Some scrapbookers work in front of the TV or otherwise in a common family area. Others create in solitary spaces.
My office is definitely a sanctuary for me, but the quiet can sometimes zap my energy like nothing else. My mind starts racing and off it goes down twelve different paths.
Before you know it I’m looking up slow cooker recipes during time I deliberately set aside for making stuff.
However there is one thing that always boosts my mood and helps me focus on just one thing at a time: music.
Music does something to your brain to prevent it from attempting to multitask. Stanford professor Clifford Nass says:
“We have a special part of our brain for music, so we can listen to music while we do other things. But in general, our brain can’t do two things at once.”
For me, it takes up just enough of that computation space in my mind, leaving just what I need to focus on what is in front of me. I am far more productive, at work and at play, when I have music going.
Side note: Podcasts don’t work in the same way because language processing requires your brain to work.
I don’t have the fanciest music library and in today’s world you don’t really need to. I enjoy listening to iTunes Radio and have used services like Spotify and Pandora. However, none of these come close to the special place in my heart I hold for Radio Paradise.
Radio Paradise has an incredibly eclectic mix of music that is nearly always enjoyable. If pushes me out of my comfort zone of Beatles, Barenaked Ladies, Billy Joel, and Bryan Adams, but is never jarring. Even when it’s a little weird, it’s a good kind of weird.
If the quiet parts of me time sometime get you into trouble, more music might be the antidote. Wear headphones if you have to!
Do you listen to music while your scrapbook? What genres or artists are your favorite?
I do like music when I scrapbook. I like music with words over something like jazz or classical without words. Words help me to know the boundaries of the music – where to expect things to happen.
I do like an eclectic mix; Everything from Hard Rock/metal to Classic Rock to current mix/alternative. Even some Big Band stuff.
I love Big Band! I always listen to it when I’m cooking because it reminds me of my Grandma.
Great article – I always have music going when doing any type of crafting. I’m all over the genre spectrum from Elton John and Billy Joel to Barbra Streisand to big band sound from the 30’s thru 60’s to Christina and Shakira to country (can we say Alan Jackson??!!). Yup. Music. It soothes the soul and eases the mind :).
yep! If I really have to do business in the scrapping dept. I have to put on music. The more eclectic, the better. It really helps keep me focused…and it can’t be LOUD, just enough so I can sing along with the songs I know..
Mary Poppins is right now my favorite…and The Sound of Music…I know every word to the “The Lonely Goatherd”!….it still makes me laugh after all these years.
IThe Sound of Music DVD is permanently in my computer because I love having it on in the background and singing along!
Hey Jennifer, I don’t know why but your feed has stopped updating with new posts in my Feedly. The last post I have in Feedly is “The Easiest Way to Use Scrapbook Prompts” from March 11. I’ve tried refreshing it several times but it won’t pull the new posts into Feedly.
Thanks for letting me know. I will check into it.
I’m really enjoying the theme/design of your weblog. Do you
ever run into any browser compatibility issues? A handful of my blog readers have
complained about my blog not operating correctly in Explorer but looks great in Chrome.
Do you have any solutions to help fix this problem?
Thanks for the tip on the music app. I’m an easy listener, mostly because of sensitivity from my fibro. I have daily headaches and just can’t tolerate any other type of music. I’m listening to it right now since I can’t sleep.