Listening to music you like can make you feel better. Everyone knows that. But it goes much deeper than that.

Have you ever been working on a very important task, only to be driven slowly mad by a co-worker constantly sniffing, or sipping their coffee, or clipping their nails? Something quite innocuous suddenly becomes much more infuriating when you’re trying to work on something your brain doesn’t necessarily enjoy. Music is a very useful tool in such situations. It provides non-invasive noise and pleasurable feelings, to effectively neutralize the unconscious attention system’s ability to distract us. 

Music can help put us back on a more productive track. Studies at the University of Birmingham, England, show that music is effective in raising efficiency in repetitive work. So if you’re mindlessly checking email or filling out a spreadsheet, adding some tunes will make your task go by that much faster. It’s not clear why the brain likes music so much in the first place, although it clearly does. Here’s how you can incorporate various kinds of music to minimize distractions and be at your productive best. 

Sounds of nature 
Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute recently discovered that adding a natural element could boost moods and focus. Researchers found that sounds of nature can mask intelligible speech just as well as white noise while also enhancing cognitive functioning, optimizing the ability to concentrate, and increasing overall worker satisfaction. The mountain stream sound researchers used in their study also possessed enough randomness that it didn’t distract test subjects. You could try simply listening to recordings of nature sounds, or opt for some background music that incorporates sounds of water or rustling leaves.

Tunes you enjoy
Listening to music you like can make you feel better. Everyone knows that. But it goes much deeper than that. A study at the University of Miami found that personal choice in music is important, especially in those who are moderately skilled at their jobs. Generally participants in the study who listened to music they enjoyed completed their tasks more quickly and came up with better ideas than those who didn’t because the music improved their moods. Another research suggests that music you’re ambivalent about could be best if keeping distractions at bay is your primary concern. So if you really want to get work done, listen to songs that you neither like nor dislike.

Lyrics-less music 
Words are distracting. According to research from Cambridge Sound Management, noise in general isn’t to blame when it comes to lost productivity – it’s how intelligible the words are that forces us to shift focus from our work to figuring out what someone is saying. Speech distracts about 48% of office workers according to Cambridge’s 2008 study. When masking your neighbor’s conversation with music, it follows then that you not do so with music that has lyrics – your focus would simply shift from the conversation to the words in a song.

Tempering the tempo
One study by Canadian researchers found subjects performed better on IQ tests while listening to up-tempo music. If your work requires you to be more upbeat, you could try listening to music that matches this tempo. Baroque music, for example, is a popular choice for many needing to get work done. In fact in a small study by researchers at the University of Maryland in Baltimore, Harbor Hospital in Baltimore, and the University of Pennsylvania Health System in Philadelphia, the radiologists they studied reported an improvement in their work and mood when they listened to baroque music. 

Adjusting the volume 
Noise level matters. Researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, and the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, found that moderate noise levels are just right for creative thinking. While both high and moderate noise levels have been found to open people’s minds to more abstract thinking, high noise levels decrease the brain’s ability to process information. 

 
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