Question of the Week: Does Music Help You Focus?

Both my kids have ADHD and they definitely concentrate better on assignments if they are listening to music. The music helps for subjects other than math. The music allows them to tune out all the other distracting noices around the house. It doesn't matter if the music is played through our sound system or an Ipod. It's great when I don't enjoy the music they listen to, they just put their Ipod ear phones on and study away.

My daughter will be a sophmore in High School and my son a sophmore in College, they have been using this technique ever since they entered middle school. Some teachers even let them listen to music while taking tests.  It's definitely worth trying if you haven't already.

I wanted to share a couple of the responses that I received from this question on facebook:

"as far as i have experienced, song and dance amongst the cree people has been deemed a form of therapy. At least for myself, it is so. The good ole brain gets into a mood and by the end of the song and dance, all is working in turbo state. The feeling can be like a high. With this, i am making reference to the pow wow song and dance."

"I have to write reports from home some times. I live alone so others aren't a distraction, but I found I have to turn off tv and music to focus and even then something that should only take 2 hrs takes me 5! My brain seems to go where it wants and I have to keep roping it back in."

Eileen

Good Gracious no !!!

   I can't imagine being able to have music playing while I work... I have a custom cabinet shop, and work primarily by myself. I can't listen to music or any thing else when I have to concentrate..Occasionally I put some on if I'm doing somthing that I can do by wrote..but I usually walk over and turn it off after awhile....

   You may find this interesting...I have various fans around, some bigger and some smaller, but they all have a different rythym that they "play" so to speak. If I'm cleaning up or doing somthing large and simple, turning all of them on high creates an environment of energy. But if i want to contemplate somthing more complicated, a design issue or a proportion problem, turning them down to medium helps me to slow down and be present to the task at hand...If I'm working with finances or pricing ( which generally bring in the tension ) I can only maybe have one fan on, set on low, because when the rythyms of several fans "weave" together it creates a totally kaotic "fabric" if you will of pure confusion ( it's not an unattractive rythym, quite interesting really, but completely distracting, and at times there is no hope of concentrating in that environment...) I know that it sounds a bit crazy, but I guess we all have ways to maximize out abilities,,,

    The greatest thing is a recently newfound understanding that my struggles aren't from a weak charactor, but a different "Brainstyle", if you will....so I try to just laugh, and go adjust what ever it is that is demanding my attention and live with it when I can't fix it, and openly talk about it to whoever happens to be around, (if I think it's appropriate at the time..)   Thanks for listening.    Bill B