When Music Impacts Productivity
Dawes, The Avett Brothers, Gregory Alan Isakov, and a writing and reading playlist
“If my words did glow with the gold of sunshine
And my tunes were played on the harp unstrung
Would you hear my voice come through the music
Would you hold it near as it were your own?”
—Ripple by Grateful Dead, written by Robert Hunter and Jerry Garcia
Happy first Friday of October! Remember, every first Friday of the month, the Bonus Track will feature a curated playlist, either from the Swap team or a Swap friend.
What’s the soundtrack of your work life? If you’re like me (Adam Tait), the volume is way too loud. Today, we get 3 great tunes for getting work done, and a bonus track describing the art form that is playlist curating, specifically for writing and reading.
We are glad to have you here. Enjoy.
Adam’s Pick: If I Wanted Someone by Dawes
As I said earlier, I am notorious for having the volume turned up too loud for an office setting. On top of that, the music I usually listen to is a bit weird for most folks. One band I love to crank up when I am working is Dawes. The lyrics are simple yet complex, and they generally rock out. The melodic voice of Taylor Goldsmith helps me stay on track, and this song was one of the first Dawes songs I fell in love with. I hope it keeps you as productive as me.
Mat’s Pick: Murder in the City by The Avett Brothers
In college and seminary, I spent a lot of time studying in coffee shops. I had to have headphones to block out the ambient noise. On top of that, I’m a big playlist guy. I usually make 3-4 a year, and they’re the soundtrack of the season for me. In looking at my playlists over the years, I think the Avett Brothers lead the pack in frequency. They’ve been the soundtrack for a lot of my life since college. This is probably my favorite Avett’s song. This line represents their amazing lyricism at its best: “Always remember there was nothing worth sharing like the love that let us share our name.”
Kody’s Pick: The Stable Song by Gregory Alan Isakov with the Colorado Symphony
I had trouble with this assignment at first. I couldn’t think of a specific genre or musician I usually play while working. I tend to just spin whatever I’m into at the moment.
But this morning, I figured it out. I got up early to finish a work project and asked myself, “What could help me focus?” Enter GAI. I’m already attention-deficient, so if I’m depending on music to help me stay on task, it has to be soothing and support the flow state. For me, old Greg does the trick.
GAI + the Colorado Symphony = focus achieved, project done on time.
Bonus Track: When Music Impacts Productivity
—Ronni Kurtz
When it comes to being productive, I am far too impacted by my environment than I should be. I wish I was one of those people who could work wherever and whenever I had a few free spare minutes. And, to be fair, there are some tasks I can accomplish regardless of location, mood, aesthetics, or any “vibe” of my surroundings.
However, when it comes to deep work, especially reading and writing, environment is key for me. I cannot always control every aspect of my environment when it comes to working, but one thing I can control—music. In my life, music is nearly always on. In my headphones, on the speakers throughout my home, in the background of my office, music is a major part of my life, and I am often moved by what I am listening to.
Given how much music impacts my working environment, I have spent far too many hours developing dozens of playlists for every kind of working mentality. Though there are dozens that I have worked on, and a handful I am even proud of, I want to draw your attention to one in particular—my writing playlist.
The Playlist for Writing
On November 21st, 2013, I was sitting in a coffee shop in Kansas City, Missouri, and the coffee shop was on a string of miserable song selections. Frustrated, I decided to take matters into my own hands and began crafting a selection of songs which would help me write on Spotify. Fast forward 12 years, the playlist is still my go-to and it now contains over 140 hours of music—nearly six days straight of music.
The playlist could largely be described as indie singer-songwriters with a handful of folk bands. It tends towards sad songs and those that inspire beauty in writing. It is not perfect just yet, and I often find myself adding or removing songs if they do not produce the right environmental mood I need for sustained attention on deep work in writing.
I made the playlist for myself in order to invoke a certain gravity and pathos for those long writing days. However, to my surprise, the playlist seems to resonate with others as well. Hundreds of folks have subscribed to the playlist, and Spotify has even made the playlist a featured playlist on several occasions.
So, at the invitation of the fine folks at the Music Swap, I am doing this little write-up (with the “Write” playlist in my ears, of course) in order to introduce others to the playlist that has been the background noise to twelve years of my writing life.
Here it is, the Write playlist:
The Playlist for Reading
One last thing: I have learned my reading and writing habits well enough to learn that, for reasons I cannot quite articulate, I prefer to have music with words while I am writing, but I cannot have lyrics going when I am reading. So, I have created an alternative playlist, which I titled Indie Instrumental Focus, that I use for setting a proper reading environment. I have not spent nearly as many hours on this playlist, but Spotify seems happy to feature that playlist even more often, so it has more subscribers than my Writing playlist at this point. If you enjoy indie-folk music but get distracted by lyrics, this may be the playlist for you.
Here it is, the Reading playlist:
Ronni Kurtz is an assistant professor of systematic theology at Midwestern Seminary. He is the author of a few books and cares far too much about music.
Ronni came to the Christian faith through involvement in the straight edge punk and hardcore music scene.
His current music obsession is the musical offshoots of Novo Amor—like Hailaker and Low Swimmer.
Two playlists! Now that’s what we call a Bonus Track(s). Well done, Ronni! Thank you so much.
Have a great weekend, friends.
-TheMusicSwap
Been an Avid user of both Write and Indie Instrumental Focus for years. So much so that I used a program to copy them onto TIDAL when switching to HiFi headphones and home system. They are especially perfect in the autumn season! :)
Those are impressive playlists.