Question: Does listening to music improves your focus? Any music?
I always wondered if listening to music while doing things make me productive or is it otherwise. Today I will try figuring it out. As I learn I will be writing here.
1st Note: According to a peer-reviewed study out of the University of Chicago, "A moderate level of ambient noise is conducive to creative cognition. Source: Here
2nd Note: Anything that sounds like a voice or literally is a voice is going to distract you. Source: Reddit
3rd Note: Music affects how we feel, what we think, and how productive we are. Listening to music occasionally helps the brain grow and improves our health Binaural beats, white noise, and personalized auditory inputs can help you do your work better. Source: Here
4th Note: Binaural beats are assumed to entrain neural oscillations and support cognitive function. Pure tones of 420 Hz and 460 Hz presented to the left and right ear, respectively, were perceived as a 40-Hz BB with a 440 Hz fundamental tone. Source: Here
5th Note: Music may be distracting to some people, especially when it is loud or contains lyrics. listening to pop music while carrying out a reading task reduced performance in introverts but not extroverts. So, personality may play a role, as well as the type of music. People may have to divide their attention between the background music and what they are trying to learn. People may require extra cognitive effort to listen to music and learn, which may negatively impact studying. Whether music helps people or not may depend on the individual, as well as the type of music, volume, and tempo. Source: Here
After going through some sites on the internet and skimming through research articles, for most of the people listening to music with low volume and no lyrics improves focus overall by synchronizing brainwaves. 40Hz maybe suitable for many people because it lies within the gamma frequency range of brainwaves which are associated with higher cognitive processes such as memory, attention, and problem-solving. ( different brainwaves [alpha, beta, delta, etc.] dominates according to our action. ex: when we are in deep sleep, delta waves dominates). Music with voice can distract as our brain processes the lyrics which will interfere with the task you are working on. However, according to peer-reviewed study from the University of Chicago research light noise is actually beneficial. Ambient sound like coffee shop noises with low volume seemed to work well for me. You can get the sound Here.
A thing to note is, each humans are different and the reason is that not all have same experiences, not all have the same childhood. No research paper mentioned that 100% of the people who listened to Binaural beats had some noticeable effects. Hence, the vital thing is to know how your body responds to music. Try experimenting with different music ( ex: Instrumental, Binaural Beats, Soft, etc. ) while doing some works and next day try doing the same thing again with different music or without any music and compare the results based on how much you accomplished with different types of music or without any music. I
will do this experiment and share the results, that will be for tomorrow since it's 11:48 PM already.
EXPERIMENT
So this experiment is to find out what works for me. To see if I perform better with music or without music. I didn't try lyrical music as I already know they distract me.
The Plan: Plan is to study with ambient noise, on day one and on day to I will try studying without music.
Days Required: 2, Observation Time Period: 9 AM to ~ 5PM ( includes breaks and lunch as well )
Day 1 ( Ambient sound from coffitivity ) - 04/05/2024 :
I will be studying a chapter from physics called " Rotational Dynamics " from " Mechanics " portion.
Hours Spent Learning: 5+ ( I started at 9 in the morning all the way to 4:30 PM. This is how much I actually spent learning excluding lunch and small breaks. )
Number Of Subtopics Completed In Those Hours (ex: Intro, moment of inertia, etc.): 9
Do I feel tired? ( To Be Answered After Finishing Study Sessions ): KINDA
Day 2 ( No Sounds ) - 04/06/2024 :
I will continue studying " Rotational Dynamics " and I will try to study " Periodic Motion " as well afterwards.
Hours Spent Learning: 4+
Number Of Subtopics Completed In Those Hours: 5
Do I feel tired? ( To Be Answered After Finishing Study Sessions ): Little, however more than what i did yesterday.
CONCLUSION
From the experiment I conducted on myself, I came to the conclusion that, Listening to music while studying helps me to accomplish more and also I got the grasp of things faster with it.