Some people have very black-and-white views on listening to music while working. They either love it and swear by it or claim it is their Achilles’ heel. Personally, I have always had a more in-the-middle take on it. While I have always been a music lover singing and dancing since I was three years old, I have had an up-and-down relationship with listening to music while I worked. Despite this, my study journey has led me to love listening to music while I work.
During middle school and part of high school, I found it “cool” to listen to artists I loved — for example, Frank Ocean — while I did homework, even if their intricate lyrics (looking at you again, Frank) made it harder to focus. However, everything changed when I discovered the YouTube lifestream, “lofi hip hop radio | beats to relax/study to.” This continuous 24-hour livestream cemented my love for simple instrumentals while I worked. It made me realize that instrumental music works best for me, whether it’s ambient, classical or my personal favorite, lofi. I hyperfixated on the lofi hip-hop genre for a year in seventh grade because of this livestream, and I have no regrets.
Even though I mostly listen to the same few tracks, such as the livestream, I also have specific playlists I listen to for different study vibes as well. For example, during finals, Spotify’s “Intense Studying” playlist provided the perfect backdrop for me to have complete silence in my brain. I appreciate listening to that kind of music when I need to shut off any background noise and just work for five hours straight. Other times, when I’m doing low-key readings, I put on the Spotify radio for Leon Bridges’ “Texas Sun” to help cultivate a calm vibe in my apartment.
Even though I have Lofi Girl as my Ol’ Reliable, I can definitely switch my music up depending on the vibe. To sum it up, when I need to have a focused session, I’ll put on instrumental music like lofi or classical, but when I’m only doing light work, I can listen to anything.
Overall, I think music, or background noise in general, while studying is a very helpful tool when used correctly. Music has helped me write essays due at 11:59 p.m. in an hour. Music has helped me get myself together to do an assignment after having a bad day. Music has helped me relax and do a reading before a fun night out.
It can easily derail your focus if you listen to something with distracting instrumentals or lyrics, but setting the intention of focus with a soundtrack can be the best thing to have a great study session. The sounds can also be relaxing and put you in a better mindset to work, if you listen to something peaceful after having a stressful day.
I completely understand people who need complete silence while they work, but in their case, I have heard brown and pink noises are good for focus. So if you’re not into actual music while you work, you might just want something to drown out anything in the background. In my experience, I found that brown noise helped when I tried it.
Once again, an important caveat to this article is that I am definitely biased in this area as a music lover. I’m someone who prides myself on my music taste, as well as being able to listen to every genre of music and enjoy it (yes, even country). Therefore, my take on listening to music while studying is going to be extremely positive, as someone who is always listening to music, sometimes even writing and singing it.
However, apart from my own interest in music, I do truly believe in its healing power. For me, that applies whether it be during profoundly difficult times or simply trying to finish a midterm paper. So if you’re stubbornly set in your ways about only studying in complete silence, maybe this is your sign to try something new and listen to some music (or ambient noise!) while annotating your next article or completing your next math problem.
