The pinnacle of my academic prowess emerges when I enjoy the work I do. It’s that simple. Nothing more forcefully shatters the monotony of a gruelling workload than pursuing uplifting moments.

  To be clear, I don’t hold faith in the Mozart theory, that classical music is an innate brain booster for everyone. In fact, that notion has been decreasingly credible since its inception in 1973.

  I do assert, however, that listening to one’s own favored music, whatever the genre, is beneficial in terms of productivity and work ethic in the long run.

  Whether I’m jamming out to the measured pulse of atmospheric black metal or the clipped prance of gypsy jazz, my headphones are a necessity for studying.

  My increasing reliance on auditory rejuvenation has proven just how reliable of a tool it can be in combating assignments. Music adds a rhythmic energy to the way I work. It tunes out the drone of the world and makes studying pleasant, familiar, and comfortable. I’ll occasionally drum my pencil against my index finger or tap my foot, and those minute movements organize the flow of my productivity.

  Don’t just take my word for it. Countless experimental studies have illustrated the way that

music enhances the temporary capabilities of the human brain.

  Those minute movements I mentioned? They are a commonality in music listeners, and as one study from the American Journal of Physiology Heart and Circulatory Physiology suggested, fidgeting was an indicator of both greater intellectual and physical healthiness.

  According Northwestern University neuroscientist Dr. Nina Kraus, “The more we exercise our sound processing in the brain, the better the brain becomes at making sense of sound and the world around us. Music does this more than any other sound.” Moreover, this process of flexing the brain like a muscle is compounded when we combine intellectual activities with music.

  Think about the increased depth of your critical thinking, and problem solving skills if you are better able to sort the information of your environment. For some, adding music to their typical academic routine can be an adjustment, but one that pays off if followed to its end.

  Studying doesn’t have to be a solemn, formal choice to focus solely on work to be maximally efficient. Expanding the very strength of our collective focus will be crucial in a world with increasingly shorter attention spans and waning engagement, not just in school, but in any kind of work.

  Life can be a soundtrack, a journey, one with a rhythm as groovy as the music we hear. The continuity of that soundtrack must pervade the dullness of working if we are to become the most convivial versions of ourselves and enjoy that work.