Normally, I hate advice or “try this” articles, but I’ll share one exception for the new year.


Stop listening to your old favorite music.



Let me explain.

About 7 years ago, I read a random (possibly fake) story that claimed once in your 30s, you stop listening to new music. The music anchored in your brain by that time becomes the playlist for the rest of your life.

That sounded awful. If your music tastes calcify in your 30s, what else does? Would playlists from the past make me more resistant to new tech? Less tolerant of new ideas? Destroy my mental plasticity?



Honestly, I had no idea.

But that story compelled me to stop listening to my old music.



Since then, every year I start a new playlist. It’s mainly all I listen to, featuring only songs released that year. New year, new playlist.

 (I keep older playlists for posterity, but they’re dead to me on Jan. 1.)



Since a new playlist is pretty barren on Jan. 1, I seed the playlist with new music from the previous six months. But as I add new songs, older songs get deleted. 

So by this summer, it’ll be only new music from 2025 that I listen to.

This could just be placebo effect, but I think this has helped me stay fresh and interested in new ideas and skills, and prevents my brain from anchoring in the familiar, yet stale, comfort of the past.