I found The Real Reason Coffee Shops Boost Productivity through Twitter.

Coffee Shops have been known to boost creative productivity. But it’s not the caffeine that does it.

The blog post refers to a study in the Journal of Consumer Research that explored the effects of various levels of background noise on individual creative thinking. What’s really interesting is this:

the researchers found that those in the moderate-noise condition outperformed those in all the other conditions, hence moderate-noise was amplifying their creative output

Drink whatever you want at the coffee shop (I drink hot chocolate), it’s the background noise that makes you creative.

Get The Coffee Shop Noise At Home

In one of the comments on the blog post above is a link to Coffitivity. They describe the site as “Ambient sounds to boost your workday creativity! ” I have Coffitivity on right now and really like the sound.

Is there an app for that?

There’s Ambiance thats described as an “environment enhancer” designed to help you create the perfect ambient atmosphere to relax, focus or reminisce on the go.