The most productive environments for studying
There’s nothing better than finding a café or shared workspace where you feel your most productive, whether it’s spacious desks, charging ports, or great coffee. The environment, and the sounds that come with it, however, can affect your focus more than you might expect. From complete silence to background chatter, the noise around us can influence how quickly we complete tasks, how easily we concentrate, and how well we retain information.
To help students find their ultimate study vibe, the Canvas Student team ran a focus experiment, testing how different settings and playlists impact performance. By tracking typing speed, accuracy, and task completion, they uncovered which environments truly boost productivity. They also explored the top study songs among students to reveal the tracks that make getting in the zone feel effortless.
The best environments for studying
In our experiment, participants completed a writing task while listening to different background environments, allowing us to measure productivity metrics such as time to completion, words per minute, and writing accuracy. The task was designed to resemble essay and dissertation writing, with the same task also completed in silence to establish a baseline for comparison.
All metrics were then evaluated and scored, allowing us to identify the most effective environments for enhancing focus and performance based on their overall productivity scores.
| Rank | Location | Average Time Taken | Average % Accuracy | Average Words Per Minute | Final Study Score / 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Listening to music | 04:09 | 96.90% | 61.65 | 9.97 |
| 2 | At home watching TV | 04:15 | 96.91% | 60.79 | 9.18 |
| 3 | Garden / public park | 04:11 | 96.26% | 61.67 | 8.03 |
| 4 | Train journey | 04:20 | 96.34% | 58.53 | 6.17 |
| 5 | Silence | 04:20 | 96.15% | 58.95 | 5.78 |
| 6 | Coffee shop | 04:27 | 95.86% | 57.64 | 3.82 |
| 7 | Co-working space | 04:27 | 95.84% | 57.36 | 3.65 |
| 8 | Student library | 04:47 | 96.05% | 54.93 | 1.58 |
1 Listening to music
Get your headphones on because listening to music gives the biggest productivity boost. Participants finished tasks faster (averaging 4:09), typed more words per minute (61.65 words per minute), and kept accuracy high (96.9%). The consistent beat helped block out distractions, creating the ideal focused work environment.
2: At home with the TV on
Good news, you can catch up on that series after all, and without feeling guilty! Studying at home with the TV on ranks second-best. While average completion time was slightly slower at 4:15, accuracy stayed high at 96.91%, and typing speed nearly matched listening to music (60.79 words per minute). The familiar, background noise seems to support focus without being distracting, creating a comfortable and realistic study vibe.
3 Garden or public park
With the fastest average typing speed of 61.67 words per minute, gardens and public parks could be the perfect workspace if you’ve got a deadline on the horizon, and with summer just around the corner, what better time to make the most of it! Despite accuracy dipping slightly (96.26%), the mix of birdsong and gentle ambient noise creates a calming yet energising environment that balances focus with relaxation.
Interestingly, not all “classic” study spots live up to the hype. Take student libraries, they ranked the lowest in the study, with participants typing slower (54.93 words per minute) and taking longer to finish tasks (4:47), suggesting that overly quiet spaces may not suit everyone’s focus style.
Other interesting observations include coffee shops and co-working spaces, which produced average results: tasks took slightly longer (4:27), and typing speeds were lower (~57 words per minute), likely due to unpredictable background noise and social activity.
While we believe there’s no single “perfect” study environment and no one-size-fits-all approach for every study style, the settings we tested generally performed well. For some, the data suggests a slight edge: participants experienced a gentle boost in focus and productivity when exposed to moderate, controlled background noise, such as music or familiar low-level sounds. At Canvas Student, we’ve created spaces to suit every vibe: cosy corners for solo work, big tables for group projects, or buzzing areas for when you need a bit of energy around you. With the feel of student halls and all the comforts you want, these spots are designed to help ideas flow and make getting things done feel a little more enjoyable.
Why music improves focus (according to science)
Music ranked highest in our study not only for speed but also for consistency. Participants working with music performed strongly across all metrics, particularly in typing speed and accuracy. Research suggests that music engages multiple areas of the brain at once, boosting focus, reducing stress, and improving memory. It can also lift mood and motivation, two key factors for staying productive and retaining information.
Not all music is created equal when it comes to studying. Instrumental tracks or songs with steady rhythms can actually boost your concentration, while super lyrical or unpredictable tunes might steal your focus. Dr. Emma Gray from the British CBT and Counselling Service in London, commissioned by Spotify, found that the sweet spot for study-friendly beats is between 50 and 80 BPM, perfect for keeping your brain in the zone without feeling stressed.
Building on these insights, we analysed the most popular study tracks by scraping 50 study playlists on Spotify listened to by students to see which songs quietly boost focus and productivity, using Gray’s recommended BPM range as a guide.
The 15 best songs to listen to while studying
| Rank | Song | Artist | BPM | Variation from ideal BPM (65) | Overall Study Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | I Wanna Be Yours | Arctic Monkeys | 68 | 3 | 10.00 |
| 2 | Telephones | Vacations | 75 | 10 | 9.41 |
| 3 | Sunsetz | Cigarettes After Sex | 75 | 10 | 9.41 |
| 4 | I Love You So | The Walters | 76 | 11 | 9.32 |
| 5 | Evergreen | Richy Mitch & The Coal Miners | 79 | 14 | 9.07 |
| 6 | Daddy Issues | The Neighbourhood | 85 | 20 | 8.56 |
| 7 | You Get Me So High | The Neighbourhood | 88 | 23 | 8.30 |
| 8 | august | Taylor Swift | 90 | 25 | 8.13 |
| 9 | Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High? | Arctic Monkeys | 92 | 27 | 7.96 |
| 10 | Cinnamon Girl | Lana Del Rey | 92 | 27 | 7.96 |
| 11 | Apocalypse | Cigarettes After Sex | 94 | 29 | 7.79 |
| 12 | Softcore | The Neighbourhood | 94 | 29 | 7.79 |
| 13 | Sweet | Cigarettes After Sex | 96 | 31 | 7.62 |
| 14 | Dark Matter Melody | Nahh Chill, Aqua Scholar, Mey Andog | 97 | 32 | 7.54 |
| 15 | Say Yes To Heaven | Lana Del Rey | 100 | 35 | 7.28 |
1 ‘‘I Wanna Be Yours’ by Arctic Monkeys is the best song to listen to while studying
Calling all indie rock fans - you’re in luck! Taking the crown for the best song to listen to while studying is I Wanna Be Yours by Arctic Monkeys, released in 2013. The track sits at a near-perfect 68 beats per minute, with a simple, easygoing vibe. Its slow, steady pace gives you something to follow without feeling rushed, and nothing in the background is distracting. Even the vocals blend in seamlessly; they’re there, but they don’t demand your attention.
2 ‘Telephones’ by Vacations and ‘Sunsetz’ by Cigarettes After Sex take joint second place
Runners-up like ‘Telephones’ by Vacations and ‘Sunsetz’ by Cigarettes After Sex drift slightly further from the ideal tempo at 75 beats per minute. While still strong contenders thanks to their hazy, atmospheric sound, their added pace introduces a touch more energy, subtle, but enough to make them just a little less effective for deep concentration.
Looking beyond individual tracks, some artists consistently appear across study playlists, showing a broader trend in music selection for focus.
The most popular artists to listen to while studying
| Rank | Artist | Mentions in playlists |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Taylor Swift | 152 |
| 2 | Lana Del Rey | 87 |
| 3 | Nahh Chill, Aqua Scholar | 78 |
| 4 | Billie Eilish | 75 |
| 5 | Aqua Scholar, Darkened Bliss, Mey Andog | 72 |
| 6 | SZA | 61 |
| 7 | Olivia Rodrigo | 60 |
| 8 | The Neighbourhood | 58 |
| 9 | Frank Ocean | 57 |
| 10 | Cigarettes After Sex | 53 |
| 11 | Arctic Monkeys | 51 |
| 12 | Sonic Strokes, Nahh Chill, Aqua Scholar | 48 |
| 13 | Harry Styles | 45 |
| 14 | Nahh Chill, Aqua Scholar, Mey Andog | 44 |
| 15 | Sabrina Carpenter | 43 |
Taylor Swift tops the list, appearing a whopping 152 times out of the 50 playlists analysed, showing her music is widely considered study-friendly, likely due to its melodic, steady rhythms and emotional resonance. Lana Del Rey follows in second place with 87 mentions.
The most popular study artists share similar characteristics: calm, consistent tempos, smooth instrumentation, and minimal distractions in the vocals or production. Whether mainstream or niche, these tracks create a soundscape that supports focus, highlighting the growing student trend of using music strategically to enhance productivity.
Methodology
To find out which environments were the best for productivity and which were the most distracting, we compiled a list of realistic videos that simulated the environments we wanted to test.
Each participant completed the task in every type of environment, allowing us to directly compare performance. We then ranked the environments based on the following metrics:
- Average time to complete the written task: How long it took participants to finish the task in each environment compared to doing it in silence.
- Words per minute (WPM): The number of words participants could write per minute in each environment versus silence.
- Writing accuracy: How accurately participants completed the task in each environment compared to silence.
To identify the best study songs, we analysed 50 Spotify study playlists and ranked the most popular tracks. We also recorded each song’s average BPM and measured how far it deviated from the “optimum study BPM,” helping us determine which tracks were most likely to support focus and productivity.