How Music Affects Your Productivity
Does music itself help one to create?
This is an important question because music has increasingly become a part of the modern-day work session. Soldiers of the past may have faced the odds to the sound of trumpets, but we desk jockeys are typically left to fend off our ever increasing inboxes with nothing more than Spotify. With so much of our work now being done at our computers, music has become an important way to “optimize the boring". Though it may be a fine way to avoid habituation, the question remains: does music actually make you more productive? More focused? More creative? Or is all that nothing but a placebo?
“Wait for it… wait for it… BASS DROP.”
Music may help make repetitive tasks easier
When looking at music’s effectiveness in increasing productive output, one thing to consider may be how “immersive” the task at hand is. This refers to the variability and creative demand of the task — writing a brand new scope from scratch is work that demands a lot of focus; answering your emails is mundane work that does not. When the task is clearly defined and is repetitive in nature, music is likely to be useful. Perhaps it isn’t the background noise of the music itself, but rather the improved atmosphere that your chosen music creates that is the driver of an increase in productivity.
In a noisy workplace, music may be an escape
Despite the somewhat variable effects of music, one thing is definitely clear — a noisy workplace can end up reducing productivity dramatically. Perhaps a pair of headphones may not be as distracting as some bosses tend to think. I would suggest that mood is the main argument made. Due to the rising popularity of open offices there would be an ever increasing desire to wear headphones that might beat out the constant background noise of your office. While the open space may encourage more collaboration, the chatter can be too much for some people to handle. I've seen it a number of times where in an open workspace, people couldn’t focus on writing without headphones.
Ambient noise may be the creative sweet spot
For those that do benefit in listening to music during creative sessions, an “ambient” presence of music appears to work best. A moderate noise level can really get creative minds working, but that too much noise has the opposite effect. This would imply that music with especially low-lows or especially high-highs should be avoided. Deep basses and screeching synths might get you energized, but when listening and engaging in deep work, you might prefer a more mellow sound.
At the end of the day, some tasks are easier with music playing, while others are not
It has never been easier to tune in to your own sounds or more necessary to tune out your open-office coworkers and fellow coffee-shop friends, but not all music is created equal, especially when there’s work to be done. How should you choose the best office soundtrack for a given task? Which songs will help you get energized, focused, or creative—or even just through a very long day? That's up to you.
