by Rachel Smith
26 August 2016
One of the things I love about Facebook is how many journos I’m linked to on there – and the peek into their working life I get. (Hey, nosiness is a critical trait in our profession, no?)
Case in point: a business / tech / entertainment journo I know is constantly posting about the music he’s listening to while he bangs out complex 2000-worders on what sound like complex topics.
I marvel at that, because if anything breaks my flow – my kid at my elbow, asking me to put on the telly, or Wassup notifications popping up on my phone – I have to start over. I love the thought of playing music while I write but I know, at the end of the day, how many words I’d have to show for it: a big fat ZERO.
As far as noise goes while I work, I can pretty much handle a dryer going round, a heater whirring, the kettle boiling and… well, that’s about it.
However, I’m starting to suspect I’m in the minority because if you google the topic of ‘music to listen to when writing’, you’ll get a heap of playlists on every site from Buzzfeed to Esquire. So I had to entertain my curiosity on this one and take it one step further: what does the science say about writing, playing music and the effect generally on your concentration?
According to Daniel Levitan, neuroscientist and author of Your Brain On Music, playing music while doing ‘intellectual’ tasks such as reading or writing lowers your productivity. Why? Because it takes some of your attention away from the task at hand, he told Business Insider.
It’s the same thing for students: when you’re absorbing and analysing facts, scientists say cranking up the volume adds another layer, so your brain has to process the auditory information as well as processing the stuff you need to learn – which can lead to more mistakes.
He adds that it has the opposite effect when you’re doing repetitive, boring tasks such as data entry, organising tax receipts, tweaking websites or anything else you consider onerous – in these cases, music keeps you motivated and more productive.
And apparently, if you listen to music 15 minutes before you start writing, it can also put you in a more relaxed state of mind, giving you a bigger productivity boost.
But it’s obviously highly individual, which explains why some journos can compartmentalise, banging out articles while, well, rocking out, and others (like myself) can’t think of anything worse.
I’d love to know what you guys think. Music or no music when you write? Let me know in the comments. (And, if you fancy, share your favourite music to write to.)
Image by Alice Moore, Unsplash
When I’m working out of a noisy cafe, noise blocking headphones and music are a necessity. It’s all about the type of music. It can’t have lyrics (at least in English). Weirdly, I find I’m very productive when listening to French 60s pop. Can’t explain why.
Michele, that’s so funny! Wonder what it is about the French 60s pop!? Some of the stuff I read said you’re more productive when there are no lyrics; Mozart is quite good apparently.
Despite needing near silence at home to write, I have found lately that I can zone cafe noise out and be quite productive. That is a surprise to me. But I don’t know if that’s because I know I only have a small window to work and have to make the most of it – unlike before parenthood, when I had the luxury of working whenever I wanted!
All through HSC and university I would study, work on essays etc. to really loud music, real head banging stuff; AC/DC, Iron Maiden, Guns’n’Roses, Def Leopard etc and had no problem concentrating. At some point I could still work to music but it was more likely to be something softer and slower. Now, I’m with you Rachel. I might have music on if I’m doing something that doesn’t take a lot of brain power like cutting and pasting the quotes I’m going to use into the story but other than that, general household noise is about as much as I can cope with.
Oh god, maybe it’s an age thing, Darren. Are we becoming old fuddy duddies!? Say it ain’t so 🙂