Freewrite Your Way to Freedom

Freewrite Your Way to Freedom

Like most Americans, I don't just drink coffee, I drink copious amounts of coffee because I am usually running on very few hours of sleep. From time to time, I find myself suffering from writer's block, procrastination, and yes, even sleep deprivation. Never mind the correlation between my sleep patterns and my coffee consumption--that's not the point of this blog post. Instead of beating yourself up about getting only three hours of sleep, I challenge you to free write your way to problem solve, brainstorm, and meditate.

I Don't Know - 131 Beats Per Minute

I Don't Know - 131 Beats Per Minute

 
 

The final track in the 131 beats per minute playlist.  I like this one as it has a blues development slapped right in the middle of the track - I've been meaning to do that for a while.

While the previous tracks in the playlist were very calm and reassuring - I knew that I wanted more energy in this one.  While it starts and ends with a mellow feel, it's all about the blues scale in the middle. 

There's a certain chugging nature to the way the left hand sets up the 12 bar shape and it's that driving energy that I often need when I'm hacking through something.  The trick is to make the right hand interesting but not overbearing while the left hand provides the energy without becoming monotonous.

I really like the ending too -  it makes me go back and immediately start the track again.  Listening to this on a loop is great when you want to stay focused an "in" for an hour or so.

Oh and there's a lot of Fibonacci references in the visual for those of you out there who dig that sort of stuff - I do! ;-p

 
 

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77% of People Listen to Music at Work!

77% of People Listen to Music at Work!

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Charlotte found this well written article by Liam Ward-Proud on how music can boost productivity.  While he touches on some of the familiar issues (de-bunking the Mozart effect & quoting Teresa Lesiuk) he did have a figure that blew me away.

Seems that a study from Sheffield University puts the number of people listening to music at work at 77%.  That's amazing!  As Liam suggests, and as we predicted eight years ago, the accessibility of portable players and new digital distribution platforms have made it super easy for people to access music - everywhere and anywhere.

It's interesting to see how the whole idea of music in the workplace has become accepted as normal.  What's fun to watch now is how different people and companies will tell you that it's their music that can help you best.

I think I'm with Liam on this one, what's best for you is totally subjective and driven by how that music makes you feel.  Just because there's research that instrumental music is best for some knowledge workers doesn't mean it's best for all of them. 

I know for me when I'm writing I need instrumental music - but when I'm researching it can be anything from Rastaman Vibrations through to Easy Star All-Stars Dub Side of the Moon - I like to groove when I read!

If you're part of the 23% that doesn't listen to music at work, read Liam's article on How Music Can Boost Productivity - it's a good introduction!

 

Image Credit: Music to Work or Study By - epiclectic - Flickr

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