Make a Point to Listen to Less Music

Every day, I pass many students on campus with earbuds in. In isolation, this is not an alarming statement, but in the context of our overstimulated world, it frightens me.

Every day, many of us wake up, check our phones and scroll until we have to get ready.

While getting ready, we listen to music. While walking to class, we listen to music. When we get to class, we take the earbuds out. When class is over, we put the earbuds back in. While driving in the car, we listen to music. While eating lunch, we watch a video. While doing homework, we listen to music. While in the shower, we listen to music. Before we go to bed, we watch, we scroll, we listen.

There is hardly a moment where we are not stimulated. There is hardly a moment left in the day for silence. There is hardly a moment left to listen to the rustle of wind in the trees or the calling of birds or the laughter of a distant conversation. There is hardly a moment left to have a thought to ourselves.

Then, we wonder why it’s so hard to pay attention in class. We wonder why we are so anxious. We wonder why we hardly know ourselves.

I’ve been guilty of this plenty of times. I love music just as much as the next person (I am a band kid, so it comes with the job). I just think there can be too much of a good thing. Not every waking moment of our lives has to be filled with curated sound.

As someone with ADHD, it’s especially important that I don’t flood my mind with stimulus at all times. It’s already hard enough to focus as is without training my brain to reach for easy dopamine.

I don’t listen to music while walking to and in between classes. I try not to while I’m studying, although sometimes it’s necessary to block out other noises to focus. I especially don’t listen to music in the shower because that is the one time a day where I physically cannot be on my phone. My brain needs that break. It’s my dedicated time to be alone with my thoughts.

Turns out there are tons of benefits to having some silence in your day. According to Dr. Amy Sullivan, a clinical psychologist who contributes to the Cleveland Clinic, there are mental and physical benefits to silence. Finding a moment to be still and silent can help you lower your blood pressure, decrease your heart rate, steady your breathing, reduce muscle tension and increase focus and cognition.

Our restlessness and search for stimulation is a cultural phenomenon. Americans tend to distract themselves with external stimuli in order to ignore thoughts or feelings that make them uncomfortable. It rings a bell, doesn’t it? Dr. Sullivan says silence can help us develop more profound thoughts, stronger relationships, increased creativity and improved communication skills.

The benefits to silence are many, but the practice of it is challenging. I don’t think of listening to music as a moral failure. There’s nothing wrong with it in isolation. I will still continue listening to music, but I will also continue to cherish my moments of silence. I encourage you to take your earbuds out and think about all the sounds you may hear across campus.

Listen for the birds, listen for the trees, listen for funny snippets of conversations out of context. Give your mind a break. I’m sure it will thank you.