Do you listen to music while working on your programming project? Is it okay, helpful or a bad idea? Are you an enterprise developer and are you ab...
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Silence. That's what I prefer.
I only play music when I have to cancel out other noise. The music I play is generally music from video games. This music was designed to be supportive of the environment rather than being in the foreground.
That's a great idea!
I have a very noisy environment at work which makes it hard for me to concentrate. Since I'm a total metal head I tend to listen to this stuff at work but it distracts me a bit too much. I'm going to try music from video games to listen to at work soon!
I'm also a fan of film/TV scores for this.
I’ve always been a huge fan of brain.fm. It generates ambient music that helps you focus and it works bizarrely well. However, it’s definitely a little draining in a way that listening to your favorite soundtracks isn’t!
I've never heard of brain.fm. Thanks for sharing. I might give it a try to see if it's something for me.
Double up on brain.fm. One thing I really enjoy about this product is the music has a timer 30 mins, 1 hour, 2 hours. I utilize the timer to prevent myself from overworking and remind myself to take breaks =).
It totally depends on what I'm working on...
New/Hard tasks
Repetitive/easy tasks
So I guess it all depends on the tasks for the day...
Appealing thought about when to listen to which genre. Great idea, thanks for sharing, Isreal!
Read a couple comments that highlighted the use of YouTube music while working... It seems to me that listening to YouTube, even though it gives you an infinite selection of songs, is not ideal, primarily due to the lots of advertisements. I am a high school student and I am sure that I do not spend as much time coding for personal projects as the professionals here, but still, many times I have found myself suddenly distracted by an annoying ad playing over and over again.
Also, I have some doubts on whether listening to your favorite artist is something that should be avoided while working;catching a phrase and clearing your mind for a couple minutes is an interesting recipe for increasing productivity...
I also think that YouTube is not the best solution for me, but if it works for others - why not? I also believe that the ads can distract and, depending on the playlist you find yourself skipping songs a lot which means distraction from your primary task.
Yeah, I most of the time do not listen to my favorite artists while programming. Again, this is personal preference, and I love reading all the comments about how people approach their programming sessions.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Lamprinos.
It was my pleasure, Claudio, loved the article and the discussion that it sparked! 😉
It used to be very effective for me, but now I've realized that I spend more time than i'd like switching tracks on Spotify.
I usually turn on the music when i'm feeling a bit tired and i've already reached my coffe limit for the day (which is two mugs a day if you're asking).
In my opinion, when using services like Spotify, the end goal should be that you don't have to skip tracks anymore. There are excellent algorithms which should learn what you like and what works for you. The longer you use a particular service, the better the song list should become.
Do you experience something else or do you agree?
Totally agree, somehow the suggestions I get from Spotify are a bit flawed. Guess I should listen to more Spotify radios and actively like and dislike songs in order to "curate" my library... but my manager would choke me with my own headphones cable hahaha
I like to listen to techno and trance for getting in the "zone" that you mentioned, and it could really put me through hours of work without me even noticing. There are days when I'm just tired and could enjoy ballads. When there is something to be solved, that requires my full attention, I turn off the music, however, I might just keep the earphones on. :)
It seems like you are very aware of how you use music while programming. Glad to hear that is works out for you.
Yeah, thanks. Actually i really like your topic and I could go on and on about it because i was experimenting with the music a lot during work hours, first at school, college, and now at work. There are dozens of genres, playlists and types of music that I like and use in such manner. However that requires its own discussion and I don't want to bother you with details. I'll give one interesting example, however, since we are on topic. I used to listen liquid drum n bass playlists only while practicing for math exams, can't seem to remember i played it a lot during work :)
I find listening to music very helpful, but would make a couple of observations:
Music without lyric seems to work best for 'flowing flow' with slower paced electronica, ambient and classical proving popular choices
Playing music at a volume where it is noticeable by it's absence and not by it's presence, will also help you attain and maintain deep concentration.
Recommended Sources:
Music For Programming - musicforprogramming.net - Excellent electronica mixes
Generate FM (generative.fm/) - Generative ambient (includes open-source code!)
Depends on my mood or if I really need to concentrate. I often start with youtube.com/watch?v=RYDUQx0iIN4 to get in the zone. After that, anything instrumental works, mostly electronic things like MDK.
For refactoring, I really like things like the DOOM 2016 soundtrack, just cutting through code instead of demons.
I usually have two things that seem to work for me.
There has to be something about classical music. You're not the first and undoubtedly not the last one to bring that genre up when it comes to focusing on programming work — excited to see that it works for you!
I prefer music while coding. I switch between somafm's groove salad, defcon radio and Deep Space One station.
somafm.com/groovesalad/
somafm.com/defcon/
somafm.com/deepspaceone/
I made me a little bash script to switch between stations:
GitHub Gist
I keep seeing: listen to songs with less lyrics, and listen to 1 song on repeat. However, what I sometimes do is listen to the same 20 songs with lyrics every other day or so. Eventually they get repetitive and it doesn't matter they have lyrics
I also have playlists which feature the same songs over and over again. I think listening to new music can also be a good thing. It depends on the situation, I guess. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Sean.
I spent a few months trying out different music streaming services and eventually settled on Google Play Music for their library size and compatibility -- however I did find that Deezer's Flow had the best predictive song algorithm.
If I need to focus on the music, it will distract me. Music I'm familiar with notably improves my performance. Listening to white noise is commonly prescribed to ADHD sufferers to help them focus and I once read a study that said listening to the same song on repeat had similar results. I believe this is the same effect that gives showers magical idea-generating and problem-solving abilities.
My personal rule is that if it requires focus and thought, listen to music. If it's just mindless autopilot work, listen to an audiobook and learn something.
"I believe this is the same effect that gives showers magical idea-generating and problem-solving abilities."
It seems like I'm not alone :-). Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the topic. There is no bulletproof solution which works for everyone. It's great to hear that you found something that works for you with Google Play Music.
I used to listen to Audiobooks while working in thing I didn’t find particularly stimulating or challenging (e.g. Rails, no troll intended). Fortunately I haven’t done that in a while.
I don’t like listening to music when I work (even doing dishes and the like). Personal preference that drives my wife and kids crazy. 😝
Audiobooks are a great thing when you have to do work that does not need your full attention. I also sometimes listen to informational audio content like audio books while doing tedious tasks.
Glad to hear that it works for you as well. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Joshua!
Most of the time I don't listen to music because I don't like to be cut off from the rest of the office, downside is that I am distracted a lot.
However if I am working on something new or with a tight deadline I put on my headphones and dive in the code. I use Spotify, press play and it will go for hours without me needing to change tracks.
I prefer music, for a few reasons:
I used to struggle without any music but I think that was because of other environmental factors. These days, I find music in the office irritating, probably because I don't have complete control over it - I do have some, but others get to choose what to play too of course... and at what volume (the latter is particularly a problem if I choose to put headphones on to at least listen to something I prefer - but may have to have it too loud to drown out the other music).
When working on something really interesting that requires a lot of concentration I usually prefer silence, but if it's something, well, boring, then music or something else to listen to can help eliminate distractions.
I echo what others have said about classical or other lyric-free music being helpful. When I'd prefer silence but can't have it, this is definitely the way to go.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Leesa. You might want to take a look at noise canceling headphones. They should help to listen to music to a volume level you're feeling comfortable but at the same time eliminate outside environmental noise.
I listen to music often when coding but (like some others here I see)
YouTube has a lot to offer for sure. But I share your opinion that it's hard to find really good long lasting compilations. Some of them are repetitious. Nonetheless, a great tip that could help some developers. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
I tend to concentrate really well for long periods of time but I kind of have to 'point' my brain towards what I want it to focus on, I find music helps me to isolate myself from the other crap going on. 😂
In my case, I think pretty much any music works for me, I just find something on YouTube Music and let it automatically play the next track but if I have a particularly hard challenge to solve, I do sometimes have to pause the music and talk myself through the problem though.
Sam, you seem to be in a very fortunate situation if you can use "whatever you like" as your music while programming. Take this advantage. Staying focused on a task is hard. You seem to deal with it with ease.
Great post Claudio!
For me, definitely yes!
I like to think regularly how music helps me to get into the right mood.
I think music allows me to create the correct mood for the work I need to do, adjust it a little or keep that mood I'm already in for long time.
For me the point is to pick the correct music for the correct task and the mood it requires. I have some playlists prepared to do the job.
I will choose my playlist depending on:
I'll pick the correct playlist to move my mood from the point I'm to the point I need to be.
If I'm so excited or anxious and I need to do a high decision tasks, I need to calm me down, some chilling music will do the job like solo piano calm songs, If I some sleepy but I need to have things done, some electronic will work great!
Sometimes is not possible for me to jump two steps of mood at a time. I need to play some in the middle for a while and after some time go for another step.
Related to types of music, instrumental music works very well for me and more lyrics songs only if I listened so many times that my brain doesn't pay attention to these lyrics.
And there's another thing that works very well for me. Silence! There are times that silence is the only thing that works for me!!
David, thanks for your detailed comment on how you deal with music and especially how you leverage music to transition from your current mood to a more productive mindset. Very inspiring comment.
Something no one brought up in the comments: White/ Brown noise.
Cancels environment and puts you in a zone.
For me (it differs on the task):
Thanks for sharing those alternative ideas, Gil. Very much appreciated!
Do what you please, just please wear headphones. ;)
Of course, I wear headphones. I dare you to use speakers when I'm around ;-).
I never wear headphones. I wear those protective head sets that jackhammer workers use. ;)))
-Oh, we're you speaking??-
Silence or if that's not possible then sound of this(White Noise) in my head phones:
youtube.com/watch?v=ArwcHjmsw3A&t=...
Led Zeppelin baby! I like to listen to rock when I don’t sleep enough for a day (and also in general). Other times I would listen to Lofi and ENAwave, a genre created simply from the bizarre creation of Joel G’s ENA from YouTube :)
Just earlier today I had a near 2 hour session fully devoted to code with Led Zeppelin playing the whole way 🤘
I usually have all my music downloaded with youtube-dl so as to listen with high quality and without relying on the internet to stream my music for me. I’m the type that likes to recycle their music/listens to a genre/artist/album on repeat, so this approach is best :P
It seems counter intuitive but I manage to find myself in the zone when I'm listening to heavy rap music e.g. Freddie Gibbs, A$AP Mob, Schoolboy Q.
Whatever works for you is best for you. Thanks for sharing your insights.
From what I recall, studies have shown that it's harder to study when listening to music with lyrics, so something similar might be true with programming.
Scientific studies are important, and my article undoubtedly has zero scientific value, but it acts (in combination with many great comments below this article) as guidance to success. If you work better without music, you should stick to it. I do not have any hard feelings about that.
/programming/stuff 2>&jazz
"There is no right or wrong. There is no yes or no. If it makes sense for you to listen to music while working, you should do it. Some people will benefit, others don’t."
That nails it.
Thanks for sharing this feedback with me, Riccardo. Glad we're on the same page.
Our God: lofi hip hop radio - beats to relax/study to