I also talk out loud during coding because my thoughts go too fast and all over the place. Talking out loud slows me down and seriously helps me to solve the problem more quickly.
Music wise, give me black metal any day as coding music. It’s just a wall of sound that’s calming to me, though I guess not many people would agree with me
I need to get a fiddle ring at some point. I have at least 2 drinks at any one time (usually a combo or water, tea, and coke zero). I also cannot work to music, but I can’t work in silence either so I have to play an audiobook or a podcast so I have the background noise of voices to work to
I tend to have my music library on shuffle when doing any kind of testing activity (which mostly seems to be reviewing stuff or writing strategies nowadays…)
Normally I prefer the silence while working, but when I play music it’s usually something electronic (Jean Michel Jarre, Software).
For drinks: In the morning it’s mostly freshly hand-brewed coffee, and water in the afternoon/evening. For me: No coffee in the afternoon ➙ better sleep at night ➙ less cofffee needed the next day ➙ better sleep.
It wasn’t easy to break the more coffee ➙ more coffee ➙ more coffee cycle.
Looking through the previous contributions, I suspect my choice of aural accompaniment to testing is certainly not in the same mould. Mornings - Radio 4. Afternoons - predominantly classical. Yesterday, for example, it was Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde (The Song of the Earth).
My choice of music while testing/coding depends very much on just how much I need to concentrate and what my mood is. If I need something mellow then probably classical; Vaughan Williams’ “Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis” or Smetana’s “Vltava” for example. The other day, when I was in a good mood and the automation I was working on was going well, the playlist was classic, bouncy Jamaican ska tunes from the Skatalites. On the other hand, when I’m doing something when I really need to keep concentration I tend to go for dark ambient that most people wouldn’t even consider music, such as Black Mountain Transmitter or Cities Last Broadcast - I know this won’t work for everyone, but for me, having non-vocal and non-rhythmic sounds in the background does a good job of focusing me on the task in hand.
I’ve also got a selection of tactile toys to fiddle with, like foam squeezers or flexy puzzles to play with, or failing that assorted guitar bits around my home desk as it doubles as my workbench; they help to keep me awake during boring meetings!
I often listen to videogame soundtracks when I am working. “The Witcher” and “Borderlands 2” are a couple of my favorites.
If I really need to get into the zone and focus on something for a few hours then something with a bit of bass that gets my heart rate up is great. The Bass Arcade playlist on Spotify is pretty good for that.
Although, when I was at Uni I went through a phase where the only thing that would get me in the zone while doing my programming assignments was Duffy. So maybe I am just a bit weird?
I listen to Podcasts or a variety of music. I enjoy the podcasts about conspiracies, historical event or modern day society. If I’m working from home I have the tv on something mindless.
I’m a metal fan too but need to start my day with something a bit more chilled so I usually listen to some Jon Gomm or some acoustic finger style guitar players.
Also I can’t work without a cup of tea in the morning but have to try and remind myself to drink water throughout the day.
