As a student in Year 11, most of my time is divided between doing homework and revising, which obviously gets very boring over long periods of time. I’ve tried lots of different ways to make this time more enjoyable and to work out what helps me keep focused; music has been a big help.


During my mocks, I started listening to non-lyrical music when revising, which was very beneficial as not only did it help to block out the noise distractions around me, but also, there were no words to confuse me either. It has overall lead to a more pleasant time spent doing my work.

Now however, I’ve graduated to listening to my regular music and playlists, which are quite mellow anyway, and don’t cause me too much distraction, but mean that I’m not entirely consumed by the work. What works best for me is playing the music fairly quietly on my speaker, as listening to it through my headphones is too all-consuming.

 

Having researched the topic, according to Healthline, music can improve your mood and memory due to brain stimulation; it can increase your motivation and boost concentration and can offer better management of pain and fatigue.

 

However, not everyone finds music helpful when concentration is necessary. Listening to music that’s too loud or fast might interrupt your thoughts and set back your progress, which is very frustrating after dedicating hours to work and getting little out of it. 

 

Overall, the best way to manage music and revision is through keeping the volume low on easy-going, slow songs which will not derail your thoughts easily. That way you can be more focused and motivated on completing your work and not on overthinking it.