
Does an iPod Help You Concentrate? (And Other Questions About Attention) - robg
http://tierneylab.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/07/does-an-ipod-help-you-concentrate-and-other-questions-about-attention/?hp
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jherdman
An iPod doesn't help me concentrate, but sometimes music does. Techno
sometimes helps me too, but it has to be techno I've heard before. New stimuli
will distract me.

Interestingly, a walk around the block can do wonders for my concentration
too. This fails horribly if something really catches my eye though. Girls are
bad like that :)

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tvon

      An iPod doesn't help me concentrate, but sometimes music does.
    

I've noticed lately that listening to music with headphones helps me focus
more than listening to it through speakers. I'm assuming this is because the
headphones make the music the only thing I hear, where as with speakers the
music is just another thing I hear.

    
    
      (...) but it has to be techno I've heard before (...)
    

Definitely, you want the music to set the rhythm for what you're doing but not
to take center stage. I don't listen to techno, but I find instrumental funk
is great for this (Beastie Boys' "The In Sound from Way Out" and Forbidden
Ensemble's "Porno Soundtracks" are my favorites, not that anyone asked).

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jherdman

        I've noticed lately that listening to music with headphones helps me focus more than listening to it through speakers. I'm assuming this is because the headphones make the music the only thing I hear, where as with speakers the music is just another thing I hear.
    

I couldn't agree more! My hypothesis is that it sort of seals me off in my own
little world.

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spydez
The days I forget my iPod are horrible, unproductive days.

I think that has to do with my noisyish work environment more than anything,
since I can code at home with or without music. Though it may also be related
to the way working at work works (sit at your desk and produce stuff for the
next 9 hours)...

But as far as music goes, I'll listen to anything I like and know. Anything
new is distracting until I've heard it a few times, but that's about it.

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saturdayplace
Music with lyrics = distraction. Instrumental movie soundtracks work for me.

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ja27
Same for me. I can handle some Pink Floyd and other really familiar music, but
mostly it's Apocalyptica (metal on chellos) or soundtracks. I recently started
listening to the Lord of the Rings soundtracks, but the track where the orcs
are slaving away under Isengard is depressing to work to.

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mattmaroon
iPods destroy my productivity because all I have on them are audiobooks and
NPR podcasts. It's very hard to listen to a good episode of This American Life
and get anything done.

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TallGuyShort
I can't even concentrate with Hacker News on my RSS feed... I don't know how I
could cope with an iPod!

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daflip
I find it difficult to code without some sort of music playing in my ears,
normally because it helps block out any distractions around me.

For the past few months I've been listening to SomaFM ( <http://soma.fm/> )
almost non-stop. It's listener supported commercial free radio so there's no
annoying ads to interrupt you, just a constant stream of the genre of your
choice. Works for me anyway!

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edw519
I never go anywhere without my iPod and my Mindfold
<http://www.mindfold.com/>, one to shut out sound and one to shut out light.

