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Lakewood Times

Lakewood Times

Lakewood Times

    Music While Studying: Helping or Harming?

    Music+While+Studying%3A+Helping+or+Harming%3F

    So many students across the globe feel a need to listen to music to help with concentrating while studying, but is their choice in music making it more challenging to focus?

    If you are listening to rap, hip-hop, rock, or any lyrical music you are physically making it harder for yourself to focus and complete the task at hand. If it is cramming for a test or doing work, you have enough on your plate trying to comprehend that information without having constant words and noise pumped into your thought stream.

    Therefore, it is highly suggested that when working on tasks that require intense focus when learning new material to listen to ambient noise or music absent of words.

    Research suggests that listening to music can greatly improve your efficiency, happiness, and creativity when focusing your brain on a task. This is due to music “…activat[ing] both the left and right brain at the same time, and the activation of both hemispheres can maximize learning and improve memory,” explains Dr. Masha Godkin, professor at Northcentral University.

    When interviewing an LHS student, Jordan Rossen, about her habits with music while studying, she had to say:

    “I am a frequent listener to music when doing work, it seems like I can’t focus without some tunes. But, I wonder if it actually helps, since I always get distracted singing Ansel Elgort’s songs or going into YouTube’s blackhole. “

    Music has a reflective effect on a person’s mood, heart rate, and blood pressure. For the action of listening to music to be beneficial, choose tunes that keep you awake but won’t cause you to start tapping your body to the beat. So turn off Beyoncé and turn on some storm sounds!

    Since not everyone has the same music tastes, but when stuck on the task of thinking of the best study playlist; here are some genres and extra tips to consider:

    1. Convert to Classical: Proven to elevate mood and productivity levels; Mozart has your back.
    2. If classical is not your cup of tea, there are plenty of other alternatives: spa music, nature sounds; wind, rain, birds chirping, or electronic music; ambient EDM or New Age
    3. Control that Volume: don’t drown out your thoughts the music should only be used as background noise while your thoughts have the spotlight.
    4. Tempo: music ranging from 60-70 BPM is ideal for studying to maintain focus for longer and maintain more information.
    5. Timer: You can set a certain amount of time to work without interruptions. When the song has reached its end, take a break because you deserve it!

     

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