Boost Productivity With The Power of Music
Ever feel like you’re wasting away while the task you were set on finishing remains undone? Or you are working hard at it, but the task still seems to be going by at a snail’s pace? Even after trying the usual methods of jump starting and/or refreshing yourself with a break, a snack, or a little exercise, the task still stands tall? Good news: if you did not already know, there have been studies going on for decades proving how listening to music while you work can increase work productivity. The bad news? It doesn’t necessarily work for everyone. Here is what you can try to do, at work or at home, to help you get through different tasks.
First, classify what it is you are doing. Is it more of an involved task that requires intense focus such as reading, writing, or retaining new knowledge? Or is it more of a boring task with how repetitive and mundane it is? If it is a more active task, you can generally listen to any music you want, so long as it doesn’t have any lyrics. Music with lyrics tends to be distracting for a lot of people as it starts making your brain multitask breaking your focus between your task, and the words in the songs. Like how too much background chatter can be distracting, even when you are not actively trying to listen to it. On the other hand, the tasks with little variety actually benefit from listening to music with lyrics. The lyrics can provide a welcome, and harmless, distraction from the dull work being done. (1)
Next, you need to take into account how fast you should be doing your task. The tempo of the songs you choose can influence how quickly you work even if you are not really focusing on the music at all. Don’t pick something so slow you might be tempted to wind down or fall asleep. But at the same time, don’t pick a song so fast it makes you jittery and unable to focus before eventually burning out. Find a happy medium, or live dangerously and find music that is borderline too fast or too slow. What needs to be a solid in-between, is the volume you play the music at. As you can probably guess, playing music too quietly defeats the purpose of even having it. “Music played at a reasonable volume encourages creativity and abstract thinking. Turn it up too loud though and you won’t be able to hear yourself think.” (2)
Finally, you need to figure out if listening to music while completing tasks is actually helping you, or is only harming you. Through trial and error, if music helps you focus and get tasks completed quicker, good for you! Just know studies have found that music forced onto people without any say tends to be more distracting than music the individual has chosen themselves, or are open to hearing. So, playing music over the speakers for an entire office, or even an entire building, might not really be doing anyone any favors. Maybe it would be better to encourage individuals to listen to their own music at a reasonable volume to boost themselves while not bothering those that do better without music. “If someone is used to listening to music while working, it's often more beneficial than distracting. The reverse is true as well.” (3)
If you are one of the people that is distracted by music as it worsens your productivity, here are some options you can try before accepting your fate or being music-less while completing tasks. Will Tottle, a mental health expert, once said,“Two specific genres [of music] are the best overall for productivity: classical music and the sounds of nature.” Maybe the classical music wouldn’t be that much help to you, if music in general isn’t, but the sounds of nature could be: rivers rushing; birds chirping; wind whistling; thunderstorms; all of these and more can be a motivating background noise to improve work productivity. It’s not man-made music, and is a positive improvement from only having distracting, mindless chatter or car traffic as your background noise. If you are still determined to listen to music you enjoy while you work without it affecting your productivity negatively, you can always try to make a mix of songs you know by heart, or hear so often, you won’t be distracted listening to it. (4)
Even if we didn’t have scientists start and continue to do studies on music and its effect on productivity, individuals will always find out about the power of music. How many times have you noticed people listening to music while exercising, cleaning, studying, or working? Whether purposefully or accidentally, people will find out what works for them when it comes to music.
Stay Positive,
Todd
