Music while coding
Table of Contents
Let's address the elephant in the room first, isn't it distracting?
Not at all. Well, at least not for me; I initially thought I'm the odd one for listening to music while coding because it "takes you out of the flow state" but as it turns out for a lot of fellow coders it's quite the opposite.
I listen to music while solving leetcode or working on projects or anything in between. But here's the thing, a lot of the times I don't even think about what is playing in my ears because I'm so focused on the task at hand.
"But doesn't that make the music you're listening to pointless...?"
No, not really. As a matter of fact Music, in this context, is a means to another end.
I don't know about you but silence drives me crazy, I can hardly sleep in silence1
With coding it's a similar story. Music allows me to lose myself in the work at hand and stay in the state of flow for hours2.
Without it I feel like there's something missing and I'm more conscious of my environment which is not good.
What sort of music do I listen to while coding?
Whatever I feel like, but most of the time something instrumental or just anything without lyrics.
But there are two main genres which I listen to a lot:
- Atmospheric/ambient black metal
- Vaporwave/smooth jazz
Don't let the "black metal" in it scare you away it's actually pretty nice.
Here are some starter albums in no particular order to get you hooked:
Summary
In the end, you do you. I hope I was able to show you a new perspective as regards coding environment. Go ahead and experiment with it and see if it works for you or not.