Everyone's always on the lookout for music that can help them go to sleep, but what about the type of music that can help you stay awake?
When it comes to being alert and energized, there are some types of music that you want to stay far away from.
To stay awake, the first thing you want to do is avoid slow tunes. Songs in almost every genre will have a few slow ones, so you may not need to avoid a whole style of music.
But be sure to stay away from tracks that have a BPM of less than 80 unless there's a very unique slow banger that can get your energy levels up somehow.
You also want to avoid songs that are a bit too chaotic with too many lyrics or too fast of a beat, so I wouldn't put a tempo limit on faster tunes, but try to avoid things that have too much going on in them that will take away from your concentration.
The styles of music I will list below will be perfect choices to add to your playlist for staying awake.
Whether you're trying to stay alert on a night drive, doing some studying at home, or just trying to stay energized on the clock at work, take a look at my suggestions below!
A lot of the classic pop-rock anthems from the 80s would make the perfect types of tracks to stay alert to without overstimulating your mind. Think of songs like "Living On A Prayer" by Bon Jovi and "Don't Stop Believing" By Journey.
NASA actually put out a playlist on Spotify with a lot of songs that fall into the pop-rock category, including "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" by Wham! and "Here Comes the Sun" by The Beatles.
The list was made to get people energized for their days in the morning.
Rock bands that are a bit more contemporary also make some of the perfect soundtracks for a focused and alert mind.
Bands, including Imagine Dragons, Arctic Monkeys, The Neighbourhood, and Twenty One Pilots, have hit songs that will get your energy flowing without boggling your mind.
It's a bit tricky when it comes to some rock tracks that may be a bit slower and introspective, especially punk and emo bands from the 90s and early 2000s like Evanescence, who sounds great, but may take your mind to a different place.
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Dance music has tons of different subgenres that you can dive into, but you want to keep it simple when it comes to good music that will help you stay alert and stay focused.
Simple house music may be a great choice, for example, but subgenres like dubstep may prove to be too chaotic.
Crossovers with lo-fi and hip-hop in the dance music world may also work as well, but be careful of falling into a playlist of songs with music that is a bit too relaxed and may cause you to get lost in a daze or doze off in the vibe of the moment.
Many people like to think that listening to certain types of music can actually make you smarter, especially if it's classical music.
In 1993, Frances Rauscher, Gordon Shaw, and Catherine Ky did an investigation into the effects of listening to Mozart on a person's spatial reasoning.
The results were since then highly fabricated, and the creators of the original study have stressed that listening to Mozart has no effect on a person's general intelligence.
Still, classical music does wonders for your focus if you're trying to stay awake, so long as you stay away from the slower ballads that will give you the exact opposite effect.
You also want to stay away from the moody tunes that may distract you from your work or your drive.
Here's a genre of music that will have a ton of mid-tempo and upbeat tunes that would be perfect for focus and alertness.
With the genre of hip hop, you want to make sure that you aren't trying to play songs that have a very heavy focus on the lyrics, which can be distracting.
Tracks that are more repetitive and on the pop side, including "Gold Digger" by Kanye West, "Run This Town" by Jay-Z, and "In My Feelings" by Drake, would make a good choice for a late-night drive or study session.
R&B is tricky when it comes to the music that can keep you awake because if you're in love with the genre like I am, a lot of your favorites are slow jams.
But there are tons of midtempo, and upbeat R&B tunes that you can choose from that will neither put you to sleep nor distract you!
You can go back to the classics with songs like "Let's Stay Together" by Al Green. Or, you could focus on some 90s hits that aren't too slow, like "Return Of The Mack" by Mark Morrison.
Don't forget to add some great contemporary songs like "Love On Top" By Beyonce.
Contemporary pop songs often have all you need in terms of simplicity and energy when it comes to music that can keep you awake and alert.
They take some of the best parts of other genres, including pop, dance, R&B, and hip-hop, to put together easily digestible tunes that make for great road trip tracks.
Examples of great pop songs like these include "Uptown Funk" by Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars, "Call Me Maybe" by Carley Rae Jepsen, and "Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga.
You could also take it a little further back to the early 90s and 2000s with bands like Backstreet Boys and Nsync.
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