For business owners and entrepreneurs, playing music either in the background or on the computer to listen to while they or their employees work is a controversial topic. In a group setting, people prefer to listen to different types of music, so it’s difficult to agree on what should be playing in an office. However, for entrepreneurs and people who are happy to plug into their own smartphone or iPod Touch, they can tailor the soundtrack for their working life to what they find works best for them.
Let’s look at how and why music helps to improve productivity the office.
Repetitive Tasks Get Easier When Distracted by Music
With repetitive tasks, it’s difficult to maintain the momentum when it means doing the same thing over and over. Listening to music helps to break up the monotony and improves the efficiency. Research has shown that assembly line workers have a higher overall happiness when they have music as a backdrop to their work. There is some debate whether it’s the actual music items that distract enough to take the mind off the repetitiveness of the task or whether the music elevates the mood which leads to being happier. But either way, it really doesn’t matter. It works.
Softer Ambient Soundtracks Work Well
Quite often, the best music is ambient soundtracks or movie soundtracks. The lower level of noise which lacks heavy bass sounds and other distractions provides enough of a background sound level without crossing over to the point where it’s distracting. This is a fine line that’s almost always crossed when listening to music with lyrics because the words distract from what one is thinking, especially for creatives like freelance writers and other content producers who rely on a clear mind.
A dedicated music player is useful to not add too many new elements that offer the possibility of being a further distraction. Check out this iPod touch 6th generation review to see whether this music player would fit the bill as a dedicated one with plenty of functionality. Nature soundtracks are especially good with a quality player because when supported by earphones, the crashing of waves or the calls of the wild get you out of the office environment.
Familiar Songs Distract Less
For the human brain, when something is new, it requires more focus to figure out how to respond to it. The same is true with music. When you’re listening to music that you’ve heard many times before, it doesn’t require much of a response from your brain because it is running on auto-pilot. It knows the tune, there’s no threat and it can predict what’s coming next. As a result, the brain continues on its major task unimpeded. With a new song, that’s not the case. There’s the melody, the lyrics, and the singer’s voice, all of which distract and take the brain’s focus away.
Getting more done in the workplace isn’t just about putting in longer hours which is often counterproductive anyway. Altering how you work and your work environment is often more successful to achieve greater levels of productivity. See how you can get more done in the same amount of time by finding your best background music selection.
