How sounds affect our sleep and productivity
Last week, we talked about how to hide from annoying sounds and how to use a sound ecosystem with health benefits.
Today we will try to find out which sounds help to cope with insomnia, and which ones will make you an employee of the month. And also let's figure out whether to listen to music while working.
Photo by Jason Corey / CC-BY
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Noise can affect human health negatively. And especially the person is vulnerable in a dream. Sounds of 30-40 dB (whispering and chirping of birds outside the window) affect the sleep of the most sensitive people, and 40-55 dB (working refrigerator or air conditioner within a radius of 30 meters) make most people sleep more restless and make them toss and turn. Sounds above 55 dB (washing machine or music turned on) cause insomnia and irritability.
And certain sounds can improve sleep on the contrary. For example, white noise helps not only to fall asleep faster, but also ensures a healthy sleep during the night. In addition to white noise, relaxing music or nature sounds have a similar effect. On this resource, the sounds of nature are transformed into soothing music in real time. And falling asleep under them can be much nicer than under the alarm systems of cars in the yard.
If there is no desire or ability to turn on music all night long, then you can use special applications. For example, SleepBot and Smart Alarm Clock , record sounds that lead to sleep disorders. They will help to find out exactly what is disturbing your dream: too loud a refrigerator, notorious sounds from the street or your own snoring.
By the way, snoring today is quite possible to fight through the application. When the snoring becomes too loud, the application sends a signal to a special bracelet, which with the help of a light vibration makes the person understand that it is time to change the position. Of course, there is a universal and cheap tool - earplugs. But not everyone is comfortable in them to sleep. As a more functional alternative, special Kokoon headphones have been developed, which not only shield from external sounds, but also allow you to listen to soothing music.
A special complex SleepCogni , consisting of an application, a sensor on a finger and a lamp with built-in speakers, will help to enhance a positive effect on sleep in the fight against insomnia. With the help of the sensor application monitors the pulse, body temperature and other indicators. And when a person is close to awakening, the application transmits certain sounds, and the lamp emits light in a certain color spectrum. It calms the nervous system and provides a more complete and prolonged sleep.
Extraneous sounds and noise prevent us not only from sleeping. Sometimes at work we spend a lot more time than in a dream. We have already figured out how to make friends with the sounds during sleep, and now let's find out what is dangerous about extraneous sounds during work and how to deal with them. The recommended noise level for comfortable work is 45 dB. According to the results of research in 1989, employees of open offices considered 48-52 dB ideal for work.
And modern research conducted at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign shows that it is possible to maintain work efficiency up to a noise level of 70 dB. That is, today the noise level has increased significantly. And it significantly affects the health of employees, their job satisfaction and mood. However, productivity is most influenced not by noisy equipment or sounds from the street, but by conversations of colleagues. Proper office layout and sound insulation materials can improve productivity, reduce errors and reduce stress.
But what to do if the office was not properly planned, and colleagues constantly chat? Headphones come to the aid of modern office workers where you can listen to the sounds of nature to increase productivity. There are many applications and resources that offer different variations of the sound of rain - from drops on the windowsill to rain in the forest. And you can combine quite unlike pleasant sounds for you - birds singing, fire crackling and the sound of train wheels.
You can increase productivity with the help of music, but experts believe that not all genres are suitable for this. Best of all, according to many music lovers, classical music, wordless melodies and video game soundtracks affect performance. You can also choose rhythmic music, familiar songs or listen to music at medium volume.
Pictured : Audio-Technica ATH-M50x Headphone Cover
We have already written about what kind of music the developers are listening to - and many of them choose just rhythmic styles. But it all depends on what exactly the person is busy with. If you need to perform work that requires high concentration, the music can, on the contrary, interfere.
Therefore, there is another way to increase your efficiency - listening to music on the way to work. Certain music can lift your spirits, so that in the workplace a person will be better able to cope with their duties.
The same is advised by neurologists , who note that music during certain types of activities - reading, writing or performing tasks that require concentration of memory - causes only a feeling of high performance, but in fact acts negatively. But listening to music for 10-15 minutes before work just relieves stress and helps to tune.
Sounds are present in our lives all the time, and we can rarely enjoy the silence. But if you know about the useful sounds and their impact on us, you can improve the quality of your life, ensure yourself a good sleep, comfortable work and just enjoy life without paying attention to the annoying noise.
Additional reading:
Today we will try to find out which sounds help to cope with insomnia, and which ones will make you an employee of the month. And also let's figure out whether to listen to music while working.
Photo by Jason Corey / CC-BY')
Alternative to a lullaby
Noise can affect human health negatively. And especially the person is vulnerable in a dream. Sounds of 30-40 dB (whispering and chirping of birds outside the window) affect the sleep of the most sensitive people, and 40-55 dB (working refrigerator or air conditioner within a radius of 30 meters) make most people sleep more restless and make them toss and turn. Sounds above 55 dB (washing machine or music turned on) cause insomnia and irritability.
And certain sounds can improve sleep on the contrary. For example, white noise helps not only to fall asleep faster, but also ensures a healthy sleep during the night. In addition to white noise, relaxing music or nature sounds have a similar effect. On this resource, the sounds of nature are transformed into soothing music in real time. And falling asleep under them can be much nicer than under the alarm systems of cars in the yard.
If there is no desire or ability to turn on music all night long, then you can use special applications. For example, SleepBot and Smart Alarm Clock , record sounds that lead to sleep disorders. They will help to find out exactly what is disturbing your dream: too loud a refrigerator, notorious sounds from the street or your own snoring.
By the way, snoring today is quite possible to fight through the application. When the snoring becomes too loud, the application sends a signal to a special bracelet, which with the help of a light vibration makes the person understand that it is time to change the position. Of course, there is a universal and cheap tool - earplugs. But not everyone is comfortable in them to sleep. As a more functional alternative, special Kokoon headphones have been developed, which not only shield from external sounds, but also allow you to listen to soothing music.
A special complex SleepCogni , consisting of an application, a sensor on a finger and a lamp with built-in speakers, will help to enhance a positive effect on sleep in the fight against insomnia. With the help of the sensor application monitors the pulse, body temperature and other indicators. And when a person is close to awakening, the application transmits certain sounds, and the lamp emits light in a certain color spectrum. It calms the nervous system and provides a more complete and prolonged sleep.
Work hard, listen ... hard?
Extraneous sounds and noise prevent us not only from sleeping. Sometimes at work we spend a lot more time than in a dream. We have already figured out how to make friends with the sounds during sleep, and now let's find out what is dangerous about extraneous sounds during work and how to deal with them. The recommended noise level for comfortable work is 45 dB. According to the results of research in 1989, employees of open offices considered 48-52 dB ideal for work.
And modern research conducted at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign shows that it is possible to maintain work efficiency up to a noise level of 70 dB. That is, today the noise level has increased significantly. And it significantly affects the health of employees, their job satisfaction and mood. However, productivity is most influenced not by noisy equipment or sounds from the street, but by conversations of colleagues. Proper office layout and sound insulation materials can improve productivity, reduce errors and reduce stress.
But what to do if the office was not properly planned, and colleagues constantly chat? Headphones come to the aid of modern office workers where you can listen to the sounds of nature to increase productivity. There are many applications and resources that offer different variations of the sound of rain - from drops on the windowsill to rain in the forest. And you can combine quite unlike pleasant sounds for you - birds singing, fire crackling and the sound of train wheels.
You can increase productivity with the help of music, but experts believe that not all genres are suitable for this. Best of all, according to many music lovers, classical music, wordless melodies and video game soundtracks affect performance. You can also choose rhythmic music, familiar songs or listen to music at medium volume.
Pictured : Audio-Technica ATH-M50x Headphone Cover
We have already written about what kind of music the developers are listening to - and many of them choose just rhythmic styles. But it all depends on what exactly the person is busy with. If you need to perform work that requires high concentration, the music can, on the contrary, interfere.
Therefore, there is another way to increase your efficiency - listening to music on the way to work. Certain music can lift your spirits, so that in the workplace a person will be better able to cope with their duties.
The same is advised by neurologists , who note that music during certain types of activities - reading, writing or performing tasks that require concentration of memory - causes only a feeling of high performance, but in fact acts negatively. But listening to music for 10-15 minutes before work just relieves stress and helps to tune.
Sounds are present in our lives all the time, and we can rarely enjoy the silence. But if you know about the useful sounds and their impact on us, you can improve the quality of your life, ensure yourself a good sleep, comfortable work and just enjoy life without paying attention to the annoying noise.
Additional reading:
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/401903/
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