There are so many distractions when it comes to studying for finals in the library. From social media to those fidgety pen tappers to that one person with food who is the loudest. chewer. ever. When you have to write revise a five-page paper or read reread a chapter during finals week, the last things you want are distractions—especially since you went to the library to avoid distractions in the first place! The most common antidote is stuffing in your headphones and turning the volume all the way up (also distracting to surrounding people).
According to science, when you’re working on something that involves the language part of your brain, you should listen to music without lyrics because the lyrics can mess with that cognitive function. Of course, no one listens to science, but have you ever been writing an essay while listening to your favorite song and ended up writing part of the lyrics into a sentence that has nothing to don’t believe me, just watch?
These are some of my favorite songs to listen to when I need to focus. You can find them in the handy Spotify playlist below. I hope they help you too!
- “Fern” by Zoë Keating
- “Opening” by Philip Glass
- “Eyes Closed and Traveling” by Peter Broderick
- “The Evil That Never Arrived” by Stars of the Lid
- “Clear Language” by Balmorhea
- “We Move Lightly” by Dustin O’Halloran
- “L’apprenti sorcier” by Paul Dukas
- “As Old Roads” by Goldmund
- “By Night” by Sophie Hutchings
- “Endless Time” by Robert Cacciapaglia
- “Flight From the City” by Jóhann Jóhannsson
- “Autumn Music 2” by Max Richter
- “Over There, It’s Raining” by Nils Frahm
- “Atlantico” by Roberto Cacciapaglio
- “Tomorrow’s Song” by Ólafur Arnalds
- “Written on the Sky” by Max Richter
- “We Float” by Dustin O’Halloran
- “Ambre” by Nils Frahm
- “Tail Lights” by Sophie Hutchings
- “Traveling” by Heinz Goldblatt
- “Trickle Down” by Jean Permentier
- “Delicate Transitions” by Gavin Luke
- “Vladimir’s Blues” by Max Richter
- “Sleeping Lotus” by Joep Beving
- “In the Bleak Mid Winter” by Samuel Bath
