of the Caribbean and Harry Potter music: you do not need a ritual, but it helps him get into work. — 00:10:27

2021

2021-02-24 · i wasted the last 6 months of my life… — Ali: To get his book writing going again, Ali set up free daily Zoom "write with me" co-working sessions, with a hundred-odd and sometimes 200 or 300 people from around the world; he plays his Spotify study playlist of instrumentals from The Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter, and they use the Pomodoro technique. — 00:03:37
2021-05-21 · 5 Essential Tips for Long-Lasting Productivity — Ali's Study With Me playlist on Spotify holds instrumental music from The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean and Marvel; playing it makes his work more fun. — 00:10:38

2020

2020-02-13 · Top 5 Revision & Study Tips for Students — Ali is more than happy to take the efficiency hit of studying with music, because Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter soundtracks make him feel like a legend while he studies. — 00:05:33
2020-03-13 · The KEY Study Techniques for Exam Success — recommendation: Ali: To focus, Ali puts his headphones on and plays his study-with-me playlist on Spotify of instrumental film music, such as Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the Caribbean. — 00:05:55
2020-03-30 · Improve your Reading + My New Favourite Pen — Ali: The first Wheel of Time book follows Rand, Perrin and Mat from Emond's Field in the Two Rivers, a tiny village like the Shire in The Lord of the Rings; a woman wizard tells them they are chosen ones, and after an attack they set off to train and defeat the Dark One. — 00:12:45
…and 1 statement more in 2020 — all statements of 2020