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B-Calm Review (posted with permission)

One of the most challenging issue in my ADD is focusing. It is a damn hard work; my mind keeps wandering off wildly and I’ve been having serious problems in taming them. However, I recently learned that I need certain sounds to help me focus, especially for the tasks that requires concentration such as writing and reading. I realised the kind of sounds that help me focus is a low, rumble sound that is produced by fan, AC, laundry machine, or white noise. That is why I always find myself work at ease when I turn my fan on or in a public place, such as cafe, where people chatters at low volume and create this particular low frequency sound. Well, as long as their mobile phones don’t start ringing.

I’ve been searching for products that are produced specially to help people concentrate. Once I bought one CD that claims to help people focusing better, together with a long list of testimonials. I bought one and tried it for several days. It worked for a while, but the effect soon gone. I think it is partly because of the music. I learned a long time ago that music does not help me focusing. In fact, it has counter-productive effect: my mind will be heavily distracted by the music and thus unable me to do my work.

Then, I read Bryan’s review about b-Calm. B-calm is a series of sounds that specially engineered for children with ADD and autism to help them focus better. He made a good review about it, saying how much it has helped him finishing his tasks. Intrigued, I immediately went to the website and placed an order.

I received the product in no time. There are four types of sounds offered: Summer Forest, Spring Rain, Sunday Drive, and Tropical Beach. I started on the Tropical Beach and was glad as I listened to it. As the title suggests, it only contains the sound of waves and the wind, just like when you are sitting alone by the beach. Then I tried the other three sounds and I really like them a lot. The sounds engineered are the ones exactly I need: just plain natural, with no additional backsounds such as music or chirping birds.

Liking the sound is a good start, but seeing if it works as expected is another thing. So, I put the sound on when I was about to work on my thesis. For a couple of minutes I didn’t feel anything, but then, before I knew it, some words began to appear on the screen and they grew into sentences and paragraphs. It usually took a long time for me to realise my ideas into writing (for instance, it took me one week to write a paragraph and one year to compose the still-unfinished-chapter 2!). But with B-Calm on, I can write three pages in one day!

To convince me that the sounds really helps, I gave the product a try for a couple more weeks. This time, I tried using it at work. Usually, I start my morning with a lot of confusion: what I should do first. Even though I have some routines, I still find myself wondering, thinking what to do. So, I put b-Calm on and the next thing I know I start doing one job after another and finishing them in a quick manner! It is unbelievable! And it always work the same all the time. I can really tell the difference when I was on or off b-Calm. My work pace is much smoother when it is on than when it is off.

One important thing: it also helps me going through my ADD day. ‘Having my ADD days’ means the symptoms are more severe than usual to the point that I feel as if my brain was completely clogged and I am unable to do anything. So far my coping skills when I’m having these days are to act busy. With b-Calm on, I can have at least a half of the works done and do not have to pretend.

I still don’t know how it works. It seems like the sounds clear away the debris in my mind, and organise the pieces of thoughts into a neat arrangement. I can always reach the hyperfocus mode and it feels really great. At last, I found something that can help me focus.

I sincerely think that B-calm is a brilliant innovation. It is simple, but very effective. I'm glad to have it.