Listening to music whilst working

Nnamdi Onyeyiri

where I work - although not a programming company - eveyone listens to music. They even have TV's attached to the cielings...with Sky Digital! And in some departments, they have ben given a Hi-Fi system. erm oh yer - back to the point, erm, i dont think its affeting productivity much - if at all - it may even help liven spirits, so people work harder.

:suss: Email: theeclypse@hotmail.com URL: http://www.onyeyiri.co.uk
:suss:"All programmers are playwrights and all computers are lousy actors."

Nnamdi Onyeyiri

Chris Maunder wrote: I've got to have music on while I code, otherwise the bits of my brain not involved with coding get bored and start messing around with the bits that are trying to code. hmmm - i think this condition is known as schizophrenia. ;P ;) listen to the voices!

:suss: Email: theeclypse@hotmail.com URL: http://www.onyeyiri.co.uk
:suss:"All programmers are playwrights and all computers are lousy actors."

Christopher Duncan

Robert Edward Caldecott wrote: A nice perk perhaps Wouldn't want to work in a company that actually considered my ability to don headphones a "perk". As for my preferences, I only put on music (typically upbeat rock & roll) when I'm doing heads down coding on new development where I've already done the design & it's more or less stream of consciousness typing. In any other scenario I don't listen to music. Being a musician, I get caught up in the music and it distracts me from the code. Chistopher Duncan Author - The Career Programmer: Guerilla Tactics for an Imperfect World (Apress)

Paul Watson

Robert Edward Caldecott wrote: Listening to music whilst working I think we need a FAQ entry for this question :rolleyes: We use headphones in my office, though on Fridays or early monday morning we get out the big speakers and get everyone revved up. I concentrate better with some music in the background, it helps stop me being too aware of everything around me and lets me focus in on the screen. Normally electronic dance type stuff, classical and mild rock. Heavy rock has me throwing my keyboard around and looking for a mosh pit :-D regards, Paul Watson Bluegrass Cape Town, South Africa

Lost User

Christopher Duncan wrote: Wouldn't want to work in a company that actually considered my ability to don headphones a "perk". You'd be surprised how many managers grumble about people sat there with headphones on! Doesn't make it a bad company though, just proves that many non-techie managers just don't get it.

Faith. Believing in something you *know* isn't true.

Daniel Turini

benjymous wrote: Actually I have been known to just sit with headphones on but without music, for the same reason. And I thought it was my invention! :) Concussus surgo. When struck I rise.

Christian Graus

Robert Edward Caldecott wrote: A nice perk perhaps, but does it affect productivity? I believe so. There are times when I work much better with Motorhead to block out the rest of the world. Robert Edward Caldecott wrote: Whilst coding I tend to prefer peace and quiet - I think my productivity would suffer if I had music on all the time (unless it is something really mellow - anything with full on guitars seems to require too high a slice of my "processing time" ). I think it very much depends on the individual and when companies allow music, they also assume that people will only take advantange of the fact if they don't expect their productivity to suffer as a result. For me, I listen to music I've loved since 1986, so it doesn't really take up my concentration, in fact I often think something like 'Damage Inc. ? I don't remember hearing Disposable Heros...', in other words, whole chunks of albums go by unnoticed because I am concentrating. The headphones stop anyone who does not have authority over me from interupting unless it is urgent, and my productivity soars.... I'm coding at home right now, listening to Hendrix. I get so little time for my own project, I'd turn it off if I thought it was slowing me down at *all*. Christian We're just observing the seasonal migration from VB to VC. Most of these birds will be killed by predators or will die of hunger. Only the best will survive - Tomasz Sowinski 29-07-2002 ( on the number of newbie posters in the VC forum )

Vagif Abilov

I used to listen to rock stuff (Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple etc.) Now I'm mostly into Bach and Mozart. But I don't think either heavy or classical music affected my productivity. One thing that is difficult to me is to use headphones. I prefer speakers. Vagif Abilov MCP (Visual C++) Oslo, Norway If you're in a war, instead of throwing a hand grenade at the enemy, throw one of those small pumpkins. Maybe it'll make everyone think how stupid war is, and while they are thinking, you can throw a real grenade at them. Jack Handey, Deep Thoughts

Christopher Duncan

Robert Edward Caldecott wrote: You'd be surprised how many managers grumble about people sat there with headphones on! Noooo, not much in the corporate world surprises me. :-) Robert Edward Caldecott wrote: Doesn't make it a bad company though, just proves that many non-techie managers just don't get it. Actually, a large enough collection of bad managers in and of itself constitutes a bad company. Robert Edward Caldecott wrote: Faith. Believing in something you *know* isn't true. Or perhaps more accurately, Faith: Belief based on someone else's word rather than empirical evidence. Chistopher Duncan Author - The Career Programmer: Guerilla Tactics for an Imperfect World (Apress)

Davy Mitchell

I do that too! I am NOT weird !!! ;) Davy www.latedecember.com

Simon Capewell

benjymous wrote: Actually I have been known to just sit with headphones on but without music, for the same reason. I used to do that occasionally. Unfortunately the person responsible for my doing this had verbal diarrhoea and would often ignore the headphones and talk at me anyway. I eventually took to slouching behind my monitor so he couldn't see I was at my desk :mad:

benjymous

I'm unfortunate to sit next to the guy who talks at me all the time. I think he's just about starting to grasp now when I don't want to be spoken to, but it's taken 9 months for that to sink in. Shame there's no straightforward way to block out the smell of his cigarettes/hangover :( (Hmm, I wonder what his reaction would be if he stumbled over this post. Dunno if he'd recognise my handle, but he'd probably recognise my sig as I use the same one on emails at work) -- Help me! I'm turning into a grapefruit!

Simon Capewell

I has to be something instrumental. If it's got words then I get distracted and, even worse, may accidentally join in :-O If I'm doing stuff at home though, I'm not so fussy.

Simon Capewell

Not only did the guy talk all the time, he talked complete b*****ks. He even admitted to having caught the clap off his last one night stand. Good grief. You just don't want to hear that kind of stuff, let alone at work. He got sacked eventually for being a waster, thank god.

Lost User

Music does help my productivity, but there is a side effect. Some people can jsut sit there and listen but I tend to 'get involved' with the music and as its usually heavy metal this frightens people........ :-O Elaine :rose: Would you like to meet my teddy bear ?

mstephens

Simon Capewell wrote: Unfortunately the person responsible for my doing this had verbal diarrhoea and would often ignore the headphones and talk at me anyway. Should have just punched him in the face!:laugh:

Simon Capewell

Believe me, in my head he'd had a number of severe beatings ;)

Mark Otway

I regularly listen to music whilst coding. Working on a trading floor means it's very noisy and distracting. I have around 22Gb of music ripped onto my Laptop, but usually just stick to ambient stuff (moby, guru, goldie, leftfield, even some Jarre). Anything that's too wordy can distract me...

Richard Stringer

I can't listen to music while I am coding. I am a musician on the side and if I try this I find myself listening to the music with more concentration than the coding is getting. I suspect that the same part of the brain that says - Ok he's using a melodic minor scale a third above the chord to bridge down to the fourth is the same part that is deciding what kind of loop controller to use or if I really need a class to handle this or can I get by with a couple of functions. I do, however , turn on the TV and let it be a background drone cause there is nothing on it that will attract my attention. Richard Monarchies, aristocracies, and religions....there was never a country where the majority of the people were in their secret hearts loyal to any of these institutions. Mark Twain - The Mysterious Stranger

Ray Cassick

I definately write different code when I am listening to Tool as aposed to NIN :)