Stop Listening To Music While Working
The number one trick I've recently used to get more work done is one thing.
No music.
Before I begin, my name is Denzil Duke. I'm an 18 year old Australian aspiring to become a digital marketer. I currently freelance for a few clients with the goal of landing a job at a marketing agency.
By creating content online I practise my marketing skills. Providing useful information on topics such as productivity for upcoming work professionals.
I'd be lying to you if I said I didn't listen to music all the time. I might chuck it on if I'm feeling unmotivated to confront the work.
However, for people like ourselves who want to get work done, it's better work without music.
Let me break down this idea into three points:
- Stop Focussing On Two Things At Once
- Use Noise Cancelling
- For When You Still Want To Listen To Music...
Music Is A Distraction
#1 The Brain Cannot Multitask
You might think music is not a distraction—that your eyes, hands and mind are the leading focus in your work session. Yet, the ears are always listening.
As you may have heard before, humans are not designed to multitask. From a brain's bandwidth perspective, it's better to focus on one thing at a time.
The addition of music is another task on our work plate. By simply listening to it.
For example, when I write, if I play music it's harder for me to think straight. The noise from the music is louder than the internal dialogue I have in my mind.
Instead of having clear thinking, I get a muddled mess of writing. Only producing a few words per minute.
Without the music, I can directly transfer my thoughts to the keystrokes on my laptop—no distractions.
#2 Quality Of Work Reflects The Amount Of Deep Focus
Who will produce better work? The distracted mind, or the focussed one?
Not only the quality I find goes up without music, but also the quantity. The amount of bang for buck goes up just from not listening to music.
This is important especially when you've got deadlines.
For example, I upload a video and article once a week. I will try to have a script done before Saturday morning to record the video. As for this week, I procrastinated too much. I'm only just started writing this script the night before my scheduled recording.
How do I solve this?
I LOCK in. No music.
I'm able to pump out a piece of valuable content. If I was writing with music, the lessons wouldn't be as valuable and my thoughts less clear.
#3 Don't Let Music Fill The Silence
You cannot properly listen to your thoughts if you fill the silence with music. You cannot catch an idea or follow a thought.
I think of this thing someone posted on their Instagram story on the topic of depression.
(Not to make this article sad or anything.)
"I turn the music louder to drown out my thoughts."
Are you comfortable with the silence between your thoughts? Does your mind require constant stimulus for it to feel something?
Can you sit by yourself in a room and just do work without the aid of music?
In fact, it might be a problem of boredom. Which is the natural emotion that arises from a feeling of being unproductive. It compels us to action, including listening to music.
What if you can just sit there and feel the silence? Feel the focus of your work?
Even now, when I write these very words, I feel at peace with the silence and quietness. It makes me want to write more. I cannot distract myself with any other activity.
It's either write, or don't. There is no third option.
Turn The Noise Cancelling On
My brother, who is currently excelling in his maths studies, gets distracted by classroom noise. He constantly tells how his peers distract him from his work.
My response?
"Get gunshot headphones."
An entrepreneur I admire, Alex Hormozi, uses them for deep work sessions writing his book.
Unlike him, the closest thing I have to gunshot headphones are noise cancelling headphones. So, what I'll do is activate the noise cancelling feature and hear white noise. This helps me to concentrate.
As an actionable step, if you have noise cancelling headphones, wear them and don't play music.
And if you can't afford them, get construction earmuffs or gunshot headphones.
Trust me, when you cut out the noise of the outside world, it's much easier to keep trains of thought and keep working.
If You're Going To Listen To Music...
You might be saying,
"Denzil. I NEED music."
To that I say, here's some options if you still want some noise that won't massively distract you.
- Classical Music
- Instrumental Music
- Binaural Beats
The common factor I love with all these type of music is they remove the MOST distracting thing from music:
Lyrics.
When the ears are listening to lyrics, they are transferring information to the brain. The brain then converts the sound into meaning. This process is enough to distract you from your work.
However, with these three types of music, there are no lyrics to interpret meaning from. The most distracting element might be the effect of mood due to pitch, rhythm or beat.
For example, I know if I'm playing Moonlight Sonata 3rd Movement will rile me up compared to Arabesque No.1.
Bonus points for classical music if you can find single instrumental songs. I choose piano songs as it's got the widest range in terms of chords and octaves.
Conclusion
To summarise:
- Music is a distraction because the brain cannot multitask working and listening to music.
- The amount of focus you put into your work reflects its quality and quantity
- Stop using music as a way to fill silence and be more comfortable being bored
- Use noise cancelling or earmuffs to block out sound and create more focus
- If you're going to listen to music, stick to classical, instrumental or binaural beats. Generally stuff without lyrics.