Do you listen to music when you work?

I want to make this a participation topic. When you are working, do you listen to music or do you need quiet? And if it isn’t music, do you do something else? TV, movies?

For me, it is almost always music. As I write my first Database Weekly newsletter editorial in a few months, I have on music. It is something I have done for many years, even before I was a full-time telecommuter. When I was in an office many years ago (and when I infrequently go to, I think it started to help drown out the sound of other people talking. Call me nosy, but I always find myself interested in the discussions around me… then I can’t get any work done. After I got used to it, it sort of became part of what makes it easier to keep me on task.

The type of music varies wildly, depending on the task. For something like this editorial that takes me varying amounts of time, I just usually click shuffle on a playlist of mostly rock and pop songs. Elvis Costello, Paul McCartney, Queen, Beatles, Marvel Soundtracks, etc. Old and new (primarily old), but the changing songs and tempo give me micro-breaks to think about every so often.

When I have a big task to do (like writing a tech article/chapter), I tend to start up something in (or near) the longer form of the prog-rock genre. So Moody Blues first few albums, many of Pink Floyd’s, The Who’s rock operas, and right now I have on one of the longest songs I know of Thick as a Brick (and I will probably follow it up with Thick as a Brick 2, and if this is a really long session, maybe Passion Play). There are plenty of other examples of long sets of music that flow together, which will work equally well. The idea here is that the singular theme doesn’t really have a big breaking point or change in mood, and the continuous theme keeps me more or less engaged.

Ultimately, I want my work music to energize and not distract me too much. The goal is to not feel the need to press the [NEXT >>] button more than once or twice an hour. Even my favorite playlist will require me to hit the skip button occasionally. The worst thing for music to do is to become a distraction.

Drop your ideas in the comments. Do you even have a well-thought-out reason for your work sound/video ritual? We would all love to know!

Louis Davidson (@drsql)

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