I rediscover music

I'm really, really tired today. The combination of being responsible for detector operation for the first time (meaning that I monitor the detectors online and sometimes have to intervene and adjust things), having a social life and being a parent has resulted in a lack of sleep this week.

This is why I decided to try to get some noise in my office, to keep me awake. The post-doc I'm sharing the room with is gone for the week, and so I don't risk disturbing her. I have no music on my work computer, and the first thing to come into my head to look for was The No-Shows from the novel I'm reading at the moment: Keeping It Real by Justina Robson.

Interesting! As strange as it might seem, I had actually forgotten how energized I can be by music. I suddenly felt twice as alive, and actually managed to do something instead of just blankly staring at the computer screen. Why have I been so uninterested in music for so long? I cannot remember when I lost the habit.

The next step was to explore what other things I could find to listen to. That's the dangerous part, where lots of time can be lost. Today I think I gained more than I lost, but I'll have to watch myself there.

A long time ago I had a boss who told me that it's impossible to work while listening to music. My mentor in that work place was listening to AC/DC in his office, but my boss respected him too much to say anything about it. I can understand that music can be distracting, but whether it's good or bad for productivity must depend a lot on what you are doing and what music you are listening to. I'll probably listen to a lot more music at work in the future than I have done for the last few years.

When I'm talking about music I might as well mention that my brother has a new record out with his band.