Honestly, I wish I’d learned about playlists earlier in my life, because they are SUPER useful. You might have some already, and iTunes I know has preset playlists like “Recently Added” and “Recently Played”, which are nice, but today I’m going to teach you how to make the most out of your playlists for different activities.
PART ONE: HOW TO MAKE A STUDY PLAYLIST
1. The most important thing about making a study playlist is to understand yourself. If you like to sing along to songs, or you’re very fixated on lyrics, then stay away from songs with lots of lyrics. If fast-paced music makes you want to get up and dance, don’t use fast-paced music.
2. Try to pick mostly instrumental songs. They’ll work as pleasant white noise behind your studies, and because they don’t have lyrics, you’ll be less likely to pause your progress and sing along. Instrumental music is great to keep you focused without having to sit in complete silence. Try: Vitamin String Quartet.
3. Throw in one or two songs that you know you’ll have to stop working and dance/sing along to. They’re great built-in study breaks to keep your study time less monotonous. Plus, sometimes, just getting away from your computer or your project for a couple minutes revitalizes your motivation. Try: Geek in the Pink by Jason Mraz, Dark Blue by Jack’s Mannequin, Something That I Want by Grace Potter
4. Finally, to make the most of this playlist, try to get into the habit of listening to it when you want to be productive. Once your brain starts to recognize these songs as study songs, it will be more used to hunkering down and actually, well, studying!
PART TWO: HOW TO MAKE A WORKOUT PLAYLIST
1. If you’re like me, then you probably have a really hard time working out without music. Something about getting lost in the music makes sweating less awful. Your first step will be to recognize what kinds of exercises you usually do: a running playlist is very different from a free weights playlist. Once you’ve got that, we can proceed.
2. IF YOU ARE A RUNNER. Running playlists, if you’re serious about your workout, shouldn’t be set to shuffle. Instead, they should be specifically tailored so that each successive song gives you a different kind of boost. Start with a slower song, with a steady beat that you wouldn’t want to hear at a dance party but is nice to listen to casually. This is your warm up song. Try: Love You Much Better by the Hush Sound. Next, with every passing song, construct a faster and faster beat, until, at the peak of however long you want to run, you’ve got your fastest, hardest, most pumped-up song. Then, from there, pick a couple of cool down songs, each getting slower, until you end on another slow note to cool down.
3. IF YOU ARE A SANS-MACHINE PERSON. Basically, I mean, if you prefer to do workouts that only use a yoga mat, a pair of dumbbells, or your own momentum, this tip is for you. Shuffle is your friend for this playlist, because you don’t want to get bored with your songs. The whole idea with this kind of playlist is to keep yourself excited and moving. The fastest, funnest, most danceable songs are for you. Doing 50 crunches to Animal by Neon Trees is a lot easier than doing 50 crunches to Hammers and Strings (A Lullaby) by Jack’s Mannequin. Without a machine to set a time limit and a pace, it can be hard to motivate yourself, but with a kickin’ playlist full of solid beats and fun, you’ll want to work out all day! Try: Ready, Aim, Misfire by New Year’s Day.
4. IF YOU JUST DO WHATEVER. This is me. I’m not really a gym rat, and I’m not really an athlete anymore, so when I go to the gym I tend to hop from equipment to equipment, exercise to exercise. In this case, try a combination of the two tips above. Have a section of your playlist meant to be listened to in order, for those days you might want to go for a run, and have the rest just be pump-up songs to keep you from leaving too early. The key is to just stay motivated for long enough to get a good workout in.
PART THREE: HOW TO MAKE A BEDTIME PLAYLIST
1. Sometimes it can take a while to wind down at the end of a long day, so having a sleeping playlist will help lull you off into dreamland. Before you start, like with the first two playlist how-tos, figure yourself out. Some people can fall asleep to metal, while others just need the sound of the tide coming in and out. If either of these things describe you, figure your own stuff out. I’m not your girl.
2. Depending on how long it usually takes you to fall asleep, plan the amount of songs on your playlist accordingly. A good rule of thumb is about twenty minutes of music, and to make sure the playlist isn’t on repeat, so once the songs are finished it just turns itself off, which can be nice, if you’ve already dozed off!
3. Pick soft, instrumental music and slow, romantic songs to lull yourself to sleep. Even if the new Neon Trees track is all you want to listen to, trust me, you’ll want a beat to slow your heartbeat and let your brain know it’s time to shut up and get some ZZZs. Try: Plant Life by Owl City, Hammer and Strings (A Lulluby) by Jack’s Mannequin, Let Go by Boys Like Girls.
Have any other activity playlist suggestions? Let me know in the comments! Disagree with my song choices or tips? Comments!
