When I was a teenager, I used to be a die-heart fan of 80's rock and roll music. I had maintained a handwritten lyrics book of all popular rock songs back then. From AC/DC to Eagles, Bon Jovie to Led Zeppelin, and Metallica to Guns N Roses, I used to have my phone loaded with hundreds of rock ballads.
I was quite obsessed with rock and roll. It used to be a source of dopamine to me. I used to get motivated and energized by those songs.
Now the time has changed, there has been a shift of paradigm. But the love for music is still the same. Starting my day with a simple workout with beast mode workout music is my hack to keep myself motivated to do more exercise. Even during the day while programming, I mostly wear headphones to keep myself focused and to stay away from disturbances.
But a few months back I stumbled upon an article online explaining why listening to music while coding is not a great idea. The logic is that when you are coding you are using your energy on different things - staring at the screen, solving a problem, and listening to music. You are losing energy through the eyes, ears, and, brain. You cannot close your eyes and neither you can turn off your problem-solving background job. One thing you can do is stop listening to music.
I advise using noise-canceling headphones if you want to get rid of background noise. Avoiding music while coding will help you put more energy into solving a programming problem and will make you more productive. If you do not agree with me yet, think about why people meditate with their eyes closed? They save energy doing so; which helps them to use that energy in the brain.
Trying to solve every algorithmic problem in O(logn) is not only the trait of a good programmer, trying to optimize your everyday algorithm crucial too.
Top comments (110)
when I code and I know what I am doing I listen to fast paced music, I prefer music without vocals mostly I listen to fast Hardgroove Techno.
When I am thinking about a problem and trying to get a solution I listen to slower paced coding music (you can find them on youtube). Or just silence. As you mentioned noise cancelling headphones are good, even without any audio, just silence.
But once I have a solution or a specific todo, I go to turbo mode with techno ;)
I love lofi bits so much
Even i do
Hi MilMike thanks for sharing your preference. I will also give it a shot.
Here has been my process thus far in regards to music choices while coding.
If I am doing tasks I do frequently, I can listen to any kind of music and be productive. But if I am grokking something rather complex, I will opt for instrumental music. I really like Rachmaninoff and Debussy. I also like vaporwave and dreamwave in these situations as well. Shameless plug If youre asking, "Whats vaporwave/dreamwave?" here is a dreamwave album I released with a friend last year:
ttime.bandcamp.com
There are also moments where I appreciate silence, but its not always an option. With the pandemic my girlfriend is often working from home in the same house as me and a lot of her work is doing zoom calls with clients and verbally walking them through things.
Hi Justin! Thank you for sharing your opinion. You are absolutely right. Most of the time we need to find the fine balance between if we want to play music or not based on the task we are into. :) :)
Well it depends on the mode
In creative mode, I solve complex issues that require all my focus. I shut down my music and give all my brain can give, but I can't maintain this state for 30+ minutes
In productive mode, where I code large chunks using techniques I already master. I don't need that much focus and I love having minimal techno/trance in the background, that's necessary for me to enter the flow state and stay there for hours
There's also the impact of the genre on the code I produce
If I listen to long minimal techno mixes I'll be able deliver massive amount of code and stay in the flow state for a long time
But if I plug some ambient electronic music I'll be able to get very creative in the patterns I use and code things I couldn't code in a silent room
And if I listen to hard eurotrance I'll be able to sit through coding a feature I don't like (・`ω´・)
That's correct Nino. I agree with you
Exactly Nino.
I've been listening to music while working since the '90s. Heavy metal music.
If there's no music, I freak out. I'm also treated to construction noises, street noises (a**holes with aftermarket mufflers, emergency vehicles (fire station AND hospital nearby), barking dogs, etc. "Silence" is not a thing here. I also cannot wear headphones if there's nothing coming out of them just for the sake of trying to block external noises. I never even liked headphones. A major advantage since the apocalypse began is that I'm home and don't need to use headphones.
Some of my most productive algorithms work in university was done while listening to Motörhead.
There's no link to that article you mentioned, but I can say this:
Not everyone is the same.
I also love listening to Heavy metal, currently Architects band. Thanks for sharing Michel
Hi Michel thanks for your comment. I agree not everyone is the same.
I'm on and off about music. When I do tasks that don't require too much brainpower and are in fact more "grunt" work, I tend to put something close to my gym music, power stuff that gives energy and rythm.
Otherwise, I go between nothing and some classical music to inspire some creativity.
cool. Thanks for letting us know Andrei
Hey , at least for me , I work better when I listen to chill music either indie or just acoustic , it helps calm me down and for me personally I am very productive when I’m very calm . So I guess that’s why indie and acoustic music helps boost my productivity .
Music is only needed, for me, when noise from collegues is worse than vocals from songs
lol indeed
I prefer listening to unfamiliar music when I'm coding, rather than stuff I'm really into - it's less distracting. I find Music For Programming quite good for suitably odd, wierd, droany music to code to. I also really like the design.
Thanks for sharing Mark. Will try that one
Yay music. I love music. I play it, I feel it, I breath it. But sometimes music makes me less productive. For instance, anything with words or instrumentals from my favorite songs, I cannot listen to and code, because my mind focuses on words and familiar melodies. I have found instrumental movie sound tracks to be my bread and butter when I need to focus coding for hours at a time (or 25 mins at a time if I remember to turn on my pomello timer ha!). Here are some of my favorites: Tron Legacy by Daft Punk, Interstellar Movie Soundtrack and Social Network Movie soundtrack.
Thanks John. Ya I totally agree on the tradoff we need to make for productivity. :)
I can't go with silence, I need to use something to keep my mind here. So I developed a library of instrumental math rock, fusion jazz and other things that have no lyrics at all so I don't listen too much.
sounds amazing JReca. :)
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