Using the Power of Music

Have you ever stopped to think about how powerful of a tool music can be. As I have discussed in previous posts, music can be used for a multitude of things in life. It can be used to meditate, alter moods, relax, reflect, pump you up, or even put you to sleep. There are many versatile uses for music in each persons life. But how do you use it?

Using the power of music to assist you in life with everyday tasks is an amazing thing. Think about when you clean your house, you probably like to throw some tunes on in the background to keep you motivated and moving. This is true when you are cooking, exercising, and so many other activities. But have you ever tried putting some background music on while accomplishing more daunting tasks like homework or finances and so on? While you might think that this could become a distraction, you may find that if you put the correct music on in the background it is a powerful tool to keep your mind from "overheating".

I myself had never thought of this being a possible assistance tool when doing my own course work or finances. However, it was through my 9 year old that I realized just how incredibly effective this practice can be. As a father, sometimes you only think of how you learn or the way your brain works and you assume that the same is true for everyone. This is not always true, and I had to learn this the difficult way. My 9 year old has ADHD and her brain functions much like mine where focusing on one task at a time is somewhat difficult. It is because of this that she discovered that listening to music at a low volume while working on schoolwork at home is actually complimentary.

While this practice may not be effective for all subjects or while reading and trying to comprehend the material, it is extremely powerful while performing equations or writing a paper. This is true whether you function like me and my daughter or whether you work better focusing on individual tasks. This is because music has the power to drown out the white noise that exist within all of our minds and allows the analytical side of our brain to focus. This relationship is dependent on the type of music you put on, the level of volume at which you listen, and how much focus you place on the music.

I challenge you to try this next time you are performing daunting tasks that use an exuberant amount of brain power. Whatever the task, whether it is something you love or something you despise, find a station that you enjoy on your music sources, turn the volume down low where it can be heard but not distracting, and begin working. Try using peaceful and gentle music at first and build from there. You might even find that this practice makes the activities that you hate or despise more enjoyable and less painful for you. Whatever your journey in life, whether school, work, raising children, or just keeping house, music can relax you and make the journey less of a task and more of an adventure. ~The Musician