Music has a big effect on everything around us. It has the capacity to lift up moods, or even increase our productivity. With so much of our work now being done at computers, music has become an important way to 'optimise the boring'.
A study by Spotify, a Swedish company which provides music, podcast, and video streaming service, showed a positive relationship between music and productivity.
A research by the University of Windsor, Canada, also suggested a similar relationship between work and music. The results showed that state positive affect and quality-of-work were lowest with no music, also the time-on-task was longest when music was removed.
The study conducted on workplace music habits revealed that 61 per cent of people listen to music at the workplace to boost their productivity.
However, all forms of music do not affect work equally. Different situations call for different soundtracks, for instance, some genres of music can help to get ready to work, and others work better with performing the work itself.
Largely music can have two types of broad effects at work:
- Music increases motivation
Music can help uplift spirits and make work feel less stressful. Music is closely related to relaxation and so listening to music at work can have a relaxing effect.
- Music can help focus
When performing repetitive tasks, music can significantly boost productivity. This is because it lowers the chances of being distracted by other things.
Although music at work can increase productivity, this does not work for all kinds of music or work. Some music may demand too much attention, and if the task demands focus and deep concentration, then, in this case, music can have a rather adverse effect on productivity.
It is also important to choose the kind of music which does not distract from the work at hand. Familiar and monotonous music has the least negative effect on concentration. It is also best to avoid music with lyrics since lyrics can affect cognitive ability.