songs to stop procrastinating

this is your sign. that one thing that needs to be done- you know the one- it’s time to get it done. the one that’s been nagging in the back of your mind for weeks, calmly whispering hey, when you get a chance i’m over here. we all know that chance will never come if you don’t create it, and there’s one surefire way to force some productivity- a good song.

some songs contain an infectious energy, not the type that makes you want to dance or move, but the type that flips your perspective on a pivot and riddles you with a productivity you could only dream of. the type you see corporate warriors who wake up at 3am to ice their face brag about on instagram reels. here’s the songs you need today to get that thing done.

tombstone blues is a song that has runaway energy. from the moment you press play it’s off, out from under your feet and you spend the next 6 minutes trying to catch-up and wrangle it. dylan’s vitalised guitar seems to stop for nothing, and for the length of this track whirls through manic licks and chords without ever slowing pace for a fraction of a second or dropping a step.

pair that with the genius writing, containing some of the best political and class commentary you’ll ever hear in music, and you’re on for a winner. this one will have you fired up and ready to pretend sending a corporate email is the equivalent to being in the coal mines.

cage the elephant are a band usually reserved for a summers day calling for dulcet sweet guitars and clever writing, but this track is different. this is the kind of song for which you need to vacate any breakable or highly fragile objects out your immediate premises for the full duration, because the choppy, distorted guitar riffs and growled telephone vocals on broken boy will have you smashing things off of the nearest wall in pure excitement. at just over 2 and a half minutes long, broken boy is a an espresso, a red bull and a shot of tequila all wrapped into one neat alternative rock package.

from the moment you hear that iconic synthesiser any idea of friction or resistance present in the world seems to melt away, leaving you feeling like you could run 100 miles without even losing your breath. da funk is a stalwart of electronic music, defining a generation of the genre and despite being nearly 30 years old it still makes the ideal soundtrack of four to the floor productivity. plus, bonus points here for being the first song i ever bought on itunes (bring back itunes).

get got sounds like crushing down a thousand glucose tablets and snorting them, and then proceeding to sprint headfirst into a wall at 100mph. it’s heavy, it’s aggressive, at time it’s scary and at others weirdly beautiful and poetic. in other words, it gives you energy. the drums are pounding and pulsating, whilst mc ride provides raw and genius vocal percussion in between. Paired with whirling synths this track will put the wind in your sail (albeit aggressively).