Do you want to know how to irritate software engineers? Break their focus. Much of what we do is problem solving. Sometimes they are simple, but often they don't have an obvious solution. If we aren't able to focus on the problem at hand then solving it is harder than it should be.
I work in an open-office environment. There are only 4 of us in the room, but it can still be distracting. Someone is on a call. These two are catching up. Did he say my name?
Downing out the noise is imperative.
I have tried every "focus" playlist Spotify recommended to me, but they all had a problem. Some were too slow and peaceful that I could fall asleep listening to them 😴. Others were catchy, but I find lyrics in music to be distracting.
I wanted something upbeat, not too crazy, no lyrics, but wouldn't put me to sleep. Enter the creatively named Music for Coding. 3 hours of music to drown out the noise when you need it the most. I have been using it for a few months and it hasn't let me down yet. If you are in the mood for something new and different then give it a try.
Enough distraction - back to that problem!
Top comments (21)
Thanks for the share, I have started by following you on spotify before adding it to my account because am making a playlist for coding too, when am streaming on mixer, and it seems to be a diffrent style then yours maybe because it will make me concentrate more on the code then the chat, so ... will try it offline 😃
I'm going to check yours out. Thanks
Adding this to my library.
I switch between uptempo (electronics, EDM, techno) and instrumental when I worked in an office. Now that I am doing more deep concentration stuff (aka, why is my Ruby method returning nil) I haven't found a playlist that fits that mode. Maybe this will be it.
You had me at Explosions in the Sky.
I listen to music while writing code. I switch to different playlist depending on how much focus I need on the task.
For an intensive programming task, like you say, I try to avoid lyrics.
Most of the time, I use the playlists from Spotify.
Nice playlist.
I have made one myself and its based off "Chillstep", typically no words and very mellow feel to it. Its more on the slow EDM, Techno, and Dubstep side, but if anyone would like to check it out here is the YouTube Link.
Have a good day.
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the list, my "Musica per hacking" is a bit more to the electronic side.
Anyway I found your list very enjoyable. No vocals, no distractions...
This is a great idea, Joe. For those of us that do enjoy lyrics while coding as well, I created Album Daily (albumdaily.com) to keep our music choices fresh, and expand the music we are exposed to. It is a free newsletter, so hope it can help out some of you!
Followed!
Been looking for a good coding playlist. Will try this one out!
Thanks for this. Love coding playlists!