Depends on the task, really. Does it require you to actively think? Histology has top 40 radio going all day with people just chatting away as they cut and embed. Hemo diff bench likewise, since it’s mainly visual recognition once you know what you’re doing. Other areas, it starts to get iffy.

Personally I find that I make more mistakes when my brain is distracted by music, especially if it has lyrics. To the same end, I hate holding a conversation while I’m trying to focus on something in blood bank. Everyone thinks they’re amazing at multitasking, but I’ve seen the mistakes my coworkers make when they’re distracted by their music and TV shows playing in the background. I, for one, don’t think it’s worth the risk.

And not to get all “grumbly old codger” about it, but I fucking hate AirPods in the lab. Half of my coworkers will walk around with one of them in one ear all shift, and it just strikes me as incredibly awkward and honestly kind of rude? It’s considered disrespectful to walk up to a cashier and not take out your headphones while doing your transaction; does the same not apply to talking with your coworkers? How do I know the other person isn’t actively listening to something while I’m trying to talk with them about work? Am I supposed to ask them to mute the pods or take them out every time I need to tell them something? Ugh.