During midterm season, everything seems more interesting than what should actually be occurring: the dreadful act of studying. I’ve coined myself as a professional procrastinator (stress cleaning anyone?) and what’s worse is that I often find myself extremely unfocused when trying to study. Sound familiar?
In times like this, I realize that I have to take drastic measures in order to help myself study effectively. And what better measure to take than choosing music to listen to while studying? In fact, I’m listening to a great mix on 8tracks right now while writing this article.
While people often argue that a silent environment is needed for effective studying, I tend to think that because we are in the technological era, silence is not an option for many of us. We are surrounded by distractions and being in silence might increase our longing to check Facebook or play Candy Crush. This is why a lot of us, including me, need music to study and keep that other part of our brain occupied during our study sessions. I’ve discovered that listening to music increases my productivity immensely. The most important thing, however, is to listen to the right music. This may vary from person to person but here is how I choose what to listen to when cramming and memorizing and well, dreaming of reading week only being days away.
I consider the benefits of listening to music while studying. What does it do for me? Not only does it calm me, but it also makes me feel like I’m in a low-pressure environment, which is ideal for me, as the tendency to blank out increases if stress is prominent (those PEC gyms don’t help, ugh). When studying with music, I tend to block out everything that is happening around me and I am able to focus. With this, when I walk into the room where I’ll be writing my exam/midterm, I pretend that I’m back in my room listening to a cool acoustic mix and it instantly calms me.
I like going on websites such as 8tracks and Songza to find music playlists because let’s face it, we busy students don’t have time to create our own playlists (and if you do, props to you!). I love these websites because not only are they catered to certain activities (studying vs. partying), but they also have a plethora of genres to choose from. Some of my favourite artists have been discovered using these playlists.
In the days leading to your exam, listen to music that uplifts your mood and makes you happy. This is really important as being content and calm while studying will help you memorize effectively and will help you do more in one study session. Finally, on the day of the test, one of my favourite things to do is to listen to some upbeat, pump-up music on the walk to the test. It motivates me and makes me excited (to some extent) to get this test done and over with.
So next time you find yourself in a rut while studying, try listening to a playlist online of calm, relaxing music and you’ll be sure to regain your focus and stay happy and mentally stable during a mega-stressful time.
My personal recommendations for study music:
Jesse Cook: His beautiful acoustic guitar playing mixed with the occasional violin makes his songs some of my favourite instrumental pieces to listen to. Try listening to “Tuesday’s Child”.
Hozier: He’s taking the world by storm, performing at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show and the Grammy’s and for a good reason: his music is great and also really good for studying. Everyone knows “Take Me to Church” but try listening to “Like Real People Do”.
Cage the Elephant: Their unique sound is addicting and super mesmerizing. I really like “Cigarette Daydreams”.
Mozart: Everyone’s heard of the “Mozart Effect”. His music helps you memorize and learn faster and there’s nothing better than some classical music to get the studying started. “Concerto No. 21 in C Major for Piano and Orchestra” and “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik” are my recommendations if you want to get that study grind on.
Good luck on midterms and happy listening!