Zander 4: Can "Distractions" Help Your Work?
For as long as I can remember, the idea of things like music, television, art, and other similar things being bad for your focus has been drilled into my head. It’s one of those things that we are meant to know, that distractions are bad. However, as my life progresses, I find out more and more how untrue that seems to be. If I sit down to work with just a pencil and worksheet, my mind will wander and wrap itself around so many times that, chances are, the worksheet won’t get finished.
However, give me a paper to sketch on, a TV show to watch, or a high-energy song to listen to, and let me pace a bit, and that worksheet will be done quickly. This fact has always confused me, as it’s the exact opposite of what schools have taught me since birth. From my research, I’ve come to the conclusion that normally, the things I’ve listed do serve as a distraction. However, to people like me who are neurodivergent, they can be a significant benefit.
The main form of neurodivergence this seems to help is ADHD, something that I have been diagnosed with. I have found several articles, all stating similar things. The two most common methods used for focusing attention for people with ADHD are two things I mentioned, those being music and art. Art and music (including heavy music,) have been proven on many occasions to help neurodivergent people by a significant amount, but why?
It all has to do with stimuli. Neurodivergent people, especially those with ADHD, require a significant amount more stimuli, be it physical or mental, than average people. If you were to sit them down and make them work, they’d get so bored and understimulated that they couldn’t work. However, give them the physical stimulation of moving your hand while drawing, or the mental stimulation of listening to fast-paced music, and they have enough stimuli to work efficiently.
So that begs the question: If it was never true, why were we told those things are bad? Well, that’s because to many, it is. To neurotypical people, blasting loud music or drawing would just serve to distract them from their assignment, as they don’t have the same need for stimulation as neurodivergent people. Since they are the majority, that’s what schools told everyone, even if there were a few people in the class that it didn’t apply to at all.
So, do you have any unusual ways of studying? If so, what are they?
https://www.loudersound.com/features/how-heavy-music-saved-me-from-my-adhd-brain
https://www.verywellmind.com/music-to-improve-focus-adhd-6361057
https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/mythbusting-adhd/202304/how-doodling-helps-kids-with-adhd-to-focus
As someone with ADHD, I agree that in some cases distractions can be helpful and help improve your work. A study habit I have is listening to music while doing math work. It's very interesting because my mind works really well with numbers, if i have music playing, but if i'm doing english or history, music completely throws me off.
ReplyDeleteThis was a super insightful read, I had no idea that so many people believed that things like music or pacing were bad for focusing on one's work. When I am doing homework digitally, I usually listen to music, but if I have work on paper, doodling on it helps me focus more.
ReplyDeletePersonally listening to loud music will totally throw off my work as I am more concentrated on the sounds than my own thoughts. However, drawing has a very different effect for me. If I was to draw an image I would not be focused on the task at all, but if I am just scribbling on my notes as someone is talking I have no problem picking up what they are saying. I think it is just the amount of thought that something takes for it to disturb ability to do work, as mindless things work better for me.
ReplyDeleteTo me it depends, sometimes listening to music can help me get into a flow and focus more but it depends on the class that I’m in. Its fine in math because its just numbers and there’s no real critical thinking in my head, but in a class like English or history the music throws me off when I’m reading or writing.
ReplyDeleteI always love to listen to music while I do my work. However, I think this is just because it distracts me. If I have music on, I usually pay attention to the music and not get any work done. From my perspective, I also could not see how doodling would help since whenever I doodle I get distracted.
ReplyDeleteIt depends on what I'm working on, but I usually listen to music or watch a show while I work. When I'm doing something that doesn't require much thinking such as math homework I put on a show, but if I'm writing an essay I like to listen to guitar riffs, instrumentals, or any calming music. I've also found that listening to someone ramble about a random topic will also help me work better, but I probably won't be able to tell you what they said.
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