The Forums › Forums › Tools, Techniques & Treatments › Motivation/Staying on Track › Music and Focus
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March 19, 2011 at 1:07 am #89333
AnonymousInactiveMarch 19, 2011 at 1:07 amPost count: 14413Has anyone had any success in using music as a way to concentrate? If so, what is the best music that increases focus when reading or studying?
REPORT ABUSEMarch 19, 2011 at 1:10 am #102313
AnonymousInactiveMarch 19, 2011 at 1:10 amPost count: 14413I always prefer an album that has the same musical tone from beginning to end. It helps me relax, concentrate. I like R.E.M.’s albums Out of time and Automatic for the people.
REPORT ABUSEMarch 19, 2011 at 9:38 pm #102314
AnonymousInactiveMarch 19, 2011 at 9:38 pmPost count: 14413I heard listening to Mozart was an idea.
REPORT ABUSEMarch 20, 2011 at 3:31 am #102315
AnonymousInactiveMarch 20, 2011 at 3:31 amPost count: 14413Mozart and Bach and renaissance, baroque and classical in general are good for when I’m doing mindless, repetitive work. Also, Jack Johnson, Fats Waller, and Eric Clapton. I guess anything with a strong beat. But when I’m studying I have to have dead silence. My son, however, likes anything without words when he’s studying. Just try different types of music until you find what works.
REPORT ABUSEMarch 20, 2011 at 4:45 am #102316
AnonymousInactiveMarch 20, 2011 at 4:45 amPost count: 14413I like rock, punk, or heavy metal music when I am trying to concentrate. Metallica, Greenday, Eagles and similar is very relaxing to me.
I know classical is supposed to be the best, but I can get lost in well played classical music (my imagination tries to come up with words or a story to go with instrumental music) and I get annoyed by badly played classical music.
REPORT ABUSEMarch 20, 2011 at 6:18 am #102317I think this is one of the cases where if you’d ask 100 people, you’d get 100 different answers. I’m a classical musician, so I lean towards the classics… then again, I could also lose myself in jazz, musical theatre… rock… whatever is just… good!
REPORT ABUSEMarch 26, 2011 at 9:57 am #102318
AnonymousInactiveMarch 26, 2011 at 9:57 amPost count: 14413I’m with JP on this one…The best way to find is just try different things… I found out that what works best for me to get through paperwork is easy-listening type. I choose quieter stuff, artists that I’ve listened to for years, for wich I know lyrics by heart (Eagles, Billy Joel, Supertramp, etc) or even “elevator music” (instrumental covers). Metal, prog Rock and top 40 help while driving …
Those preferences changed over the years…In grade school, complete silence worked best for homework (as it’s the case fo my 9yo son.
REPORT ABUSEMarch 29, 2011 at 5:31 pm #102319I use iTunes and Last.fm and listen to a variety of ambient and electronic stations and artists. I find it helpful to not listen to music with lyrics or any heavy beats. Listen to music you like first.
I also switched to a set of in ear noise cancelling headphones which has cut out about 95% of the ambient room noise like phones, heating/cooling sounds and people talking.
REPORT ABUSEMarch 29, 2011 at 5:50 pm #102320What you want is music that will just sit there in the background and that you won’t really pay attention to that much. If you respond to it or sing along with it, the chances are it is too distracting.
Music that I use for background noise is usually quieter stuff, e.g. REM, Enya, Pink Floyd, Roger Waters, and a lot of classical and baroque music. It depends what I am doing and how repetitious the action is. I can listen to faster stuff if what I am doing is repetitive. Jazz changes rhythm too much for me to study with it on in the background.
REPORT ABUSEApril 22, 2011 at 9:17 pm #102321I listen to all kinds of music. I think the only music I do not care for is country and most pop music.
I found while in school the only music that I could listen to was Bach. If I tried to listen to my other music like jazz, or funk, I would get caught up focusing on the riffs. If I listened to my electro/trance I would be lost in all the awesome little sounds here and there! Once again, if it was music with lyrics I would be lost in the words. I like classical but for some reason I wouldn’t get lost in it.
REPORT ABUSEApril 23, 2011 at 3:37 pm #102322Always looking for classical music when I reading, but when studying was a different story. A few online classes exam I had the TV playing one of my CDs. Usually Gaga isn’t that funny? Taking an exam on the changing climate or jazz music in America. They were both hard, but I enjoyed it.
I could not listen to music on my on ground classes. Even though, I had a whole room for me to take an exam and extended time. I feel so special.
REPORT ABUSEApril 24, 2011 at 5:44 am #102323
AnonymousInactiveApril 24, 2011 at 5:44 amPost count: 14413I am a metal music fan. In general, I can not do rap, country, pop, or anything with a lot of high pitched music. (I am not talking about guitar solo’s) It really messes me up.
I find that I am able to work more and more effectually with the music going.
Just my 2 cents.
REPORT ABUSEApril 24, 2011 at 1:42 pm #102324
AnonymousInactiveApril 24, 2011 at 1:42 pmPost count: 14413I was very musical as a child and early adult (dropped out of performance program in music at university, now I know ADHD was related to many problems in my life). As a teen I vacillated between classical music (which I was training in) and pop music (Beatles, etc). I could never really hear the lyrics, but I was strongly attracted to harmony & rhythm. I am extremely sensitive to noise, have to have the TV on when we eat so I don’t hear other people eating. Someone sitting next to me eating noisy chips or corn on the cob is torture.
I can’t listen to anything when reading or studying because I am strongly attracted to music. If I listen to music, I will wake up with a song in my head, it could be something I’ve heard weeks before and wasn’t thinking of.
I’m a work-at-home self-employed entrepeneur and I do use music to keep me focused and concentrated at times. Pop music like the Beatles, Paul McCartney, Leonard Cohen and Supertramp are upbeat and keep me motivated to stay on a boring task (the work I do is by hand, repetitive and doesn’t require me to think much). Classical music is good when my mind starts to run wild, but it needs to be music like Mozart, Haydn, Bach, or something of that genre. Sometimes I like to listen to jazz like Oscar Peterson and even Nat King Cole but more modern forms of jazz really screw my mind up and make it run wild.
If I were trying to study and had to pick some music, for me it would need to be music that is comforting to me and which can blend into the background. Mozart would be my first choice for that. Bach can be too busy as well.
When I was in my late teens, my grandfather passed away and my dad inherited all of the tvs (he had a tv and radio store) so I had my own tv in my room, with lousy antenna reception since it was just rabbit ears. But being the nighthawk that I am, I would turn it on to a late night movie which eventually turned to white noise and that was something I could sleep through! So somehow white noise appears to be helpful for me. I should probably record some and listen to it going to bed.
At the last job I worked at before I quit, I used an iPod-type player to help keep me focused since I worked in a very large open office (the low-rise cubicles in my department were arranged facing out in a square like a bullpen so very noisy). I especially used it when I worked late at night there and on weekends doing quarter-end and year-end work. But my boss finally made me stop using it (new company policy) and I couldn’t concentrate, probably what eventually led to my leaving the company although there were other stressors involved.
I recently bought a 5 disk CD changer (they are becoming extinct because of iPods and the likes) and put in a series of CDs so I can stay focused and not be running to change the CD every time it finishes. It really helps me to stay in the room rather than running out and checking email or getting a drink or seeing what my husband is doing that might be more interesting, etc.
Rambling post, I know. But I am a musician at heart and music can make or break me.
REPORT ABUSEMay 16, 2011 at 2:20 pm #102325Anyone else find that headphones in general help with staying on track? This is mostly for around-the-house stuff like putting laundry away, but for me it seems that sticking music straight into my head via headphones acts almost like blinders on a horse – my mind tunnels down to the task at hand. I’m still trying to decide if it’s the up-beatness of the songs, or simply the fact that they block out other mental “noise” – anyone have any similar experiences?
REPORT ABUSEMay 16, 2011 at 4:28 pm #102326
AnonymousInactiveMay 16, 2011 at 4:28 pmPost count: 14413I generally find music that I like as good music to use for concentration. What resonates with me the best is probably Nine Inch Nails. To me it feels like it occupied the back part of my head where I usually always anyways hear music and probably where much of the thought that disrupts me comes from. Listening to music is indeed like blinders on a horse, or throwing a bone to a dog a lot of the times.
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