When It's Best to Study in Silence (and When a Little Noise Is OK)

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Whether you’re a fan of listening to music while you read or you simply live in a household of noisy people, silence may not be something you’re used to finding before hitting the books—but it should be and it can be. Despite the boom in popularity of study-based playlists on YouTube and Spotify, quiet is the way to go when you’re trying to retain information you’re taking in. Don’t take my word for; take science’s.

What the research says

First, research published in 2019 showed that “mental workload and visual/auditory attention is significantly reduced when the participants are exposed to noise at 95 dBA level.” That, per the Center for Hearing and Communication, is about how loud a blender or truck is. The 2019 study focused a lot on the way noise affects people at work, which is where people tend to do tasks they already have a grasp on; noise can be even more detrimental if you’re trying to attain new information. Other research that has focused specifically on studying has found noise to be even more of an issue: On average, participants experienced a 7% reduction in performance on a test when researchers introduced noises, when compared with quiet, per one 2021 report.

Some research breaks things down further, examining different effects of noise on introverts’ and extroverts’ studying and information retention, but that’s both too granular and pretty irrelevant; for the most part, it still finds that noise is distracting and reduces cognitive ability. Other research is broken down by type of noise. For instance, one study found that while silence was beneficial for cognitive tasks, lo-fi music was better than music with lyrics (with the exception of when participants were doing math, when music type didn’t have any impact).

What about white noise? Research shows that it's not as detrimental as lyric-filled music; in fact, it's helpful for studying. It can actually enhance your acquisition of new material. Anecdotally, that makes sense to me. I run white noise a lot in my apartment because my window directly overlooks the smoking section of a rowdy bar and I get tired of hearing the drunkest conversations known to man every night. It drowns all of that out, but also sort of fades into the background. It's not like I'm hearing or focusing on "Box Fan #10 Continuous Loop" or whatever I have queued up on YouTube.

Exceptions to the rule

No study solution is one-size-fits-all, although you'll have a hard time convincing me you can stay focused on physiology or world history with the new Taylor Swift album playing in the background. There are, of course, some exceptions to the rule, like the semi-acceptability of lyric-less tunes.

Another exception to the "silence is best" rule is when you're using the production effect. This study technique involves speaking out loud to better retain information. Others, like dual coding, call on you to use two modalities to study at once, like drawing while you listen to a lecture or narrating while you label a diagram. Depending on what you are studying and how you prefer to do it, you may even want to make a personal study podcast by reading your own notes out loud into a recorder, then playing it back. Finally, I've found the ability to create custom "podcasts" out of study materials through Google's NotebookLM extremely helpful for studying while I do other tasks, like clean the house.

Don't let the science-backed fact that silence is golden when you're studying deter you from trying out those techniques. Employing them isn't the same as trying to read a chapter in the middle of a bustling cafeteria or playing the latest episode of your favorite show while you take a practice quiz. As with any approach or suggestion, you have wiggle room to make it work for you.

How to create more silence

If you’re attached to lo-fi tunes for studying, that's fine. You just have to keep them low and make sure no lyrics sneak in. Otherwise, try to prioritize a reduction in noise as much as possible—especially outside noises, like chatter, household appliances, or traffic. Here are a few tools that might help:

• Grab a pair of the highly rated Loop Quiet ear plugs to reduce noise ($28)

• I can personally vouch for the noise-cancellation qualities of the AirPods Max ($450), which function well even when I'm not playing music

• Try the Grotheory door stopper to soundproof your study room ($14 for two)

• Use Mudboo acoustic panels to line the wall separating you from exterior noise ($13 for 12)

• Pick up a white noise machine for about $17 if you can't make the other noises stop

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