Research shows listening to music at work makes you productive

For all those who enjoy working while listening to music simultaneously but are worried their bosses might have an issue with it, worry no more as a latest research suggests that  listening to music at work make people more productive.

People think that music enhances person’s mood, specifically when listening to it at work. Previous research showed that this can make absorbing and remembering new information more difficult but a new research suggests that music at work make them more productive.

Teresa Lesiuk from University of Miami explained how listening to music at work and improved mood have a strong connection. She explained that 90% of the time people show positive experiences while listening to music they prefer and music that produces mild, positive moods. This connection helps getting the work done.

As per Futurism, music listening at work not only makes a person more productive but also more creative. “It’s shown that when you’re in that particular mood state, you take in more options, you don’t narrow your focus, and that is beneficial to creative problem solving. When you’re in that mood state, you’re better at problem solving and thinking creatively,” said Lesiuk.

Neurologists create music through thoughts

However, Lesiuk explained that there can be exceptions as well considering if the music taste is dissonant or with extreme tempo as it creates distractions. Also, if the music played at the workspace isn’t what a person likes, then too results might differ.

During her research, Lesiuk observed that a dramatic boost in productivity because of music can also depend on how good a person is at their job. “If a person was already expert in their work, they benefited in terms of mood, but it didn’t affect their productivity. They were going to do well no matter what. However, if a person was moderately good at what they were doing, productivity increased significantly. If they were novice in their work, if they were just learning the skill, it didn’t help their productivity, because they didn’t have the skill. It did still benefit their mood.”

This particular behavior is because the preferable music triggers the pleasure center in our brains along with stimulating our thinking area. This effect then leads to more enhanced creative problem solving.

Moreover, many organizations are taking benefit of this effect to maximize their productivity. Focus@Will is once such kind of app that produces such ‘streamlined music’, particularly designed to be listened to while working to improve mood and productivity.