When you are coding, be that St home or work, do you listen to music?
If you do, does it change your productivity in any way?
If you don't, why? Do you think it's a distraction, or you simply don't like listening to music while working/coding?
I personally like doing so, whenever I'm coding. If I don't do, I can get bored with it much faster. But if I do, and if I listen to music I really like, I'm enjoying coding much more, and it boosts my productivity a lot. I have some playlist that I can't get bored with, and I keep listening to those ones.
Although sometimes I would stop the music, when a bug I can't solve for a longer period of time occurs for example, or when I simply need to solve something complicated, so I can concentrate on nothing but that.
How about you?
Top comments (15)
I think it really depends on the mood and the task.
If I know what I'm doing and it's just the mechanical side of things (implementing the pre-planned logic) then I'll listen to my usual playlist(s).
For planning, I either don't listen to any music or put on some ambient chill or classical playlists.
If it's Monday morning and I need a little boost, I'll pop on some Flatbush Zombies or J. Cole to hype myself up walking down the mean streets of Javascript.
Flatbush Zombies!!! Same here 😁 especially on Fridays when it’s time to celebrate the weekend.
Ayy, my man!
Same here. I prefer listening to music when I have created the logic or when I get bored of thinking for a long time for creating a logic.
I typically do, but I know it isn't for everyone. If I really need to focus on a particular problem, I'll probably pause the music so I can think clearly, but for the majority of the time I enjoy having something in the background. My prefernce is electronic music or Smooth Jazz.
Smooth Jazz is great! Especially when it’s just music with no lyrics. Does a good job of blocking out any background disturbances.
When I’m stuck trying to get something new working, I switch to something more progressive to clear my head.
I almost always have headphones on to block out noise, though sometimes I get in a groove and completely forget to start the music.
Podcasts are great to pass mundane tasks quickly.
Music is good to block out external noise.
Silence is for ultimate focus with no distractions.
When I need to focus I usually listen to classical music. I end up tuning it out and not paying much attention to it but it gets me in a good headspace to flow. If I'm doing planning, prioritizing or other kinds of busywork then I listen to all kinds of music.
I love listening to instrumental and upbeat music when I code! Mostly because the music will drown out surrounding sounds (since I don't have noise-cancelling headphones) and it just puts me in good spirits which boosts my productivity. Although, similar to you, I do stop listening to music when I am really required to focus on my code, like if there is a bug.
My favourite style for coding without thinking [1] is progressive rock/metal.
My favourite bands of the moment are Haken, Devin Townsend, Liquid Tension Experiment, Steven Wilson (et al). Also aptly named is French band The Algorithm. Want more extreme ? Try Pryapisme. More Jazz/fusion-y ? Nova Collective.
[1] as opposed to thinking without coding, which usually comes first and requires complete silence, paper and pen.
Depends a bit on the environment and task. In a noisy office space I prefer listening to music no matter what, because it's better than hearing talking (or these days in our office, drilling and hammering) in the background. But when I'm alone in a quiet space I usually prefer enjoying the quietness.
And when I get stuck on a difficult problem I like switching between music and no music because change in surroundings helps a lot.
For me, it depends. At home usually I am listening to music via headset and it will improve focus and productivity. At the office, I am not listening to any music but still can focus :)
Absolutely do!
Helps me eliminate outside distractions and focus on work/study
I participated in a brainwave study a few years ago and without boring you with too much detail: finding the right kind of music highly improves your output & concentration.