Music and Study

Connor180

Hello, seen from old posts from the past but I'm curious what you guys frequenting the forums now think about studying and music.

I probably listen to music 1-5% of the time while studying, mostly just when I'm pounding away at games. I don't think I could listen to music when I'm doing LR or RC.

Its hard for me to work in silence for too long. When I do listen to music I feel like I can get more work overall in. In undergrad I almost never studied without blasting music and this helped me pretty consistently pull off 6- 8-10-12 hr days most days of the semester in undergrad. My work consisted mostly of reading though so I never found lyrics and loudness to be distracting.

Thoughts?

Cant Get Right

All I can tell you for sure is definitely no music during PTs. That would for sure be a deviation from testing conditions. As for everything else, I dunno. That sounds crazy to me, lol, but if it helps you study more effectively, then I guess go for it.

TheMikey

I cant listen to music for the LSAT, it's too weird lol. I can do it for school work though

Sami

I do listen to music sometimes when I do games. It's mostly instrumentals like Game of Thrones/Westworld soundtracks. Amazon prime music has some great playlists. : )

lawschoolstuff16

I can never listen to music when I'm doing LSAT, which is also why I end up being much more picky about the locations I choose to study. If there is music playing or lots of people talking, I immediately have to leave because I know there is no way I'm able to focus on just thinking. But, on occasion, when its an especially hard day for me to get through my material, I do listen to some music that doesn't have any glaring lyrics.

Alex

@Connor180 said:
Its hard for me to work in silence for too long. When I do listen to music I feel like I can get more work overall in. In undergrad I almost never studied without blasting music and this helped me pretty consistently pull off 6- 8-10-12 hr days most days of the semester in undergrad. My work consisted mostly of reading though so I never found lyrics and loudness to be distracting.

Thoughts?

There are some pretty conclusive studies that humans are horrible multitaskers and listening to music can hurt one's concentration.

Furthermore, because the LSAT is ultimately a test you'll have to take in silence, I would study in silence.

tanes256

@Connor180 I totally get where you're coming from with the music. I always wear headphones at work to drown out everything so it's not an issue for me to be reading something and having music blasting in my ears at the same time. My work day consists of editing and proofreading someone else's work and I have no issues focusing on the task at hand while listening to music. I even sing along while reading. I am currently singing along to Usher's You Got it Bad, while proofing this post! Ha! When I'm studying at work sometimes I listen to music but if it's a quiet day I'll turn it off only because I've noticed that I have gotten used to it. When I'm at home I always have the TV on. Initially I had it off but then I thought about any possible distractions during the test so I wanted to be ready for anything and decided to have it on at a low volume. The music thing is tough because not listening to it has thrown me off from time to time and obviously you can't have headphones during the test. Just don't get too comfortable with it I guess.

cam

I can't listen to music when I'm studying unless if I'm trying to simulate being distracted while testing. I play music for a living, so unless if I can tune it out, I find that I will start to focus on the music rather than what I am working on.

stgl1230

I've heard that listening to classical music can be conducive toward learning. I would occasionally listen to classical music or really soft relaxing music while I was doing some of the 7sage exercises or BRing. I don't know if it helped or not, but at least I don't think it hurt.

Calgary77321

Context dependent memory applies to music as well. Unless you can convince your proctor to play music during the exam, I would power through it without.

180pronto

Ditch the music, don't let your body get used to something that won't be available come time to perform. Maybe listen to music and read/study something other than the lsat so you will not feel music withdrawal.