When it comes to studying, some of us get irritated by music playing in the background. People who can study while they listen to actual, lyrical music scare me – they have some kind of hidden power that I simply don’t. How can they resist the urge to sing along to the music and not get sidetracked? Personally, I study best when I have just a fan running in the background. It covers the noise of my refrigerator and anyone yelling outside my building, but it’s not an interesting enough sound to distract me. That sounds boring, and it’s supposed to be. With how easily I become distracted, I have to be careful. However, I do have a few study playlists that I use when I need to calm down and focus.
Those usually consist of the same genre of music played in a loop – vaporwave, chillwave and sometimes “VHS pop” playlists do the trick. They are typically slowed down, made to sound like it’s played through an old speaker and pitched oddly. There are typically no discernible lyrics, or if there are lyrics in the song it’s a speaking voice. This music lends itself to studying because while it can hold your attention, it cannot hold enough of your attention to actually make studying impossible.
I listen to these playlists on Spotify, but I also make use of YouTube as they have hundreds of videos compiling the best study music to try. I’m sure many people recognize the universally appealing livestream “lofi hip hop radio – beats to relax/study to.” This livestream is usually busy, with hundreds of thousands of viewers worldwide. That’s because the music is nice sounding without being distracting. If you’re someone who gets distracted easily, one of the best ways to keep studying consistently is to listen to something consistent and soothing.
I also like to try listening to ocean sounds, though they more often than not put me to sleep, and rain can also be a nice calming sound for studying. With finals lurking around the corner, we could probably all use some relaxation. What do you listen to when you study? Let us know on Twitter.
Carrie King - Features Editor