30 days no music

A Life Experiment

Experiment

Go music free for 30 days.

Why

Imagine yourself going one full day without music. I mean no music listening whatsoever. Nothing to it, right? Ok, now try going 30 days. O darn😬 Now the question is, why would you [go without music]?

Music is powerful; Not just emotionally, it’s very influential. With music playing in our cars, in our favorite retail stores, and on our friends snapchat & ig stories; nearly everyday we’re avalanched with a gang of songs and new album drops and devouring them as fast as they roll out. Researches at BuzzAngle Music reported that total on-demand audio stream consumption came out to 534.6 Billion streams, up from 376.9B streams last year. And that’s only for streaming!

In an article from Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Groningen, researchers found music to be closely related to our mood and ultimately changes our perception. This was reassuring and backed my own experience with music.

During my daily commute, I have the need to drown out the remarkable sounds of public transit with my trusty soundcloud app. On this wonderful app lives one of my playlists comprised of XXXTentacion, Jess Audrey, and similar artists of that nature. I launch this wonderful app, select a playlist and the rest is magic✨ I’m instantly swayed by waves of deep emotion, a strong urge to hustle, or hyped by the raw energy of a 20 something fury all conveniently packaged within a 120 second dose of sound 💊

Ok so taking a step back from it all, i’ve learned that the soundtracks of my life can turn a gray day vibrant😇 While other songs that I equally dig, drop me into a dark abyss😈

So what’s up with this life experiment thing? It’s a term im sure would sum up the main theme of that show ‘The Tim Ferriss Experiment’.

Life Experiment definition(couldn’t find one so I made one)

Experiment defined: a procedure carried out to support, refute, or validate a hypothesis.

Life defined: the period between the birth and death of a living thing, especially a human being.

Life Experiment(my definition): An experiment revolving around or within one’s life.

To break it down, experimenting is rooted in trying a procedure and observing the outcomes. It’s playing with uncertainty. And the act of playing with uncertainty is what feeds our innate hunger to learn and know. Add your life to the mix and you got a special opportunity to experiment IRL🤪

Experiments aren’t good, They’re GRRREAT!

My main reason to commit to cutting back my music dosage, was to wipe clean the influence it poured over my mind. Music has an interesting effect on the mind, it has the potential to influence our thinking for better or worse. Think about it. Ever get a song stuck in your head, especially one you hate? And whether you love or hate it, our minds don’t discriminate. Music is simply catchy af. To back our experiment with real-deal science here is what the first study to apply network science methods had to say about our minds on music:

“Listening to music affects an intricate set of complex processing systems in the brain, such as systems associated with sensory-motor processing as well as functional elements implicated in memory, cognition and emotion or mood fluctuation. Listening to music often connects thoughts and emotions and, therefore, is associated with questions surrounding consciousness and “Theory of Mind” (the ability to understand the intentions and emotional state of others).” — R.W. Wilkins & P.J. Laurienti

Sidenote: My music interest runs wide, very wide. So wide, it’s stupid. One playlist I listen to is comprised of neo soul, japanese rock, 90’s contemporary and deep lounge. Clearly im not a dj😐

Regardless of song genres or the influence they have on me, i found it made more sense to cut out all music. I needed to cleanse my mind the best way i knew how. Quit COLD TURKEY 🦃 for 30 days. And the insights? Those were beneficial to say the least.

Insights

Daily commutes on average: 2 hrs

• read 2.25 books 📚
• one audiobook 🎧
• countless podcast episodes on 1.5x playback speed 🏎
• and started a mantra habit(more on this in a future post 😎)

So I noticed I filled my time up with books and podcasts. I mean what else would i’ve done? Thats about 12 hours a week on average or about 48 hours a month of nutritional content consumption son!🥦

Libby

During the experiment I discovered the digital reader app Libby. This app let me checkout audio & ebooks for free from my local library. Also used iTunes podcasts.

Takeaways

Today i find myself more aware of lyrics and questioning the message of what goes into my ears. Though this experiment wasn’t hugely impactful, it was still beneficial and insightful. Looking back, it was more of an exercise of will than me expecting a specific and measurable outcome.

And a brief detour on the topic of life experiments.

…if you’re totally certain every moment, what’s going to happen? You’d be bored. So we need uncertainty. We need a lot of it. — Tony Robbins

Facts! Our guy Tony Robbins speaks facts! I find that its so easy to slip into a pattern and eventually letting that pattern turn stale. An intentional life experiment for 30 days or more can be that breath of life to keep us on our ‘A’ game and continue getting those W’s😁 There are no rules when it comes to experimenting and tbh i didn’t give it much thought before I did it. But hey the barrier to entry is mad low! I’m sure a lot of us have experimented without it being official. When’s the last time you’ve dieted? The last time you tried your hand at a hobby? Or the last time you played bartender at your own party? So go experiment and try to be a lil intentional with it!

Thanks for the read! I’d enjoy hearing from you. If you use Medium, please comment with your own life experiments and outcomes. Or you can hit me up on IG or Twitter.