[evilgnome]

I can study with speakers at a low volume, but with headphones I really get distracted. My mind seems to wander and focus on the music more than anything else.

 

[F107plus5]

I don't even listen to tunes in the car! I find that the music controls my driving!!

Fast, up-beat stuff, and I'm a danger to the community.

Slow relaxed music, and nobody gets home from work on time.

Listening while studying was never an option. Speakers; cans; someone whistling in the distance.....all evil.

 

[slinger1182]

Quote:

Originally Posted by F107plus5 I don't even listen to tunes in the car! I find that the music controls my driving!! Fast, up-beat stuff, and I'm a danger to the community. Slow relaxed music, and nobody gets home from work on time.

Hehe, this same thing happened to me 3 days ago. I was pulling out of Kinko's to go home when I changed the CD to Mark Knopfler's Sailing to Philadelphia. The first song "What it is" kicked in and my mind went completely blank except for the music and I jumped a red light and missed an incoming car by inches. That never happened to me before.

Anyway about the question, if there is a lot of ambient noise around as in if I am in a cafe, I use my headphones to cut it out to study. I can do it pretty well then. However if I am in the library or my office or some such quiet place, music distracts me. I used to not be able to study without music a few years ago, but I guess my concentration has dropped like a rock since then.

 

[Dyoel182]

I used to listen to music just to cut out all the noise around me in the library or at a cafe. I wouldnt say it helped me study, but its less distracting listening to something you have control over than listening to other people make noise.

 

[vagarach]

I sometimes listen to music while writing out an assignment, but I find that I just ignore the music after a while, which defeats the purpose. However, I can't do any serious high level thinking (being an actuarial science major, this happens often

) unless I have absolute silence.

 

[allenf]

No problem - my preference is to use canalphones/iems when applying myself to a task that requires really concentrated thought and some new-angle problem solving processes.
Also good for those brain-numbing repetitive tasks one has to do in between the interesting stuff.
All the better for blocking out the usual background office hubbub.
Edit: no musical preference.

 

[nabwong]

Well, since i'm a musician, i have to listen to the music to analyse it. But, i can't listen to music when i'm reading or writing an essay. My brain just focuses too much on the music.

 

[Coltrane]

Quote:

Originally Posted by slinger1182 Hehe, this same thing happened to me 3 days ago. I was pulling out of Kinko's to go home when I changed the CD to Mark Knopfler's Sailing to Philadelphia. The first song "What it is" kicked in and my mind went completely blank except for the music and I jumped a red light and missed an incoming car by inches. That never happened to me before. .

Such a fantastic and underrated song and album.

Reading/studying with headphones is a lot more difficult than using speakers. Which is fo course the same reason its more fun to listen to headphones. I can do casual reading easily with headphones (i got them on now. Drive By Truckers + Grado = Goodness) but serious reading or studying is a different game. Songs with words are impossible. What works best for me is music I know 100%, because I can ignore them more easily. For example, my ipod just shuffled to a Wes Montgomery track that I am unfamiliar with and Im having a hard time typing this.

Additionally, I think alot of people who think they just cant study without music really can, they just dont want to, and they prioritize the music over the studying. Not alot of 4.0 students HAVE to listen to music while studying, but alot of C and B students do. Quite a coincidence.

 

[Jam_Master_J]

I can't concentrate on homework while wearing headphones. I can do it with speakers provided the volume is low enough.

 

[Alu]

Depending on the task I can't even do it with speakers.

 

[JahJahBinks]

When i was in college, my roommate used to play Counter Strike and refused to use headphones, so I started using headphones so music can cover up the sound of gun shots, that way I can at least study. Before I could not concentrate with music, but somehow I forced myself to study with noise being a roommate with that guy. That's how I got into headphones.