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tl;dr: "participants performed better in silence than they did in any music conditions" Personally, I cannot listen to music and work... I get too caught up in

tl;dr: "participants performed better in silence than they did in any music conditions" Personally, I cannot listen to music and work... I get too caught up in trying to follow the music. I end up just wearing my noise canceling headphones with no music playing and working in relative silence. That said, I'm interested to know if folks here on HN can relate.

hkjayakumar 9y ago
I can relate to this. Music only serves as a distraction and prevents me from getting actual work done. I also only tend to listen to music occasionally, when I 'feel' like it.
brucephillips 9y ago
Does all music distract you or just music with lyrics? Do you know music theory? I'm only distracted by lyrics, but maybe I knew more about music, I'd be distracted by instrumentals.
- wildrhythms 9y ago
  I used to be only distracted by lyrics, but now it's anything. I find myself trying to "conduct" the song with my fingers and focus on the rhythms and chords. I learned music from an early age so maybe you're on to something.
nni 9y ago
What about that ambient/"cognitive/aural beats" stuff on youtube? I've been trying that lately and it seems nice. No data to see if better or not, but definitely more relaxing. I've also started just using earplugs which can also seem to be (subjectively) effective.
- aoeusnth1 9y ago
  Link?
  - nni 9y ago
    sorry -here's one I listened to yesterday - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oh-dcCeR-r4&t=6856s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oh-dcCeR-r4&t=6856s basically, I search for "cognitive enhancement music"- sometimes the "meditation" ones seem nice, too. I have an immediate relaxation response to this stuff, and it's pleasant.
    - wildrhythms 9y ago
      Sorry, for me this just comes off as a hamfisted cliche of "calm". I'm distracted by the constant modulations. Just not my thing, but it probably works great as a constant drone against unwanted noise.
vanilla_nut 9y ago
I listen to a lot of classical music/soundtracks at work and that has been pretty good for my concentration. The key seems to be: not pop, no lyrics. Whenever I don't listen to music I tend to get distracted by conversations in my open office or even roped into talking with teammates (to be fair, this isn't a bad thing -- it just happens more with my headphones off).
dvtv75 9y ago
I can listen to music and work, sometimes I get so focused that I don't even realize there is music, but I usually more effectively in silence. I hate background chitchat beyond a certain level, and when the people talking have to get louder to be heard over the level of noise, it causes me a ridiculous level of frustration. I have experimented with various volumes and types of music while I'm studying, but overall, silence works for me. For me, the best option is quite ridiculous: I wear a good set of (class 5) earmuffs. Even traffic just a few yards from me is almost silent. I'm wearing a pair right now, actually. It's just so peaceful. If I could wear these things to bed, I would.
matwood 9y ago
It's very common for me to put headphones in and have it trigger my 'work mode'. On Friday I had no meetings, put on my headphones, started some album, and hours later realized I was listening to the same song again for the 4-5th time. I just zoned out and went to work. This might come from years of weight lifting with headphones. There are certain songs, albums, genres that when I hear them it's go time whether it be lifting or working.
mindways 9y ago
For me, it really depends on the type of task. For things requiring high concentration or pinpoint mental focus, music gets in the way. For things requiring flow or invigoration, music can help me get/stay in the zone; and if something requires raw mental stamina (ie, it's something tedious or that I otherwise have to force myself to do), music can help me persist. So, eg for programming: if it's a problem that's new to me or of notable complexity, music gets in the way. But if I'm hacking together a quick script that's just variations on easy/known problems, I can do it faster with music, and if it's something I'd rather not be working on music can up my productivity by lowering the number of brain-breaks I need to take. In a completely different direction, for many forms of creative-artistic work, I find music helps massively.
jnordwick 9y ago
I can do about 75% of my work with music. That is the boring simple boilerplate that barely requires consciousness about sleeping. The other 25% that requires more mental concentration i need to turn the mute the music. The 75% typing or something similar is more the bootleneck than anything cognitive so I doubt being musicless would help.
dboreham 9y ago
To add a data point: listening to music significantly improves my focus (any kind of music but techno is particularly helpful). However listening to any form of human voice alone (podcasts, Netflix sound only) completely destroys my focus (or the inverse: I focus on my task but totally tune out the voice material).
ScottBurson 9y ago
Permit me to recommend the ambient music of the late Lucette Bourdin [0] [1]. I find it easy to tune out (a few of the tracks are distracting, but not many), yet interesting enough not to be monotonous. She was quite prolific — if you're wondering where to start, Horse Heaven (a free download at [1]) is among her best. [0] http://www.lbourdin.com/ http://www.lbourdin.com/ [1] http://relaxedmachinery.com/earthmantra/artist-detail.php?id=17 http://relaxedmachinery.com/earthmantra/artist-detail.php?id...

hkjayakumar 9y ago

I can relate to this. Music only serves as a distraction and prevents me from getting actual work done. I also only tend to listen to music occasionally, when I 'feel' like it.

brucephillips 9y ago

Does all music distract you or just music with lyrics? Do you know music theory? I'm only distracted by lyrics, but maybe I knew more about music, I'd be distracted by instrumentals.

wildrhythms 9y ago
I used to be only distracted by lyrics, but now it's anything. I find myself trying to "conduct" the song with my fingers and focus on the rhythms and chords. I learned music from an early age so maybe you're on to something.

nni 9y ago

What about that ambient/"cognitive/aural beats" stuff on youtube? I've been trying that lately and it seems nice. No data to see if better or not, but definitely more relaxing. I've also started just using earplugs which can also seem to be (subjectively) effective.

aoeusnth1 9y ago
Link?
- nni 9y ago
  sorry -here's one I listened to yesterday - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oh-dcCeR-r4&t=6856s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oh-dcCeR-r4&t=6856s basically, I search for "cognitive enhancement music"- sometimes the "meditation" ones seem nice, too. I have an immediate relaxation response to this stuff, and it's pleasant.
  - wildrhythms 9y ago
    Sorry, for me this just comes off as a hamfisted cliche of "calm". I'm distracted by the constant modulations. Just not my thing, but it probably works great as a constant drone against unwanted noise.

vanilla_nut 9y ago

I listen to a lot of classical music/soundtracks at work and that has been pretty good for my concentration. The key seems to be: not pop, no lyrics. Whenever I don't listen to music I tend to get distracted by conversations in my open office or even roped into talking with teammates (to be fair, this isn't a bad thing -- it just happens more with my headphones off).

dvtv75 9y ago

I can listen to music and work, sometimes I get so focused that I don't even realize there is music, but I usually more effectively in silence. I hate background chitchat beyond a certain level, and when the people talking have to get louder to be heard over the level of noise, it causes me a ridiculous level of frustration. I have experimented with various volumes and types of music while I'm studying, but overall, silence works for me. For me, the best option is quite ridiculous: I wear a good set of (class 5) earmuffs. Even traffic just a few yards from me is almost silent. I'm wearing a pair right now, actually. It's just so peaceful. If I could wear these things to bed, I would.

matwood 9y ago

It's very common for me to put headphones in and have it trigger my 'work mode'. On Friday I had no meetings, put on my headphones, started some album, and hours later realized I was listening to the same song again for the 4-5th time. I just zoned out and went to work. This might come from years of weight lifting with headphones. There are certain songs, albums, genres that when I hear them it's go time whether it be lifting or working.

mindways 9y ago

For me, it really depends on the type of task. For things requiring high concentration or pinpoint mental focus, music gets in the way. For things requiring flow or invigoration, music can help me get/stay in the zone; and if something requires raw mental stamina (ie, it's something tedious or that I otherwise have to force myself to do), music can help me persist. So, eg for programming: if it's a problem that's new to me or of notable complexity, music gets in the way. But if I'm hacking together a quick script that's just variations on easy/known problems, I can do it faster with music, and if it's something I'd rather not be working on music can up my productivity by lowering the number of brain-breaks I need to take. In a completely different direction, for many forms of creative-artistic work, I find music helps massively.

jnordwick 9y ago

I can do about 75% of my work with music. That is the boring simple boilerplate that barely requires consciousness about sleeping. The other 25% that requires more mental concentration i need to turn the mute the music. The 75% typing or something similar is more the bootleneck than anything cognitive so I doubt being musicless would help.

dboreham 9y ago

To add a data point: listening to music significantly improves my focus (any kind of music but techno is particularly helpful). However listening to any form of human voice alone (podcasts, Netflix sound only) completely destroys my focus (or the inverse: I focus on my task but totally tune out the voice material).

ScottBurson 9y ago

Permit me to recommend the ambient music of the late Lucette Bourdin [0] [1]. I find it easy to tune out (a few of the tracks are distracting, but not many), yet interesting enough not to be monotonous. She was quite prolific — if you're wondering where to start, Horse Heaven (a free download at [1]) is among her best. [0] http://www.lbourdin.com/ http://www.lbourdin.com/ [1] http://relaxedmachinery.com/earthmantra/artist-detail.php?id=17 http://relaxedmachinery.com/earthmantra/artist-detail.php?id...