What Should You Listen to While Working?
Nothing.
Working a while ago, I was listening to “Say It Right” from Loose, Nelly Furtado’s latest. And before I knew it, I was swaying to the beat, pressing my keyboard in sync with it, and stomping on the floor for emphasis. Problem was, while indulging my passion for a good rhythm, I wasn’t getting any work done.
Maybe other people can listen to music while making a living, but I simply can’t. When it comes to music, I’m very eclectic; whatever sounds good to me, I really like. Even classical music is a diversion. Mozart’s musical genius continues to amaze me, so much so that I lose myself in his melodies. There goes the brain power needed to concentrate on the task at hand.
Unless I’m doing a repetitively boring task, such as encoding contact info, I try not to listen to music while working. It can prove fatal for the productivity of poor multitaskers like me. Good music, whether it’s the appealingly weird loops of Garbage, or the really old-school Canon in D, can be quite distracting.
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POSTED IN: Avoiding the Temptations of Home, Humor, Living as a Freelancer, Useful Info, Ways to Work Faster
8 opinions for What Should You Listen to While Working?
Pimp Your Work - What’s your best place for GTD?
Jan 3, 2007 at 1:42 pm
[…] Rico, b5’s Contract Worker guru, for example finds listening to music a distraction while almost need it to get any work done. […]
Hsien Lei
Jan 7, 2007 at 11:57 am
Me too! I fell into the habit of listening to Pandora music stations for a while and realized that I was far less able to concentrate esp. because I think about a bazillion things at a time. ;) So now it’s silence for me even though it seems a little lonely at times.
Rico
Jan 8, 2007 at 5:00 am
Oh yeah, I tried out Pandora and found it totally addicting, for some weird reason. Glad to see I’m not the only one with this “problem.” Misery loves company, joke! :lol:
Gray
Jan 9, 2007 at 6:21 am
Nope, I’m the opposite. Give me a strong beat, I will become loose moving with the rhythm. The best example of this is when I am editing a video with music–it gets to the point where I have, on occasion, moved to a higher table so that I can stand while I work.
Rico
Jan 9, 2007 at 10:10 pm
Well, you are the editor of Fame or Famine! Maybe you should check out this post on standing up. ;)
Contract Worker - 18 Ways to Stay Focused While Working, Part 1
Mar 14, 2007 at 12:10 pm
[…] Listen to the right types of music. Well it depends, but any kind of music proves distracting to me. […]
This Music Helps Productivity
Jun 8, 2007 at 9:54 am
[…] I’ve found music that doesn’t distract me with it’s catchy and rhythmic beats. I decided to play some—watch out fellow Gen Y‘ers—classical music while working on a […]
Does Positive Music Lead to Productivity?
May 17, 2008 at 2:26 am
[…] While I can’t get work done while listening to music, I’ve found that preparing with positive-sounding tunes does wonders for […]
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