Can you really whistle while you work? How ear worms get some students through exams

Music is a fantastic tool for motivation and regulation – not just for homework and revision but even, believe it or not, for exams.

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How music helps

Music helps in so many ways:

• Jiggling along to a song's rhythm provides a channel for movement, when sitting still takes more concentration than you have to spare.

• Following along with a track's "feels" provides an easy channel for emotions, when suppressing stress or anxiety only makes it harder to think.

• Singing along to the music lowers the vagus nerve, when your body being primed for fight or flight makes it tricky to think clearly.

Hunting for dopamine

Also, music you enjoy offers oodles of dopamine. Which means bopping along to Taylor Swift or Britney Spears while you study (no judgement) can boost your mood and regulate your memory/focus. It also helps your brain recognise the actual experience of learning as beneficial.

In other words... it helps you keep concentrating happily, and to come back for more later.

Choosing the right music

This is different for everyone, and can also be different every time. Sometimes you want the motivation of a beat, others the calm of something classical, but here are a few suggestions:

• Opt for well-known music to provide the nervous system the safety of predictability, when coping with unpredictable stressors of school/the world has left you wrung out

• Choose angry or sad music to give those big feelings a sense of being heard, when burning with frustration or sadness stops you pursuing your goals.

• Select music with a story to direct your unstoppable brain along minimally distracting avenues.

"But wait...how can you concentrate on more than one thing at once?"

A common misunderstanding. Some people's brains, yes, they need to focus in on one thing. But for many of us it's impossible, and struggling to keep your your brain on only one thing actually means you get less done. Sometimes, if you can choose a second focus outlet – such as the complete Hamilton soundtrack – then you focus on the first thing better.

How to use music in a silent exam

All well and good at home, you might say. Like jiggling along to the Persona 3 soundtrack helps me enjoy writing this, Disney songs get me through housework and the Best of Doris Day often assists me when I do my accounts (seriously, no judgement).

But what about in the exam hall? No headphones allowed.

My year-8 student E and I got quite excited when we came up with the solution: just sing it in your head! For her (because she's much cooler than me) it's the singer Pink.

Now, when she tackles long essay questions, she runs 'So What' in her head on repeat. Amazingly, it keeps her on task and stops her brain from running away. No more looking up in the middle of an exam, without a clue as to where the last half hour disappeared to.

It wouldn't work for everyone, but if you're that kind of spicy, game changer.