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PaperclipPerfector  1yr ago (text post)   3009 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for August 6, 2023

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How are you listening to music? I've discovered it's hard for me to listen to the music on the background, e.g. while working or reading or anything else. Too distracting. I only can enjoy listening to music when that's the only thing I do, or when I do something that does not require any mental effort (like mowing the lawn). But that leaves me with not a lot of time to listen to any music, especially given I can also listen to audio-books when mowing etc. I'd like to listen to music more but somehow it doesn't work out. Any ideas what could I change?

Sometimes I'll play music when writing. But if the music has lyrics I prefer to listen to it when the writing is not labor-intensive -- more like the initial, stream-of-consciousness stuff that goes into the first draft of an essay. But instrumental music, like classical, goes with doing anything.

I listen to music if I'm doing some otherwise rote, mentally unengaging task, such as transcribing text from paper. I'm pretty sure music is distracting when I'm trying to do something that requires focus. The exception, however, is digital drawing; I always listen to music while drawing, and find it's actually an important part of the process.

I have been trying to appreciate music more, as well, by closing my eyes and making an effort to closely listen to entire albums without thinking about anything else. It's an interesting experience, to be sure.

I've found that what's distracting about music is the lyrics, not the music. So I'll play music with lyrics if I'm doing menial housework or something, but if I'm concentrating on something important I'll play soundtracks, orchestral, etc. Two Steps From Hell is a favorite of mine lately for that purpose.

One of the best ways is while driving. It doesn't require a lot of mental focus but it's otherwise very engaging, plus you can turn it up and listen through some halfway decent speakers instead of headphones. If you don't have a car then computer games are a good subsitute but that can be tricky to balance the audio if you're listening through the computer or you want to hear the game's sound effects but not the game's music, etc.

I listen while I'm running or biking. Also if I'm playing a game that's fairly mindless, like running dungeons in Diablo IV or something.

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