Work can be exhausting and even overwhelming at times – especially if you get distracted by the smallest things. To stay on top of your work, you must be able to prioritize accordingly, limit distractions to a minimum, work undisturbed, and put your phone on silent. Studies show that these tools have kept people productive and efficient. But there’s one more that I have yet to mention… putting on some headphones and playing music!
Music is a perfect productivity booster and creativity enhancer, as research has suggested for more than a decade. Psychotherapist Merriam Saunders at the Dominican University suggests that music can indeed have a therapeutic effect on the brain because it creates dopamine, and thus, increases happiness. Dopamine is also responsible for attention, control, and planning, which all play an important role in keeping us productive.
We must know that different music styles can affect productivity differently. The way dopamine in the brain gets modified depends on the subject’s preference towards a certain type of music. For example, if someone truly enjoys techno music, they will be most productive when listening to techno. Other mental health experts believe that regardless of a person’s preferences, nature sounds and classical music are the best productivity enhancers. The debate between these two viewpoints is on-going but doesn’t take away the fact that music plays a significant role in productivity enhancement. Let’s see how.
Gets you flowing and poppin’
When you flow, it means that you are completely immersed in what you are doing at that moment. When you are completely concentrated on the task at hand, your productivity automatically boosts. Many times during a workday we get distracted by colleagues talking and phones ringing; responding to endless emails and focusing your attention on the assignment that must be completed by the end of the day becomes close to impossible. That makes your productivity drop and thus, your results lessen. By listening to music and becoming focused on whatever it is that you must do, you allow yourself to become part of the workflow and soon speed through your tasks. You won’t even notice how much faster time goes by if you are fully immersed in your to-do list. Reduces exposure to distractions Distractions are quite challenging to overlook and can be a real pain in the bum if not dealt with accordingly. Distractions can keep you from finishing your task by the deadline and complete projects that were long due. Unfortunately, noise is not the only distraction that can be detrimental to your productivity. A silent home or office can be as distracting as noise. As dissertation writing services specialist, Dan Kinley, recommends, “Listen to music to put you in the zone. Music can create a perfect workflow and also re-create the necessary space to keep you productive. It can get you going when you don’t feel like it, or when your home office *during the pandemic* gets too lonely and quiet.” Dan’s right – after all, getting your work done in a pumped environment is way easier than in a sad, beaten down workspace. So keep listening to good music, will you? Speeds up your work Since you’ll feel an energy boost when listening to music, your work will become easier to handle and thus, you’ll be able to go through it at a faster pace. That means that by the end of the day, you’ll be able to complete double the amount of work that you’re completing on a usual day. If you are spending four hours on your first-priority task, music will help you narrow it done to way less than that. A boost in focus will help you complete your first task in about two to three hours, meaning you’re saving an hour – an hour and a half on one task. So what does that mean? That means that you can either take that time for yourself *and spend it wisely* or put those extra hours into finishing the next task so that you could be done with work earlier. This is the advantage of working from home now, during the coronavirus pandemic; you can organize your schedule as you wish and stay more productive than ever. Drowns out the chatters We all love our colleagues and family, right? Right. But when it comes to distractions, they can be some of the most distracting people. When working from home, family will often enter your office door without knocking to only keep you talking for hours. The same goes for colleagues in an offline work environment; they’ll chat with you for a long time before they realize they have something important to do. By that time, you have already lost your productivity. If you feel like this is a serious problem at home or in the office, listening to music can be quite effective in drowning out the chatter. Nobody will dare bother you when your headphones are well-placed on your ears and your hands are quickly typing. For once, you’ll be entering your own world of productivity and two, your colleagues or family will get the point – you are busy and there is nothing they can do about it. Brings out creativity We are not robots or machines, we are people, so we need creativity in our lives. In fact, we are inherently creative, and music reminds us of that. Music can be personalized and give us a spark in our imagination – for some, it is not only entertainment but an essential tool that keeps them going. As I mentioned before, research has suggested that some types of music can be more beneficial to our productivity than others. Here are some of the best genres to consider when working. Conclusion Music can boost your productivity for many reasons, as you could see above. It not only gets your workflow going, but it also keeps distractions away and brings out creativity. Music is a powerful tool to make use of in your office or at home, so use it wisely!