More fun and efficient: how to use music for work and where to look for it
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The impact of music on the brain and nervous system of a person has been proven by thousands of scientists in a huge amount of scientific work. Many of these studies are devoted to the influence of sound on the workflow; they evaluate the effectiveness of using music to increase productivity.
Employees of many organizations work in a common open space - openspace, where often extraneous noises and voices make it difficult to focus on the task. Therefore, at work, people use headphones and music to close themselves from the outside world and be left alone with their thoughts.
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Such an approach to work in some cases can harm, but the right choice of musical compositions or sounds for different types of work has a positive effect - the mood improves, the brain processes information faster. Below we take a closer look at the influence of music, how its properties are used in the work, what directions and sounds to choose and where to find the most suitable compositions.
How music affects people
Mindlab International conducted a study in which more than 80% of the participants, with music, were able to complete tasks faster and more accurately than in complete silence. Similar results were obtained during the observation of workers in the conveyor production: people feel better and can work faster, and make less mistakes.
“Music is a very powerful management tool, if you want to not only increase the efficiency of your employees, but also improve their thinking, their emotional state - they will be more positively tuned to work,” explained David Lewis, a neuropsychologist and chairman of Mindlab International.
Scientists combine the effect of music with other pleasant things, such as the pleasure of delicious food. Music can increase the amount of dopamine in the body - “the hormone of joy”, as with other types of pleasure.
But musical accompaniment is not suitable for all tasks - often helps during monotonous and boring work or actions of the same type. Productivity is also affected by the loudness of the music, as evidenced by various research scientists. It is best to listen to music at medium volume while working. Experiments have shown that a person thinks and processes information most effectively under moderately loud music that does not come to the fore, does not interfere with thinking.
Human speech is called the most distracting noise for employees during work. But you shouldn’t drown out the voices of people around with songs, because the vocals in these compositions are the same voice, besides, it is often more pleasant and very attractive. If you want to achieve high concentration at work, it is better to turn on the music without words.
As with loudness, average speed music is suitable for productivity, in this case individual preferences and peculiarities can influence the choice, but scientists note that a rate of about 60-80 beats per minute (bpm) reduces stress levels.
Another study in 2010 showed that music has the best effect, if you listen to it before starting work, and not at the height of active thinking. Teresa Lesiuk from the University of Windsor, in her research, determined that improving productivity is affected by improving mood after listening to your favorite music, and not during its playback.
How music is used in work
Music inspires us and makes even a boring day at work more pleasant. We listen to our favorite songs in order to bring back bright moments from life, to feel happier. But not everyone is positive about listening to music in the workplace, someone cannot concentrate on the music and is angry with colleagues who turn on the recordings in the headphones too loudly.
American companies even create rules that prohibit or restrict the ability to listen to music while working. The leaders of such companies believe that music reduces the productivity of employees, blocks their consciousness and interferes with communication with colleagues. But, for example, in Apple, designs of many favorite devices are created with loud techno music, which is included through a specially installed audio system.
For workspaces, it is often deliberately selected suitable music and playlists adapt to a specific time of day. A 2015 study was published in the Journal of Acoustical Society of America, in which researchers explained that natural noises (rain, sea, forest sounds) best influence concentration during work and the creative process.
What music to choose and where to find it
Simple mental or physical work does not imply deep reflection, so for a stimulating effect in this case, songs with words are quite suitable. However, during difficult tasks it is better to choose instrumental compositions.
According to the Cambridge Sound Management Center, 48% of the 689 office workers are distracted by the words in the songs. Try to write a coherent text when someone is talking to you or the television is on in the room with a news channel. It is also difficult to concentrate in a noisy office, and while listening to a song. The human brain is best adapted to the perception of human speech from the general set of sounds, so we listen carefully to the voices.
For easy tasks, turn on familiar music, for tasks it is more difficult - unfamiliar, neutral for you. Research in this area suggests that the greatest productivity can be achieved if the choice of music does not rely on preferences - it should not be your favorite records or tracks that you hate.
Of all the variety of types of music, the following areas are the best for work:
Classical music
Beautiful music, created by genius composers and proven over the centuries. Most often in studies on the impact on productivity, music of Baroque and the most famous composer of this period, Johann Sebastian Bach, is noted.
Dance music
Calm and not the fastest versions of electronic dance music, which, unlike the works of classics, are quite monotonous, but this makes it an excellent choice for work - it does not distract and sets the rhythm. Some techno and house subgenres will fit perfectly into the workflow.
Jazz
You can find a large number of instrumental jazz, choose the right mood and tempo. First you should look for the compositions of Miles Davis (Miles Davis), Alice Coltrane (Alice Coltrane) and Thelonious Monk.
Chillout
Relaxing, calm music with rather soft sounds. In this direction, you can listen to Bonobo or Cinematic Orchestra.
Ambient
One of the most suitable options, this direction appeared just to create an atmosphere, ambient compositions can continue indefinitely and set the desired mood. The best examples of such music should be sought from Brian Eno.
Movie soundtracks
Compositions for films are created to support the visual part, the transfer of mood or stage design, so among the huge number of soundtracks you can find suitable tracks, for example, Daft Punk, Trent Reznor or Cliff Martinez.
Video Game Music
Music for video games is not distracting and most often created by the modular principle - short parts or blocks that can be repeated endlessly. In video games, music helps increase player concentration, which is also very useful for workflow.
Where to find the right music
Musical accompaniment for work can be found by searching or compiling:
On Reddit there are music subreddits where you can find good recommendations. On 8tracks there are suitable playlists by tags, but, unfortunately, since 2016, direct streaming is not available outside of the United States and Canada - only via YouTube. The Focus @ Will service specifically selects music for work, and GetWorkDoneMusic serves as a kind of add-on for Soundcloud.
Image: Pexels
Another option is the MuzApp music service, where selections are collected algorithmically based on ratings, while at the same time suitable compositions can be found in the recommendations of users and friends who use this application.
You can also search for interesting music on Jango - this is Internet radio with a large selection of genres, where users create their stations and share them with friends. Another service with similar functionality - SoundayMusic , in addition to creating your own radio stations, you can listen to songs popular in a certain area, broadcast your selections or connect to someone nearby and listen to the recordings along with them. An interesting option could be Musicovery , where it is very easy to pick up music by mood.
These services combine the social elements of Tinder or Last.fm and the capabilities of other music applications like Spotify. There you will definitely find the right tracks for work and help your friends in finding interesting music.
Conclusion
The way music is consumed continues to change - today people rarely listen to albums or DJ mixes entirely, they do not always remember the performers, they want to get everything as fast as possible. Albums seem to be outdated format, a relic of the past, and turn into commercial packaging. The main portion of attention now get playlists and themed stations.
People of the modern generation receive from the music services a ready-made personalized product - specially selected on the basis of habits, interests, psycho-type or profession. Playlists are created by curators and specialists, as before, for certain situations and moods, but soon this will happen automatically. For example, Spotify already analyzes tempo, dynamics, volume levels and other similar indicators.
In the near future, mobile devices, for example, fitness trackers and smartphones with personal assistants based on artificial intelligence will determine all these parameters in seconds and adapt playlists to our needs - thousands of hours of interesting music are waiting for us.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/372771/
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