I find certain types of music less distracting than the alternative of random background noise. Trance works well for me because it is fairly repetitive and so doesn’t distract me with trying to listen to the music too closely. It also helps if I’m listening to something I’m very familiar with and with the tracks in a set order rather than on shuffle. Mix CDs are good because there are no distracting breaks between tracks.
Seconding all of this except the bit about set order rather than shuffle, which I haven’t tried—it otherwise matches the advice I was going to give. Also, songs with no words or with words in a language you don’t speak are better than songs with words, and if you don’t want or can’t tolerate explicitly noise-canceling headphones, earplugs + headphones with the music turned up very loud also works.
I find certain types of music less distracting than the alternative of random background noise. Trance works well for me because it is fairly repetitive and so doesn’t distract me with trying to listen to the music too closely. It also helps if I’m listening to something I’m very familiar with and with the tracks in a set order rather than on shuffle. Mix CDs are good because there are no distracting breaks between tracks.
Seconding all of this except the bit about set order rather than shuffle, which I haven’t tried—it otherwise matches the advice I was going to give. Also, songs with no words or with words in a language you don’t speak are better than songs with words, and if you don’t want or can’t tolerate explicitly noise-canceling headphones, earplugs + headphones with the music turned up very loud also works.