I Learned My Lesson
According to studies, being good at multitasking is not really possible. Our brains can focus on only one high level function at a time. If we perform different functions simultaneously our brains cannot perform efficiently on any one of them. Listening to music while doing things can have the opposite effect. It stimulates our brains. Studies show that children who listen to Mozart while studying, etc. tend to do better at their school work.
Usually when I paint, I listen to music. I want the melodies to wash over me and create a mood. Getting into the right mood helps me focus better on what I'm doing (so does talking to myself about what I'm doing). Recently however, I decided I wanted to listen to some books on CD. I got stories that were simple, entertaining, and didn't need thought. It worked well for me while I painting simple objects. Recently, I started a portrait of my granddaughters. I turned on the book and painted away. After awhile I stepped back to check my progress and saw that I had put a mouth corner in the wrong place and the nose was off. I was a little baffled because I thought I was being careful to check where I was putting things in relationship to each other. Then I realized that I had just listened to a part of the story that was particularly interesting and I had focused more on it.
The portrait of my two granddaughters is still in progress but now I'm back to painting with music in the background. I have to say, I'm painting better and faster. From now on no books on CD while painting.
P.S. You can check back at a previous blog where I revealed what music I like to work to.
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