One the one hand, it's supposed to have all these nice effects on your brain (although while I'm writing this and researching my statements, they're not as well documented as I thought).
On the other hand, I find that when I listen to music, it becomes harder to get anything else done. I have a certain number of "Programming" tracks on my computer that I believe will have minimal disruptive effect on my work flow (being mostly instrumental tracks), but even listening to only such tracks I believe makes me less effective than I would without music.
This is related to a problem that I really want to get rid of - not being able to focus properly on the task at hand. This issue deserves a blog post on its own, but in short, I really need to build better focus discipline. And I don't think listening to music is helping with that. Rather, it is making me addicted to constantly needing stimuli that is stronger than what the task at hand is able to provide. Right now, for instance, as I wrote the last sentence, I took a break to check on some social medium. It's a terrible situation, and I must get out of it.
And it's not only while working - whenever I'm travelling, for instance, I have had the habit of bringing my music player so as to avoid the drearyness of doing nothing. I am actually slightly afraid of not having anything to do (other than entertain myself).
I think it's vital for me to accustom my brain to the notion of not getting stimuli at all times, and that if it wants stimuli, it had better make it up by itself.
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| Beethoven - did not constantly listen to music on his MP3 player |
Doing this to your brain, however, is hard work. It yearns for input. Withdrawal happens. And somehow, it eventually manages to come up with some reason why listening to music at every idle moment actually is good for you, after all.
However, this time I must try to fight it. This blog post shall be a testament to my determination. I will try to stimulate brain activity by not listening to music, instead letting the mind wander to wherever it wants and explore that realm.
This is not to say I won't ever listen to music. I probably still will on a daily basis. But I will try not to fool myself into believing that the best way to stimulate my brain is to listen to music, and I will try to avoid music whenever I need to focus, to work, or whenever I have time wherein the only possible activity is to think. Thinking is a good thing!
