I've listened to classical, and as long as it's slow it's not bad. I've listened to a lot of binaural beats, and for focusing it worked quite well. Thanks for sharing I will definitely check this out.
You should run a test comparing amount of code commits made listening as opposed to silence. Kind of like lovesdata did with coffee and universal analytic http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C27yMQOS8n0
I don't think you can cure it. Only suppress it, or harness it. Drugs can only do so much, but taking them while I was in school definitely helped. Believe it or not, medical marijuana helps more than one would think, but it's illegal in my state.
Objective--
One thing often overlooked, undervalued, and even stressful is knowing that your focus is correctly directed. (GTD helps) This is a lot harder than it sounds, and usually determined by the most unqualified and biased person for the job; yourself. Mitch Hedberg explains it best: "I play the guitar, I taught myself how to play the guitar, which was a bad decision... because I didn't know how to play it, so I was a shitty teacher. I would never have went to me." Steve Jobs has an amazing technique to stay on top of this: “I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.”
Environment--
Having literally nothing going on around me. No sounds, music, movies, TV, radio, people, moving objects, windows to stare out of, etc. Even voices in the next room that are basically inaudible distract me.
Silence any possible notifications/apps/programs that distract you, and be anal about it. Recreational email/social usage is a time suck, for business purposes 4 hour work week goes into a system for appearing responsive while not being distracted.
Health--
Diet and exercise matter.
Meditation is important.
Breaks are important. Most of the hardest problems I encounter are solved away from the computer.
Going outside is very important. Ironically under health, one reason I loved smoking was the excuse to go outside. Without that excuse I have to force myself to remember to go outside, and always find some excuse not to. Find your excuse and/or force yourself.
Wake up early.
Other stuff--
Multitasking is a killer. If you have to multi-task make sure you move on only once the current task is completely finished/solved, and that you only create tasks that are broken down correctly into solvable chunks that don't require other outside input/action. Tasks that involve using the web should be done with one tab open only, and I try to avoid the habit of creating more tabs like the plague. Once I open more than one tab without fail I suddenly have 10+ tabs open (related to a task), and don't want to shut them for completely illogical reasons. I tell myself "I'll get around to this tab once I'm done over here" which almost never happens.
Self-sabotage is a killer, and can undermine any potential efforts you make. Find out why you're sabotaging yourself. This is a road that most people avoid travelling because it requires finding/embracing your mental/emotional problems, and is therefore best done by an independent third party. ("What mental/emotional problems?" I can hear you asking yourself.) Everyone has them, and it's usually something they'll completely overlook such as fear.
Have barely touched on everything I wanted to, but may extend it to a blog post someday.
You should run a test comparing amount of code commits made listening as opposed to silence. Kind of like lovesdata did with coffee and universal analytic http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C27yMQOS8n0
I don't think you can cure it. Only suppress it, or harness it. Drugs can only do so much, but taking them while I was in school definitely helped. Believe it or not, medical marijuana helps more than one would think, but it's illegal in my state.