I work in the financial services field and my production has increased since I started working with my iPod on "shuffle" docked in my audio system in my office. Music of choice? Mostly Metal.

Probably best to use music you know as opposed to something you just downloaded and are not familiar with . . .

EASTKOY

    I know it's definitely a non-geek tip, but I find that doing memory work with Windows Media Player going through my ripped music collection, on shuffle mode seems to help!

AcidReign

I'm just not good at making slide shows.

JustEaton

a good night's sleep helps.

ironchef

I'll play certain music while studying for a test. Then when I'm taking that test, I just get that music going through my head and all's good.

Assuming it works, I've had a few times when I just couldn't get the record to start up.

waffles

There's something to be said for this, really. Sometimes, if I'm really under deadline and have to knock out stories, I'll back away and do a couple of sudokus. Nothing too hard, but for some reason, that helps me focus more. Of course, the problem is stopping at "a couple" and not "eight or nine". :P

drjayphd

I'm a premed student and I always study for science classes while watching something on Hulu. They have a lot of crappy old movies that are not worth watching, but good for distractions.

mlhoward516

I KNEW IT. I've always done this. Since like 2nd grade. I watched Discovery and Fox Kids while doing homework. Chyeah.

ph15h needs followers

I don't understand how this quite qualifies as a distraction rather than a direct visual reinforcer? Even after reading the article I am confused.

A distraction would be playing disco with flash dance video playing while you are trying to memorize. Not "Oh, I'm memorizing flower color and type and flowers are being shown on the screen in front of me."

Now, how do I enhance my legal studies with a legal "distraction". Do I need to watch Law and Order? Boston Legal? Or just good old CNN's regular murder broadcasts?

maztec

My preferred study method is to break up sessions into 15 minute sessions followed by either a 5 minute break or a shift to a new subject. Paying attention to a subject for longer than 15 minutes usually results in decreased recall of anything between the first 7 and last 7 minutes. By alternating methods and subjects I can generally absorb large amounts of information in a short period of time.

For example, studying for the CISSP had me doing 15 minute reading/note taking sessions followed by 15 minute flash card sessions (usually in a different body of knowledge). While studying economic theory generally sees me doing 15 minute reading/note taking sessions with 5 minute breaks (to check Lifehacker, of course).

Also important to engage as many senses as possible when studying. I like to read, restate what I have read in writing using my own words, say important elements out loud and imagine them in action where applicable. Sometimes you just read, but sometimes you need to force the data on as many surface areas of the brain as possible.

DanRP

It's not a distraction when the images are related to the words, it's called parallel processing. That's the cognitive science term anyway.

crafty184

@waffles: I totally agree, though I haven't found it absolutely necessary to listen to the music WHILE studying/learning; immediately before or after seem to do the trick for me, too.

I remember this one time, I was stuck on a math problem. I had been listening to Le Tigre just before a study session, so I started mentally singing Deceptacon, and POOF, I remembered.

anulman

You guys just posted an article from the same exact wired subset of articles the other day. the one about caffeine in small bits helps you out more than one big shot of it.

Now granted it was posted by Kevin Purdy and it seems like no one else here noticed, but it just seems like a cheap way to fill space.

I really enjoyed the article, but do not want to see every lil bit posted over the next week or so.

danny333

@danny333: We cover a lot of subjects every week, and though we do diligently check to make sure we don't duplicate anything, sometimes a post will slip through the cracks. This is not one of those times.

Either way, sorry you feel you're not getting your money's worth.

Adam Pash

I am not sure if the reviewer of this article summarized this article correctly... or what the stated purpose of the actual (academic) article was. Does anyone know the Authors or the title of the article is?

As for distraction... It has been well established that we need a certain degree of stimulation while we do anything. Too little or too much can cause us significant problems in performance. For instance, sitting in a sensory deprivation chamber is extrememly uncomfortable due to a lack of stimulation. I would disagree with those who think that sitting infront of a tv while studying is good. Attentional resources tend to tend to get used up quite quickly when they are divided within a single modality (eg. visual attention), as opposed to a bi-modal distraction (auditory-visual) up to a certain point. Attention seems to be fairly well isolated. it is very difficult for attentional loads in one modality to spill over into another. It may actually be of some help to listen to some music at a low level...

/end cognitive spiel

ghostwind

Can't I just plug in my hard drive to my cortex

RGP

@Adam Pash, LH editors et al:

I'd take danny333's note a little more seriously; it's meant as constructive criticism.

You published 2 posts, both straight from a single Wired article, in 3 days. It feels either lazy or underhanded. I am not saying that's the intention, but it's the perception.

You'd be better off doing one "Wired's Brain Hacks" article and moving on.

Overall, though, you guys are doing a great job. Keep it up!

rscotta

Find a link to the paper or I don't believe it. Major memory research has shown that the sort of thing described here qualifies as interference and reduces paired-memory task performance.

See the work of prof Higbee at Brigham Young

or specifically Runquist, "The Generality of the Effects of Structure Similarity on Cue Discrimination and Recall" Canadian Journal of Psychology 37: 484-97

also see Gunter et al. "Proactive Interference Effects with Television News Items: Further Evidence," Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning and Memory 7: 480-87

All say the exact opposite of this rumor (no article is cited above or at the link). Interference is bad and the more relevant it is the worse the interference affects your memory.

pcx339

Find a link to the paper or I don't believe it. Major memory research has shown that the sort of thing described here qualifies as interference and reduces paired-memory task performance.

See the work of prof Higbee at Brigham Young

or specifically Runquist, "The Generality of the Effects of Structure Similarity on Cue Discrimination and Recall" Canadian Journal of Psychology 37: 484-97

also see Gunter et al. "Proactive Interference Effects with Television News Items: Further Evidence," Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning and Memory 7: 480-87

All say the exact opposite of this rumor (no article cited above): interference is bad and the more relevant it is the worse the interference affects your memory.

pcx339

@ph15h needs followers: I hope you're joking, because if not you have completely missed the point.

inbetweener