Musical Inspiration for Application Development

A darkened room, classical music
and buckets of tea please...

I do a lot of application development on the Zoho Creator platform. I've created a few simple applications that collect data from users in the manner of a feedback form.

The majority however are much more complex. At the moment I am working on two projects that integrate data across two platforms and contain a strong reporting element requiring integration with Zoho's Business Intelligence platform Zoho Reports


Now, I'll be the first to admit I am not a natural developer. Writing code or script does not come 'easy' to me. Its always an uphill struggle and always hard work. Some of my friends are very good indeed at it. In particular I know a few guys who appear to evolved for the purpose of writing code/scripts to solve any IT problem. These guys are the exception though, they have an intuitive idea of what to do. They can create multidimensional ideas and constructs in their imagination and develop against that.

For us mere mortals it's harder. We need inspiration. Something to allow the mind to function freely.

Mine comes from music. (and an inordinate amount of tea) I have a Spotify premium account and when developing code I work in a semi darkened office with earphones on for up to 12 hours straight. Interruptions are 'frowned up'... Lately I have been curious about how this musical backdrop helps me.

Certainly some types of music help. Classical really helps me. Mozart, Satie, Debussy, Einaudi and Rachmaninov in particular.

Muse is also surprisingly palatable when I am in this mode. But I must steer away from most 'band' music. Lyrics don't help me at all.

If you, like me are not an 'intuitive' developer, what is your inspiration. What makes you productive? Love to hear in the comments.