Focus Or Frenzy: Staffers debate wether listening to music while studying is beneficial

The sound of a pencil scratching a paper does nothing but make me cringe. Mind-numbing silence while waiting for my computer to load is unbearable. When I’m studying, I need background noise. I need music.

When I sit in silence, my body is more tense, my thoughts get discombobulated. No matter how many times I quietly read a paragraph of “Lord of the Flies,” I can never remember what I’ve read. But slipping in my AirPods with my study playlist is a game changer for me. I feel looser and less stressed. It helps me focus directly on what I’m working on so I can comprehend the things I read about.

Normally in moments of silence, my brain tends to wander to all the other items on my to-do list for the night. But when the album “Red (Taylor’s Version)” is vibrating through my earbuds, I sing along for a quick break, then get right back on track with my English essay.

Music makes a fun study environment that turns what can be a burden of stress into a productive time that leaves me feeling fulfilled. 

I can also use music as a study tool when I’m singing the words of the books I’m reading in my head with the same rhythm as the song I’m listening to or associating different songs with corresponding vocabulary words.

Music helps fulfill my study needs while keeping me focused and happy.

I would give anything to be the type of person who can go to a coffee shop, put in my AirPods and listen to music while I drink coffee and do my homework. But I’m not. 

My study habits consist of working on my homework in the comfort of my home with a blanket and pajamas on — I need to eliminate all distractions and become comfortable in my surroundings before I can even think about taking my math homework out of my backpack. Unfortunately, music is one of these distractions. 

To me, listening to music while studying is the equivalent to having a conversation with someone while trying to write an essay. While I might start out being able to listen and do homework simultaneously, I end up having a dance party instead of crossing emails and assignments off my to-do list.

Song lyrics distract me from the paragraph I’m trying to write without fail. And I’m already a procrastinator, so listening to music only makes my homework take even longer.

Listening to Taylor Swift or Morgan Wallen while doing math sounds fun, but that’s just not me. I recommend that people who also get easily distracted steer away from music while doing homework and instead focus on finishing the task at hand.