How does music affect productivity

Music is everywhere. While driving, in the subway, or at home, we like to listen to our favorite songs. Music also follows all our happy and sad moments in life. At the same time, music can also directly influence our mood and productivity. Let’s see how.

Music makes us happier

The joy of listening to music is physiologically shown in the creation of dopamine. It is a hormone of joy and happiness that is contrary to the hormone of stress and nervousness. To understand that a good mood also has a good effect on our productivity, you don’t need to be a British scientist. Being sad, we will try to do at least something at work, regularly looking at our watches. There are also other methods to accomplish dopamine creation. For instance, in everyday life, it is generated by us from little joys, such as eating chocolate or watching a favorite movie, but it will definitely not benefit productivity.

Music helps to do routine tasks

We often have to repeat the same actions at the job, which gradually leads to boredom and even sleepiness. Music also comes here to rescue. Background music has a beneficial impact on the efficiency of such duties, as some studies demonstrate. This might be mail checking, making regular reports, etc. This is, by the way, related to the above point. Since music, in concept, provides us enjoyment and increases mood, it is also much more fun to perform monotonous activities.

Even surgeons often listen to music while working:

But not with all the tasks!

It’s better to choose a familiar playlist that we listen to every day for tasks that need better focus. This is because we are less distracted by the following of music. Familiar tracks are not attracting attention, so we can focus on the required job.

Music is bad for learning

But it’s better to not use music while studying. The sad fact is that any music distracts us somehow and prevents us from memorizing new knowledge, which is a significant part of the process of education.

Music helps in a noisy place

Noise has a negative impact on our productivity, but music can beat it. This is also linked to the mood problem, as noise is causing a stressful state rather than a better mood. The music blocks unwanted sounds, and we can appreciate our favorite songs and remain productive instead of listening to noisy industrial sounds.

Music motivates us

That’s why during the workouts we enjoy listening to music. Music actually has a beneficial impact on it. We can do exercises longer and harder with music than without.

It’s not all that easy with running workouts, though. Listening to music while running also helps us run faster and longer, but we are isolating ourselves from surrounding sounds at the same moment. And it’s not even about the sounds of nature. It’s meaningful that the music blocks the sounds of our own breath and footsteps sounds, and that decreases our run concentration.

I tried to run with or without music, and I will say that if you are not training for a marathon or are not running for results, you can enjoy the views and favorite songs without any worries.

What music should I listen to?

  • Listen to your favorite music to focus on a particular project
  • For creative assignments, the genre ambient is perfect. Minimalism, as well as classical music, are generally acknowledged as the best genre for working, as their best helps to focus on the idea.
  • Music with lyrics is suitable for workouts, but because of the least distraction, it is better to choose instrumental compositions for other tasks. You can also try listening to songs in an unfamiliar language as well as instrumental tracks. So our brain won’t be distracted by understanding the lyrics.

I like listening to relaxing piano tracks. Sometimes I turn on other music like compositions of “Viennese classics” or minimalistic electronic music. Music from video games also works, by the way. For example, the music of the composer Jerry Martin works excellent. His SimCity or Sims soundtracks make a good background, which is what we need when we work.

But don’t forget about each of us ‘ individual features. For instance, introverts can often be annoyed by sounds a lot. Before choosing whether to work with or without music today, try different options to see if you can combine listening to music with your job and how it impacts you personally.

Pavel Novikov

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