Do you listen to song while working?

 
No, and my wife hates the fact that I can listen to 2 at once... she says it distracts her.
 
 

Heck, I'm ADHD and work better with distractions going on everywhere.  I've been known to have music playing, while eating, reading and having a (muted) sports game on the TV...
 
So, what were we talking about anyway???   Hey, SQUIRREL!!!

I found myself thinking more about the changes
while riding my Ultra Classic so no music when I ride now...no stereo on my Softail :)
 
When it is on while I'm working it becomes background noise.
It fades in and out much like my attention span.

No.  But I do whistle.

Hi,
 
More on UB's take.
 
I'm a visual person ... thus, writing something requires enough attention to be able to describe it, and bring it to life in words, or what not.
 
With that said, in the early days, it was music, that brought about the visuals, until the day I realized that the majority of visuals is about my "seeing", and NOT the music itself, although a person, a song, a set of words, an expression, can trigger a set of events that brings about a bunch of visuals!
 
As I get older, my inclination is to write, what I hear and see, and more often than not, this means ... I have to pay attention to what it is I see or hear, and (obviously) the better the attention span, the better this comes through, and the wording satisfies a lot more for me. Thus, music on the outside, or anything else, tends to distract from things.
 
Sidebar: Acting, in the end, is about concentration. Teaching the actor to "communicate" with the person they are with, and this is almost the same thing as what we discuss here ... you communicate with the "person" you are talking to ... which would be your imagination, or the actor across from you, or the musician you are playing with. In music, I doubt that this is harder than any other craft, and the parallels are the same. In other words, you can not be paying attention to the idea of rock'n'roll ... you have to stay with the player/s you are focused with ... which sometimes might be this person, other times another person ... but the day the piece of music "grows up" is the day that you play ... for the song, and when you get done, you don't even remember that you were tied to the drummer for 5 seconds, and the guitar for 15 seconds and what not ... which is one of the reasons, why so many DAW's are hurting people that are trying to learn to create/compose songs and other pieces of music ... you end up concerned with the metronome, instead of concentrating on the full of the visual of the music, and at that point ... the beauty of the music begins falling apar -- interrupted and influenced by externals ... just like UB states, and I do as well.
 
I've written about this, including exercises that can help you learn these things better, regardless of which artistic endeavor you are working on ... this is about "YOU", and not the music, the paints or the pen, or the arts, or the computer! When you have that perspective clear, the rest is fun and easy!

When working on big computer projects like presentations, I used to get hooked on a CD and just put it on continuous play. Something about the songs and the beats that would help me pace myself. My mind would literally get in the pocket.
 
Don't do it anymore, not sure why.

Depends.....
 
Sometimes I can plug in the MP3 player and turn it up and work just fine.... no problem concentrating on the work and the music at the same time.
 
Sometimes, if I'm in a bad mood or just don't want to be bothered with people around the job site (sometimes I work in nursing homes and old people in wheel chairs roll up and want to talk) so.... with ear buds in I can ignore them and then after a minute or so, I can pull one bud out and say.... "Oh, excuse me, I didn't know you were speaking to me, I couldn't hear you with this music..... " Then I turn away and get back to work,,,,, with the buds back in. most take the hint and go away, some stay and watch me work.
 
BUT.... when I finish the work and need to test it.... and yeah, the stuff I work on beeps and makes other noises, I do have to shut the music off to do that part of the job.
 
Then, there are other days where no music is the only way to roll. I usually walk around humming the beer barrel polka or some other such song.
 
 

Every Sunday I have a ton of work to do on the computer, mainly creating and sending out invoices to customers. And so recently I figured I'd make the task more enjoyable by putting on some music. 
 
My first thought was that classical music would be the least distracting. Big mistake. Every time something really colorful or interesting came on, like some Debussy or Vaughan Williams, I'd get distracted into paying attention to it. And the result was that I made loads of stupid mistakes, which didn't become evident until later on when I got a ton of angry emails from disgruntled clients saying their bills were wrong. 
 
So the next week I tried it with some repetitive EDM. Anything with a steady, banging beat and not much variation. Did wonders for my concentration and I didn't make any mistakes at all. I also find it helps to chew gum. 

I used to drive a lot as a job. I'd have a CD of my latest song playing and I'd practice singing and trying out lyrics while driving.

Rain
Unless it's a repetitive task which requires very little attention, no. Music just sucks me in and I have a very hard time listening to stuff casually.
 
I remember spending hours at a time just lying on my back w/ the cans on listening to music - mostly Elvis - as a kid. It's one of my first memories, actually. And it remained. I've always preferred to listen to whole albums and to give them my full attention.
 
That being said, I can and most certainly enjoy listening to music when doing chores around the house - usually stuff I'm über familiar with, albums I've listened to for ages. Or when training - music is essential for that, it can give you the drive to push your limits. But again, it won't be just any new album.
 
One odd thing - I can't stand music during a meal, it just ruins it - unless it's some elevator music in the background, at low volume. But pop music w/ vocals? I'm out. I think I've boycotted more restaurants because of the music they played than the food they served.

I walk straight out of a restaurant if there is loud music playing. I cannot for the life of me figure out what kind of person thinks that loud music enhances a social meal. For that matter, I cannot understand why anyone would want to go to a loud bar. I've walked out of those too. For some people, standing with a glass of watered down beer and shouting in each others faces over bad music at ear splitting volumes is their idea of a good time. There's only two environments in which loud music is acceptable - gigs and nightclubs. 

It depends entirely on the task at hand.
For mundane chores or routine assembly work, I will generally have some music playing.
If I need to be mentally focused, then yes, music can be distracting.
One caveat to that is if I am drawing or painting. Then, carefully selected music can be very beneficial for dialing in the proper mind set.

IK Obi
Anything without lyrics, bring it on. If there are lyrics its a distraction.

Dangggg ... you have been to too many Tangerine Dream concerts ... you lucky dawg!
 
Most folks here, have no idea what you just said or what it means, btw! Ohhh my gawd ... a CHB song without lyrics ... are you bucking insane? Heathen! You brat!