After passing over this post a few times today, I decided to put on music without lyrics at about 50 dB while I studied. It definitely helps; this is one of the few posts that has had a tangible impact on my routine.

As far as why it helps, maybe it has something to do with our predisposition to interpret and create language. In the absence of context, our brains might go out of their way to find meaning that isn't there. It pays to be creative and alert in the presence of ambiguous auditory information, especially when it resembles human activity.