The Best Music for Working

28 August 201915 February 2021 patmcg1 Comment

According to research on the effect of music listening on work performance, music can indeed help your brain work better. But it depends what you are listening to.

👉 5 Types of Music That Increase Your Productivity, According to Science

Official Recommendations

Classical music, especially baroque, can increased mood and concentration – see Bach, Vivaldi, and Handel 👉example

Not really music, but nature sounds can increase cognitive function and concentration – rain, water, etc. 👉 example

Epic music can inspire you if you’re feeling unmotivated 👉 example

Video Game Music – this music is designed to help your brain feel better! 👉 Sim City, Bastion, or pick a game! (Zelda?)

Ambient music can reduce stress (I’m not a huge fan, so no example 🤷🏻‍♂️😂)

My Own Favs

I personally love classical adaptations of rock and pop, such as Kashmir: Symphonic Led Zeppelin or the Vitamin String Quartet.

I also like some of the Apple Music concentration playlists such as Swift Concentration.

And even though it breaks some of the rules above, I just find KUTX relaxing.

Also, Miles Davis. And the Isle of Dogs soundtrack.

Duke Ellington: Black, Brown, and Beige.

Shostakovich: Jazz Suites Nos. 1 – 2 – The Bolt – Tahiti Trot

For some chill beats, try Trappin in Japan (YouTube) ( Music).

Also, just any classical waltz music seems to work.

What Doesn’t Work

Not surprisingly, complex musical structure and lyrics don’t help. In fact, they make it harder for you brain to focus. (*Still, I can work to Johny Cash music, probably because it’s so familiar.)

Also, any music may hinder the especially difficult tasks.

And you have to be in the habit of listening to music to make it helpful. If you only do it sometimes, it doesn’t help.

Parenting · You

LetGrow – “Always helping our kids isn’t always helping them”

26 July 201919 February 2020 patmcgLeave a comment

As a parent, I love Let Grow. They are saying that we need to do less for our kids. Step back, trust your kids, and let them figure some stuff out on their own. They will gain skills, true confidence, and inner strength. 💪🏻

Doing a little less for our kids is not negligent or lazy. It is a vote of confidence in them

👉 Let Grow

The winners in business, love, and life are comfortable with a bit of risk, and able to deal with disappointment (even the lack of a trophy). They listen, argue, work things out. They are open to change. They pivot.

You

How Getting Older Makes You Tougher and Wiser

21 July 20191 September 2019 patmcgLeave a comment

Getting older is good! Well, not in every way — I’m getting near-sighted and having trouble bending my legs. 🤷🏻‍♂️ But in more significant ways, aging makes you better.

I don’t love the name of this article, but I do like the observations it contains.

👉 The Incredibly Harsh Lessons You Learn with Age

These are some great lessons learned from aging, and I agree with them all.

Nothing is ever “done”
Success increases with your ability to be vulnerable
There is always another struggle coming next
You always have more to learn
Being uncomfortable feels the best

I especially like the last one.

As you age and you understand the struggle never ends, you learn to move closer to uncomfortable situations because that’s where progress is unlocked and fulfillment can be found.

Me · You

The 50/50 Rule and Why I Blog

21 July 201921 July 2019 patmcg4 Comments

My blog’s current tag line is “This is not a blog.”

Originally, this site was intended as a way to keep track of links to interesting or useful things, like glorified bookmarks. But since then, it has evolved to serve another purpose: to make me think and communicate about stuff.

See, as I was bookmarking stuff, I found myself adding little bits about why I liked the link or context about how I found it. Over time, I found that when I would link to an article, I would sometimes want to add a summary about the article to help me process it and remember it better.

A better way to learn, process, retain and remember information is to learn half the time, and share half the time.

If I take two seconds to effortlessly save a bookmark, then the information is saved and soon forgotten. If I add even a quick post about it, giving it a title and some context or a summary, then that post is now a part of me. And as a bonus, I get to share it with other people.

So I was happy to see this article, which makes me think I am not wasting my time.

👉 The 50/50 Rule (How to Retain And Remember 90% of Everything You Learn)

It basically says that if you make yourself talk about something, then you come to understand it or appreciate it better. Spend half you time learning and half your time explaining what you learned.

According to the article, I would be serving myself better by writing out my notes by hand. It seems people type too fast for their brain to absorb what they’re doing. And simply by writing that, I now remember that fact. But I’m typing this anyways because you can’t tag, search, and share your paper notebook. 🤷🏻‍♂️

And yes, this article is so meta.

You

Happily Married Couples Exhibit Best Friend Behavior

14 July 2019 patmcgLeave a comment

I almost dismissed this article outright when first I saw the title because I thought it was going to be overly-simplistic.

👉 The #1 Thing All Happily Married Couples Have in Common

But it’s a good article and hella inspiring! It talks about positivity bias, productive fighting, and the benefits of being married to your best friend:

Nobody cares who makes the money
Vacations are easy to agree on
Chores are divided evenly
You have incredible sex
You feel understood
You fight productively

A friend is someone who knows you as you are, understands where you have been, accepts what you have become, and still, gently allows you to grow

⚠️ Just be sure to contrast this with What You Lose When You Gain a Spouse. 🤷🏻‍♂️