As I write this, the most pleasing sound is washing over megentle waves ebbing and flowing onto the shore. Sadly, Im not actually on some magnificent tropical beach. Instead, the sounds of the sea are being generated by my Mac. Yet, more than just being pleasing to the ear, this sound, and others the Mac can generate, have helped boost my focus in recent months when Im under deadline and trying to get work done.The feature is called Background Sounds. Here are some of the benefits Ive gotten from it and how you can use it, too.The pandemic made me realize background sounds help me focusI know some writers who need absolute silence when they are working. Ive never been one of those people. I work best when there is low-level noise from something else in the space around methe rustling of tree branches outside a window or the indistinct murmur of other people in a cafe. I didnt realize how much I relied on background noise to stay focused until the early days of the pandemic when lockdowns hit. Like many, I was suddenly stuck working from home, cut off from the background noises I had become accustomed to. I tried supplementing the newfound silence with music, but songs and even instrumentals were too distracting.Then, by chance, while browsing YouTube on my TV out of boredom one day, I came across an eight-hour video titled something like Relaxing Coffee Shop Ambience. The entire video was just an animated photo of the exterior of a visually appealing coffee house that played in a loop, but was set against a soundtrack of invisible customers murmuring, coffee mugs occasionally clacking, and autumn leaves blowing in the wind.I played it on my television that day and, I swear, Id never focused so well on work before. Since then, I almost always play background ambience videos while I write. The cafe ones are nice, but natural ones, like rain or ocean scenes, really work for me. They seem to have a dual effect: increasing my focus while boosting my creativity.But playing those videos is not always practical if you go outside the house. At work, you dont want your boss to think youre wasting time watching YouTube, and playing an hours-long video on your laptop is a great way to run out of battery halfway through your workday.Thats where the Macs Background Sounds feature comes in. It doesnt have the visual distractions or battery drain issues that YouTube ambiance videos do. And while Apple may not be the first company to bring background sounds to the masses (apps like Calm and Headspace are the leaders in the ambient sounds landscape), the big benefit of Apples BackGround sounds is that its built into macOS, and so is free to use. This is terrific for those with subscription fatigue who dont want to shell out monthly for yet another software service.How to use Background Sounds on your MacIf you have macOS Ventura or later, you can use the Macs Background Sounds capabilities. But first, you need to enable the feature. To do this, open the System Settings app on your Mac, click the Accessibility options, and make sure the Background sounds switch is toggled on. Next, go to the Control Center options in the System Settings app and make sure under Hearing that Show in Control Center is toggled on.Once youve done this, you can quickly turn on the background sound of your choice. Heres how:Click the Control Center icon in the Macs menu bar.Click the hearing button (the ear icon).Click Background Sounds.Now click on the background sound you want to play.The background sound you choose will now play in an infinite loop from your Macs speakers or through any headphones connected to your Mac. Your options include five natural soundsocean, rain, stream, night, and fireand three more basic white noise soundsbalanced, bright, or dark.If youre like me, you may soon find that enabling any of these background sounds on your Mac helps you stay focused while working.Is there any science behind the productivity benefits of white noise?Ive met many people who are like me and say that playing background sounds helps them focus and even makes them feel more creative. But does science actually back this up?It depends. Ive yet to find a rigorous scientific study that explored whether natural background noises, like rain or a crackling fire, actually have a measurable impact on ones ability to focus at work.However, a 2022 study from researchers at the University of Southern California looked at the impact of white noise on neurotypical individuals. That study found that white noise played at 45 decibels resulted in improved cognitive performance in terms of sustained attention, accuracy, and speed as well as enhanced creativity. And when played at 65 decibels, the white noise led to improved working memorybut also higher stress levels.Personally, I cant imagine working without some calming seaside background noise. Its no day at the beachbut itll sound like it is.