The best music for work, according to scientists

Music can help you stay focused and stay highly productive. You just need to choose the right music.

A study by scientists at the University of Birmingham showed that music is an effective aid to productivity when performing monotonous work. Whether it's mindlessly checking email or filling out a spreadsheet, the presence of music helps speed up such tasks.

But when it comes to complex, creative, intellectual work that requires the active participation of the brain, and music is no good. There is a need for a special playlist or copyright free music.

Sounds of nature

A recent study by scientists at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute showed that the presence of "natural elements" in music boosts overall mood and helps focus.

Sounds of nature, like white noise, are good at masking human speech, to which we are easily distracted, and have a positive effect on cognitive function and concentration. Thanks to the natural sounds, the overall satisfaction of the subjects increased steadily during their work.

By the way, in addition to chirping birds and the sounds of rain, which are most often associated with nature, a beneficial effect is caused by the murmuring of a stream. According to the same research, the noise of the mountain stream is also in the category of attention-enhancing sounds.

It does not matter whether you listen to a recording of nature sounds alone or play music containing these elements: both will have a positive effect.

Find sounds of nature easily by searching for them, for example on YouTube.

Favorite songs

Each of us will find a certain number of tracks that we like more than others. Making such a playlist is useful, because it is our favorite music that helps many of us perform better. Teresa Lesiuk, who works in a music therapy program at the University of Miami, has come to this conclusion:

"Stress forces us to make hasty decisions, and our attention span narrows considerably in the process. Improving our mood through music allows us to look at things more broadly and consider more options."

It is interesting that the favorite music has the greatest effect in cases where a person has not yet become a pro in his work: listening to favorite songs allowed these subjects to perform tasks faster and generate better ideas.

The music you don't care about

The perception of the environment changes from person to person. This is confirmed by the effects of background music on the concentration of workers in a study from a Taiwanese university. A certain number of people react with decreased concentration when listening to music that appeals to them the most and the least. This is exactly the case when, after hearing your favorite track, you forget everything and go completely into it. If you observe a similar reaction to your favorite and hateful music, turn on the most neutral compositions that do not evoke your expressed emotions.

Instrumental music.

Words are distracting. According to Cambridge Sound Management research and references, you can't blame all noise in general for a drop in productivity. It is words that distract us, because when a person hears speech, they inevitably switch from their current activity and start to listen to the topic of conversation. It is our social nature, and 48% of the subjects were affected by this phenomenon.

We can be distracted by any words spoken, whether we hear them in office noise or in a song playing on our headphones. You've noticed how sometimes you catch yourself listening to the lyrics of a track, right? This is exactly the case. Instrumental music can help those prone to getting stuck on lyrics. No words, no distraction.

Baroque music

The effect of listening to music depends on its tempo. Canadian researchers found that listening to music and

cognitive performance: tests of children and adults that subjects are better pass IQ tests to more dynamic music, and the favorite is the music of the Baroque period. The same conclusion was reachedBaroque Classical Music In The Reading Room May Improve Mood And Productivity by a group of researchers from the University and Hospital of Baltimore, as well as the University of Philadelphia. Baroque music really does help you work better.

Another study by scientists at the Malaysian College of Engineering found a marked reduction in stress and signs of physical relaxation when listening to music with a tempo of 60 beats per minute. In the musical lexicon, the term "larghetto" roughly corresponds to this tempo.

Medium Volume

The ideal volume is medium volume. Is Noise Always Bad? Exploring the Effects of Ambient Noise on Creative Cognition by scientists at four universities: Studies have found a positive effect of listening to music at moderate volume on creative thinking.

According to these studies, both moderate and loud music helps abstract thinking, but excessive loudness interferes with the brain's ability to process information.